Paris Insights - The Blog

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

Located in the nearby town of Antony, Les Cafés de François brings its roasted coffee beans once a week to the Auguste-Blanqui market in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. On a recent Sunday, I made my way to this bustling open air market to sample their coffee.

They were serving “Petit Tigre” that day. Described as being full-bodied, well-roasted, and fruity, it is a house blend of arabica coffee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia.

I ordered an espresso made with this blend and found it to be quite robust.

While I sipped my espresso, my wife and business partner, Monique Y. Wells, enjoyed a lovely cup of hot chocolate flavored with hazelnut syrup.

I sampled a homemade canelé from this vendor as well. Their rendition of this French pastry, which features a tender custard center and a dark, thick, caramelized crust, was dreamy!

The joy did not stop there, because later on, up the street, we found a merchant selling a Portuguese pastry called pastéis de nata (not pictured). We purchased a bag of six to eat for breakfast during the week.

Before leaving the market, I purchased a 250g bag of the roasted “Petit Tigre” coffee beans, took them home, and prepared an espresso with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine.

The 9Barista produced an espresso that tasted much like the beverage that I had tasted at the market. Beyond the intense flavor of coffee, I was able to detect some ephemeral notes of cherry and caramel.

Les Cafés de François
Sunday mornings at number 67 boulevard Auguste Blanqui in the 13th arrondissement.

I stopped by La Brûlerie du Rendez-vous recently to see what they were serving as their “coffee of the moment.” The sales clerk told me that they were brewing a blended coffee of two varieties (Castillo and Bourdon rose) from three regions of Colombia: Cauca, Tolima, and Huila.

I asked to sample an espresso made with this blend and then proceeded to purchase a 250g bag of the roasted beans.

Taking the coffee home, I proceeded to brew a cup using my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine. The machine produced an intense coffee with a decent crema. Tasting it, I thought that I detected notes of cherry. The accompanying literature indicated that I might taste chocolate, brown sugar, or citrus. I did not detect any of that, but I was satisfied with the results.

The sales clerk told me that the coffee is transported from Colombia by sailboat. I was initially skeptical of his story, but a page (in French) on the store’s Web site convinced me: https://labruleriedurendezvous.com/le-vent-pour-allie-decouvrez-notre-cafe-colombien-transporte-a-la-voile/.

The shop offers twenty-eight varieties of coffee.

The coffee roasting machine is located at the rear of the store.

When I entered the establishment, I heard the sound of happy voices of customers discussing the products that they saw there. More than a coffee-roasting facility, the enterprise is a small grocery store, selling tea, chocolate, bulk honey, infusions, jams, jellies, syrups, and artisanal sorbets and ice cream from Ardèche.

Yum!

La Brûlerie du Rendez-vous
7, rue du Rendez-vous
75012 Paris

Araku coffee shop is located on rue Soufflot, just down the hill from the Pantheon. I stopped by to taste an espresso and purchase a bag of roasted coffee beans.

The café was serving an Arabica that they call Micro Climat. It is grown in the Araku Highlands of India. All of the coffees sold here come from that region, which is located in the Eastern Ghats mountain range of India.

The coffee beans are roasted in Paris.

The espresso that I was served had a light crema on the surface. It was intense with an agreeable flavor of cherry.

I purchased a 250g bag of Micro Climat roasted coffee beans, took them home, and prepared an espresso with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine. My espresso maker produced a satisfying coffee that was equal in intensity and flavor to that which I had tasted at the café.

I was particularly intrigued by the faintly-sweet cherry flavor of the coffee.

However, I was never able to reproduce the crema that I enjoyed at the coffee shop to my satisfaction.

As well as coffee, Araku sells fruit juices and gluten-free cakes and cookies.

Seating is available on stools at the window of the sheltered terrace that overlooks rue Soufflot. In the back of the coffee shop there is additional seating at tables and on wall benches.

