The Coffee Trail: Istanbul

"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love." Turkish Proverb

First stop on the coffee trail is the vibrant city of Istanbul, the home of the worlds first coffee house in 1554. After a couple of days drinking tea (due to the shortage of a decent coffee offering) I decided to abandon my search for an espresso culture and instead seek out traditional Turkish coffee. To this end my quest ended when i found a quaint little cafe called Cherry Bean Coffee in Galata.

We tried the two blends on offer, both of which were roasted on the premises, the coffee was thick, rich, surprisingly sweet and comes with a walnut colored foam. The coffee was served with a little square of Turkish Delight which was a wonderful accompaniment.

Both coffees were prepared using a newly invented Turkish coffee making machine called the Beko whereas traditionally it would be made in a coffee pot (Ibrik) over a stove or charcoal. I was told by the barista that when made without the machine, ground coffee and water would be added to the Ibrik then bought to the boil. At the first boil, half of the liquid would be poured into the cup with the remaining coffee then be bought to the boil for a second time. This molten liquid is then subsequently added to the cup. I found this nice little guide for those that would like to know more about the process.

So when in Istanbul I would suggest you bypass the espresso (unless you like Nespresso) and instead sample the local coffee delicacies. My next stop in Athens where I hear specialty coffee is a young, emerging movement.

MeccaCQ Facebook Page

MeccaCQ is now on facebook. Check out the page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sydney-Australia/Mecca-Espresso-Circular-Quay/127894437224804?ref=ts . Be the first to post a review!

Surprise Uber-Boiler

Paul arrived at CQ yesterday with the news that he had been given the Uber-Boiler for a week or so, to test it in a working cafe environment and see what sort of results it could provide. We had some brief moments yesterday with a Chemex filter to see what we could produce, but we'll be experimenting with it over the next day or two.

What does an Uber-Boiler do you ask? Good question. The design brief for the Uber-Boiler was for a digitally programmed machine that could produce an exact weight of water at an exact temperature, directly into whichever brewing device you wish to use. The temperature of the water that contacts the grounds is an important variable in any form of brewing method, and for filter brewing this is no less critical. Being able to easily control the variable of temperature would allow for easier experimentation with coffee to produce the best result for each individual batch of each individual coffee, (remembering all the time that there are no across the board absolutes when it comes to coffee). Being able to control the amount of water, either by volume or weight, would eliminate the need to measure the water after it was heated during which time the water would be cooling. Marco brewing systems from Ireland came up with this solution.

So, it heats water ... and weighs it.

Though it may seem a little excessive, it is a step forward in the pursuit of perfection and precision when it comes to brewing coffee. I'm not yet sure how well it's results will be, nor how well it will integrate into a working cafe environment but hopefully we'll get a little insight into that this next week.

To see more about this device for yourself, visit Marco's Uber-Project website: http://marco.ie/uberproject/

Sam: International Correspondent

Today we say farewell and good luck to Sam, one of the Mecca CQ team. He has embarked on a four month sabbatical of Europe and North America. Along the way he plans to visit the World Barista Championship which this year is being hosted by London. The Australian competitor (i.e. the winner of the 2010 Australian Barista Championship) is Scottie Calaghan, our first head barista. He will be competing with a single origin coffee roasted by Mecca Espresso. (Just quietly, We'll be serving some of this very same bean on Monday.)

We wish Sam a safe journey and look forward to seeing some posts on this blog regarding his interesting discoveries, coffee-related or otherwise.

Panama Geisha Cupping

Yesterday we had the pleasure of cupping samples from the upcoming auction of Panama's prized Geisha Coffees.  This unique and rare coffee is widely considered to be one of the best coffees in the world and also one of the most expensive.

Basically roasters around the world get sent samples from the region to roast and taste then have the opportunity to bid on any that they might like. It's always interesting when you are tasting various examples from the same region as you are often getting down to very subtle differences. In the end we were pretty much unanimous on which sample we thought had the best balance and as well as being the best representation from the region.

The auction ran last night and we were successful in winning our favorite from the cupping, Lot #1 Mario Carnaval. We look forward to having this coffee available in the bar in the not too distant future.

For more information go to Hacienda La Esmeralda's Website.

The Begining...

Welcome to the Mecca Espresso Circular Quay Blog. Through our regular posts we hope to entertain and inform as well as keeping you up to date to the goings on in our cafe.

We hope to be able to offer some insight into our processes from seed to cup. We will also be posting information about some of the Single Origin coffee's that we are currently tasting and serving.

Please join us on our coffee odyssey.