Cool Coffee Bars in Downtown Athens

First of all, Athens and its surroundings have numerous great cafes and the coffee culture is very vivid. Two exceptional coffee bars stand out in the city centre of Athens: Tailor Made and Taf Coffee. These two coffee bars are very cool and modern yet still have a unique local atmosphere and most importantly they serve high quality coffee.

Tailor Made Micro Roastery and Cocktail Bar

Plateia Agia Irini 2, Monastiraki
Athens, Greece

www.tailormade.gr/

Tailor Made is an absolutely cool coffee (and cocktail) bar – a place for afternoon coffee and snacks during the day and cocktails at night. The place is beautifully made with natural colors and elements but what was in my opinion the absolutely coolest element was the brown leather aprons the baristas were wearing! The leather aprons highlighted nicely the craftsmanship of the barista work and I must say they looked very sexy too.

On our visit to Tailor Made we had ice-coffee, a regular cappuccino (fabulous!), a sandwich and a delicious raspberry cheesecake (in a jar). All of them tasted just right and were soon gone. Tailor Made also has its own micro roastery and I bought some coffee beans for home as well – I just could not resist their pink coffee packages of Ethiopian beans. You’ll see the pink coffee package soon on my Instagram and perhaps here on the blog as well.   

At Tailor Made's bar on the wall there is a carved mural of a man’s face. Later I found out the man is architect Ernst Ziller who in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a major designer of royal and municipal buildings in Athens. 

Taf Coffee

Em. Benaki 7-9
Athens, Greece
www.cafetaf.gr/

Taf Coffee is famous for their roastery and baristas who have done well in the international coffee competitions (World Barista Championship and Brewers Cup). But that’s not all - the founder and CEO of Taf Coffee, Yiannis Taloumis, has received SCAE’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Based on all the recognition they have had they are truly committed to coffee at Taf. Naturally, when visiting Athens a cup of cappuccino at Taf was on my list! I visited their coffee shop right in the city center. Their roastery is located outside of Athens in an industrial suburb – hopefully next time I have the chance to visit the famous roastery as well.

Barista Training at Paulig Institute

Coffee keeps fascinating me. I am addicted to the taste of coffee but also the whole coffee culture interests me more and more all the time. Over the years I have traveled around the world and drunk different kind of coffee in so many memorable places. Many times I choose my holiday destinations just because of coffee and I always want to tour the local coffee shops. At home and at the office coffee is an essential part of my days. I have read books about coffee and bought different type of coffee makers to enjoy this wonderful drink. 

With a constantly growing need to learn more about coffee I decided to attend a professional barista training. The training was a one day course ”Barista basics” organized by the Paulig Institute at their head office and roastery in Vuosaari, Helsinki. The day started early but the sleepiness was soon gone due to the amazing morning coffee serving from the famous Paulig golden coffee cups! Honestly, it felt somewhat unreal drinking coffee from the iconic golden cups.  I must say I felt a little nervous holding the cup knowing that the cups (Arabia, Myrna) are exclusively made for Paulig and that they are now longer being made – you don’t want to drop a cup like that!

The training was divided in two parts: first theory lessons in the morning and then practical hands-on training in the afternoon. The theory part was a good introduction to where coffee comes from, how it it processed and roasted, and how good coffee is prepared. The day included also two cupping sessions.  

The practical training started with espresso brewing. After getting the espresso right it was time to move on to other espresso based drinks - cappuccino, caffe latte and latte macchiato. For these drinks it was important to learn how to prepare and pour the milk foam. Although I have an espresso machine at home it was very different to use the bigger professional machine. Actually with the right good machine it felt easier to get a good result. Well, except for the latte art – for that I still need some practice. Anyway it was so much fun making the cappuccinos that I could have continued the whole night! Other participants at the course seemed to feel the same since the trainers had to ask us to stop several times. The day ended with a practical lesson of the maintenance of the grinder and the espresso machine as clean machines are an absolute prerequisite for making good coffee. 

For the first round of cappuccinos the latte art was pretty "original" but at the end of the day the caffe latte and cappucinos looked a little more professional. 