While I was there, an Afro Pop song called “People” by Cameroonian-American recording artist Libianca played over the sound system.

The staff was friendly and helpful.

Araku
18, rue Soufflot
75005 Paris

Artesano is a specialty coffee roaster located on rue Saint-Paul just off of quai des Célestins in the 4th arrondissement. I went there recently to taste espresso and to purchase a supply of roasted coffee beans.

Coffee is served on the sidewalk terrace outfitted with patio furniture. I found a spot to sit and wait for my espresso to be prepared. When it was served, I sipped it slowly, trying to determine its flavor characteristics.

I found the brew to be strong and a bit harsh without much sweetness. The only note that I could detect was tomato, but perhaps I was influenced by the last time I had tasted an espresso.

The proprietor, Arturo Valentino, told me that he roasts his beans weekly at a coffee roasting facility in the 13th arrondissement. He sells only Mexican coffee.

I purchased a 250g bag of the beans used to brew the espresso that I was served on the terrace. Then I asked Arturo to indicate the tasting notes on the bag. He wrote the following: kiwi, grape, and dried fruits.

I did not experience any of these aromas when I tasted the espresso at the shop. When I took the beans home and brewed them myself, I continued to taste only faintly-sweet notes of tomato.

I did some research on the Internet and found that the Irlanda Estate produces beans of the Red Bourbon and Typica variety. There was no indication on the package as to which variety it contained.

As well as being a coffee roaster, Arturo is also a photographer and journalist. There is a display rack of his large photographic prints in the center of the shop, and his images adorn the walls of the shop.

Arturo publishes a newspaper called Artesano Journal. The copy that I was given (Number 23 – February 2025) is in English and contains interesting articles on three creative people, two of whom have made Paris their home. The issue features an architect from Venezuela; a photographer based in Lisbon; and a barista from The Netherlands. The barista recently won the Latte Art France Championship held in Lyon in January. Her award-winning performance at that championship can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfN3tqa6MWs.

Artisano Specialty Coffee Roaster
3, rue Saint-Paul
75004 Paris

I stopped at Café d’Auteur about a week ago to see what kind of espresso they were preparing.

They were brewing two types of coffee beans: one called Kenya Gichathaini and the other called Costa Rica El Salitre.

I ordered a cup of espresso prepared with the Kenya Gichathaini grain.

Served with a packet of Gavottes, the espresso exhibited a fine crema. Its flavor was full-bodied and I thought that I detected a note of tomato.

I purchased a 200g bag of the Kenyan coffee beans and took it home to prepare an espresso with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine.

However, when I passed the beans through my Delonghi grinder, it stopped abruptly. This was due to the characteristics of the beans: they were small (1cm X 0.8 cm) and brittle. I had to remove them from the grinder and restart the process. This time, I fed a few beans through at a time, rather than dumping the normal batch of 18 grams into the hopper at once. The grinder sounded as though it was grinding little pebbles, but I succeeded in achieving a fine grind appropriate for making an espresso.

After I finally figured out how to grind the beans without clogging the grinder, I succeeded in producing an espresso that tasted much like the coffee that I had tasted at Café d’Auteur. However, the espressos that I prepared never exhibited the fine crema that I had experienced at the café.

I was left thinking that perhaps the roast had surpassed the date by which its quality was optimal for producing a crema. (There was no production date indicated on the bag.)

Café d’Auteur is a pleasant place in which to enjoy an espresso. The waitstaff is friendly and comfortable warm brown tones dominate the décor. Edison lights hang from the ceiling and framed drawings of wildlife hang on the walls. Jazzy singing and mellow saxophone played over the sound system while I sipped my coffee.

Café d’Auteur
39 Rue Mazarine
75006 Paris

I recently entered Crible Café near the Jardin des Plantes to purchase a bag of roasted coffee beans and to drink an espresso.

Samah was at the counter preparing beverages. She produced an espresso made from Natural Red Bourbon beans from the El Sunzita farm in El Salvador.

