To the east of place de la Bastille, on rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, lies a coffee shop called Moka Nova. I entered recently to taste their espresso of the day.
The interior of the café is starkly furnished, with low stools that resemble tightly-compressed bundles of fiber around small tables. The floor appears to be authentic hardwood. Spot lighting illuminated the room.
As well as coffee, Moka Nova sells carrot cake, lemon cake, and banana bread.
I ordered an espresso from the barista. She told me that it was brewed from beans produced by a women’s collective in Peru.
Though I found the coffee to taste quite bitter, I purchase a 250g bag of whole beans nonetheless. I also purchased a slice of carrot cake and lemon cake and took everything home.
In my kitchen, I brewed several cups of espresso with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine.
The resulting espressos had the same bitter taste that I experienced at the coffee shop, but I also detected a flavor of dark-red fruits. Hand-written notes on the bag indicate the following flavor profile: milk chocolate, red apple, and grape.
The term “bio” refers to an organically produced coffee.
The term “SCA” refers to an organization called the Specialty Coffee Association, while “85+” refers to the coffee’s classification as a specialty coffee (as opposed to a commercial grade coffee). However, neither the region in Peru where the coffee was produced, nor its varietal are indicated on the bag.
Stickers on the back and bottom of the bag indicate that the coffee beans were roasted on May 20, 2026 by The Beans of Fire, a coffee roaster in the 18th arrondissement.
Moka Nova
78, rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine
75012 Paris
