Coffee Trail: Athens

After a week without Espresso i arrived trembling with withdrawals in Athens. I had heard good things about the local coffee scene from Mecca old boy Alex Mac. He had managed to find two diamonds amongst the rough in Evergreen and Cafe Taf.

Fortunately for me both cafes happened to be located in the area that i was staying, the business district of Panepistimiou. First stop was Evergreen where i sat and ordered an Espresso and began to take some pics of the baristas feverishly working behind their Synesso. As soon as i was spotted taking pics the head barista Antonius came over to greet me.

It is quite funny that even walking into another cafe on the other side of the world you are instantly welcomed as one of the fraternity. Antonius graciously invited me up to the bar, made me several espressos gave me a tour of the place. Evergreen is a vibrant cafe that has some wonderful food to accompany its excellent coffee.

Next stop was to visit 4 time Greek Barista Champion Stefanos Domatiotis. What was intended to be a quick stop to fill the caffeine debt that i had built up, turned out to be a 4 hour visit . Stefanos is preparing for the World Barista Championship at the end of the month and we sat and chatted about his preparations, the battles of the local coffee scene and about coffee in a global sense. He made me several single origin espressos as well as an Esmarelda filter. It was wonderful to see the enthusiasm he had for developing specialty coffee in Greece and it was very familiar to spending time with local pioneers when i was first starting out.

All in all it was a wonderful experience to be on the other side of the world, but be welcomed like you were walking into your local cafe that you had been going to for years. Next time your in Athens be sure to check out these two places if your longing for a quality coffee. Tell them Sam from Mecca sent you...

For the more photos from Athens click here. Next stop Florence.