Suomeksi (In Finnish)

Pauligin Baristan perusteet –kurssilla oppimassa lisää kahvista ja harjoittelemassa espresson, cappuccinon ja caffe latten oikeaoppista valmistusta. 

Helsinki Coffee Tour 2.2.2014

On the first Sunday of February I took part to a coffee tour in Helsinki organized by Hanna-Maria Huhtonen from Mustana blog. The program of the tour was packed with the trendiest coffee shops in Helsinki and a visit to a coffee roastery. The tour started with morning coffee at Johan&Nyström's coffee shop by the sea in Katajanokka. I was there a little early and had time to enjoy a morning cappuccino and read some magazines before the tour started.  Other coffee shops on the tour were Fratello's siphon coffee bar in central Helsinki, Good Life Coffee in Kallio and Freese Coffee Co in Töölö. Most of the people on the tour moved from one place to the other by bicycle - even the snowy roads did not bother thirsty coffee fans.

Coffee made with the siphon was on the menu at Fratello Torrefazione. The video on Fratellos’s website shows what happens in siphon coffee making - it is like a visit to chemistry lab.

The tour also included a visit to Kaffa Roastery's roastery at a temporary location in Teurastamo area at Helsingin kahvipaahtimo's facilities. At the roastery coffee roaster Michael Akins introduced how the system of coffee roasting works and what happens to the beans in roasting. He also gave a demonstration by roasting one batch of beans. At the roastery we also tasted a new roast of Bolivian beans and got some samples to take home.

The party really got started at Freese's where we tasted three different coffees prepared by Finnish barista champion Kalle Freese in frespresso style (filter coffee made on the espresso machine). After all the coffee drinking people had a cheerful feel and caffeine levels hitting the roof.

The tour gathered around twenty coffee enthusiasts to learn about coffee roasting and brewing, spend time together, talk about coffee, and of course drink a lot of coffee. This was a first time for a coffee tour like this but hopefully more is to come. The participants seemed to be locals but I think tourists visiting Helsinki would enjoy this kind of program as well. The café culture definitely belongs to the top reasons to visit Helsinki.

Coffee and wine tasting at Cafetoria

On Thursday evening Cafetoria Roastery together with Luomuviinit.fi organized a coffee and wine tasting at Cafetoria’s showroom in Helsinki. The tasting was focused on organic coffees and wines. Cafetoria’s owners Ivan Ore and Mia Nikander-Ore were hosting the coffee tasting. The coffee tasting menu had two organic espressos and two organic filter coffees. One of the coffees was naturally the organic and Fairtrade certified Gran Palomar – perhaps the best known and oldest of Cafetoria’s coffee brands. Gran Palomar is a filter coffee coming from Peru and is said to have the flavour and aroma of the Andes.

The espressos on the tasting menu were Espresso Amigo and Espresso Sublima. The Espresso Amigo is made from 100% Arabica beans coming from Honduras and Ethiopia. The Espresso Amigo worked very well in a cappuccino and gave a flavoursome yet soft taste. The Espresso Amigo ended up being my favourite of the entire tasting. The other espresso – Espresso Sublima – was very good as well but comparing to the Espresso Amigo I felt the taste was a little more spicy and acid.  The Espresso Sublima was told to be an organic blend of gourmet Arabica coffees from South and Central Americas.

The tasting was organized at Cafetoria’s beautiful showroom.

After tasting the coffees it was time to taste some organic wines. The online wine shop "Luomuviinit.fi" was in charge of the wine tasting and they served several organic red and white wines coming from Spain and Italy. Similarly as with the coffees I personally do not prefer much acidity in any drinks and this clearly influenced in the wine tasting as well.  Maybe it was because the weather has now turned colder the red wines seemed much more interesting than the white ones.  Of the red wines I tasted a favourite was easily found. The Spanish red wine Aroa Gorena Reserva coming from Aroa Bodeagas in Navarra was preferred by many of the participants – including myself.  The Aroa Gorena Reserva is a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon red wine matured in oak barrels for 18 months making it taste soft and full-bodied. This is a wine I would consider to accompany a  well cooked meat dish. Good to keep in mind when preparing a special dinner!

The Aroa Gorena Reserva standed out in the wine tasting.

Cafetoria Roastery

Runeberginkatu 31

Helsinki, Finland