I sat at the bench next to the window and sipped the coffee, trying to determine what flavors I could detect. Samah said that one of the notes was apple. I thought that I could detect that.

The label on the hopper of the coffee grinder indicates that Gala apple, fresh hazelnut, and red grape notes are predominant. Later, while doing some research on the Internet, I learned that prune is also noted as a flavor.

The café is tiny, but its small size did not discourage customers from stopping by for coffee. Cappuccino seemed to be the preferred beverage.

I purchased a 250g bag of Natural Red Bourbon roasted beans, took it home, and prepared an espresso with my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine. The quality of the espresso that I produced was much like the espresso that I tasted at Crible. I later determined that the most predominant note was prune.

Samah told me that the beans are roasted at a coffee roasting facility located near place de la Bastille.

Crible
75, rue Buffon
75005 Paris

I recently went to a small café called Ten Belles, located in the 6th arrondissement, to purchase some roasted coffee beans.

I asked the barista which espressos they were preparing that day. She mentioned two single-origin and one blended coffee. When she said that the blend, called Le Mixtape, had notes of chocolate, I decided to order that.

Le Mixtape was a combination of beans from Brazil and Colombia, specifically, Rio Brilhante and Huitaca. The coffee is roasted at the company’s coffee roasting facility in the 20th arrondissement of Paris.

As it was lunchtime, I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, called Veggie Toastie.

I ate the sandwich first. It consisted of grated Comté cheese prepared with parsley and sliced and cooked button mushrooms between two slices of grilled wheat bread. It was wonderfully flavorful and it satisfied my noontime hunger.

I then took a sip of water and tasted the espresso. It did indeed have chocolate flavor, just as the barista had proclaimed.

I purchased a 250g bag of the Mixtape blend, took it home, ground a portion, and then prepared an espresso that tasted much like the one that I had experienced at Ten Belles. I also noted that the brew was unctuous with rich, full-bodied flavor. The brewing process produced a robust crema.

The interior of Ten Belles is small, with seating available at four small tables. (There is additional sidewalk seating.) I was able to get an inside table at the window, with a view of the interior of the shop. I felt lucky to get a table at all, because there was a constant flow of customers coming in to place orders. I believe that most of them were there to order takeout, so the tables did not fill up quickly.

The personnel behind the counter were helpful and answered all of my questions. They did not serve customers at the tables. Rather, they called the customers to pick up the order at the counter once it was ready. I was called to the counter twice: once for the espresso and a second time for the grilled sandwich.

Ten Belles
53, rue du Cherche Midi
75006 Paris

Malongo is situated about a five-minute walk from place Saint-Michel near the Seine River. It is a coffee house that has a large sales room where a coffee beans are roasted and sold; a counter where coffee is brewed and sold; and two rooms where customers sit to enjoy their beverages.

I entered to taste and purchase their coffee of the month and learned that it was Cajamarca from Peru.

Before purchasing the roasted beans, I went to the coffee counter (located in another room) and ordered an espresso made from the same bean.

I also ordered a caramel tart to accompany the espresso. (The barista graciously provided an extra fork so that I could share the tart with my partner.)

After tasting the tart and espresso, I returned to the sales room to purchase a 250g bag of the roasted bean.

There, I learned that a selection of green coffee beans could be roasted on the spot in a retro-futuristic-looking coffee roaster (minimum purchase 500g).

I admired the coffee roaster, but decided to proceed with the purchase of the Peruvian beans, since they had already been roasted, vacuum packed, and packaged in a handsome box.

Back home, I used my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine to make a 40g shot of espresso. The machine produced an espresso with a reddish-golden froth and an intense flavor similar to the one that I had tasted at the coffee shop.

After making several cups over a period of several days, I finally concluded that I could detect the subtle note of grapefruit that was indicated in the tasting notes on the box.

Malongo
50, Rue Saint-André des Arts
75006 Paris