Paris Insights - The Blog

In mid-August, I entered The Beans on Fire coffee shop to taste their “Espresso of the Moment.” The café is located in a pleasant neighborhood in the 11th arrondissement, across the street from a leafy park called Square Maurice Gardette.

By the time I arrived at 10:00 a.m. there were already a number of customers enjoying clement weather on the sidewalk terrace.

There are two rooms at the shop: the entrance, which has a counter where orders are taken, and the room where coffee is prepared and delivered to the customer. Both have limited seating, but on a pleasant day most people choose to sit on the sidewalk terrace.

At the counter where customers place orders, the clerk told me that there were two “Espressos of the Moment” from which to select. Upon learning that the coffee from Brazil, called “Samba,” tasted like chocolate, I ordered a cup of that. At the same time, I purchased a 250g bag of the roasted beans.

I paid for my order and walked to the next room, where a smiling barista handed me my espresso almost immediately.

I decided to sit outdoors on the sidewalk terrace, since the weather was quite pleasant.

I took a photo of the espresso and tasted it.

The coffee did, indeed, taste like chocolate. More precisely, it tasted like 100% cocoa. Later, I was inspired to purchase a tablet of 100% cocoa from Venezuela and I marveled at the similarity of flavors.

After I finished my coffee and before I left the shop, the barista allowed me to take a photo of her.

All of the personnel that I encountered at the shop were quite friendly. English is spoken here.

Back home, I was able to reproduce the flavor experience with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine.

Samba is a blend, not a single origin coffee. It is produced by a co-operative in Minas Gerais, a state in southeastern Brazil.

The Beans on Fire
7, rue du Général Blaise
75011 Paris

I entered Bel Horizon Coffee Roasters to taste the coffee of the day and to purchase a 250g bag of roasted coffee beans.

A barista suggested that I try a cup of Coba from the Guji region of Ethiopia.

The espresso tasted full-bodied and robust but I could not detect any specific notes. I decided to purchase a bag of roasted Coba beans and prepare them at home with my 9Barista stove-top espresso maker to see what flavors might develop.

The coffee shop is small, with stools and benches around low tables. There are some tall stools at the serving counter. Tall, wide windows admit ample natural light.

A handsome coffee roaster stands in a side room.

Back home, preparing espressos with my 9Barista stove-top espresso maker, I tasted a hint of honey, but later, after several cups over several days, the brew tasted more like cherry. It is a pleasant-tasting coffee—sweet and fruity.

Bel Horizon Coffee Roasters
26, boulevard Garibaldi
75015 Paris

I entered Cofféa two months ago to taste their coffee of the day. On that particular day, they were not serving a coffee that I could sample before purchasing the beans, so I decided to take a chance and purchase a 50g bag of Kopi Luwak without first tasting it.

Produced in Indonesia, Kopi Luwa is a specialty coffee that is harvested from civet droppings. (A civet is a small mammal that eats, digests, and excretes coffee cherries, which are then gathered, washed, and dried.) I was a bit leery about purchasing this product, but the sales clerk smiled and assured me that it was a coffee that I would appreciate.

I took the bag home and placed it in the refrigerator until the day that I could work up enough courage to try it. That day came two days ago, when I ran out of my regular coffee and caffeine withdrawal set in.

I ground 18 grams of Kopi Luwak coffee beans in my DeLonqhi grinder and then prepared an espresso (using 120 grams of water) with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine. The beverage that it produced (44 grams of espresso) was intense, but surprisingly sweet and soft. A second cup produced the same result.

Yes, the coffee is quite agreeable, but at roughly 12.70€ a cup I have second thoughts about making this my regular-morning wake-up coffee.

Also, I wonder about the civets. Are they free-range civets that are allowed to roam the coffee plantation and select their own coffee berries? Or, are the kept in cages and fed whatever coffee berries the coffee producer provides for them?

Cofféa is a handsome store that offers a wide selection of coffee, tea, and sweets. The staff is friendly and helpful.

Coffee and tea can be purchased for consumption on the sidewalk terrace.

Cofféa
52, boulevard Saint-Germain
75005 Paris