I stepped into Café Aouba a few minutes before closing time to request a cup of the coffee of the day. Because the manager, Paul, had begun the cleaning of the espresso machine, he could not offer one. However, he did ask me what flavor profile I was looking for.
I told him that I preferred chocolate and he named coffees from three countries that produce this profile: Cameroun, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.
Paul told me that the coffee shop has been in existence since 1938. It has kept the original name, which was the name of the first owner.
I purchased a 250-gram bag of whole-bean coffee from Cameroun, took it home, and prepared espressos using my 9Barista stove-top espresso machine. For each preparation, I used the finest grind that my DeLonghi grinder produces.
Cup after cup, I tasted a pleasant bittersweet chocolate flavor with low acidity.
The only information about the coffee that is indicated on the package is the name of the country from which it comes. There is no information there about the variety, the region, the farm, etc.
Café Aouba
30, rue d’Aligre
75012 Paris
