Coffee, real coffee...

Food & Drink, Events and Entertainment
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I recently made a couple of worthwhile discoveries in Switzerland with regards to real coffee. By real coffee I mean coffee that has been procured from the source and hand roasted in small batches. The roasting is generally considered 'light' as this brings out the flavour of the bean and not the roast.

If ever you want to know how coffee manufacturers like Illy or Lavazza always get their coffee to taste exactly the same it's because they use a blend of beans and then roast the living spirit out them. What you're tasting is the roast, not the bean. What you're tasting is crap, one level up from the soulless coffee capsule.

Long and lightly roasted beans conserve the natural flavour of the bean that some people might find odd at first. It opens up a new door to gourmet coffee, but not as you know it. Think of coffee that is naturally sweet or sour, that might taste of green apples, berries, caramel or nuts. Coffee that is more suitable for adventurous milk-based drinks or dark and tempting espressos.

This is slow coffee that can only be obtained by careful process that is almost zen-like and meditative. It is a journey that is well worth embarking on and reaps glorious, dark, bitter and viscous rewards.

I have found a wonderful roastery in Basel and they are dedicated to the beautiful elixir. They also personally buy the beans from small farmers, mostly in central America and the Amazonas. Their beans are 100% Arabica. They are well priced and wonderful.

Check out haenowitzpage.ch

They are also well worth a visit in Basel for a brew or a jibber-jabber about coffee. Their enthusiasm for coffee is infectious. The roastery is interesting and you can buy coffee directly from them.

The other roastery that I found was kafischmitte.ch

They stock some amazing African Arabicas that taste of deep chocolates, fruity berries, nuts and jungle. These coffees are just amazing. You can also visit them in Ementhal. They are also fair trade and source from origin.

I currently have their Ethiopian Adado Natural in my grinder's hopper. Wonderful stuff.

If there are any other coffee lovers (slow coffee, real coffee) - share your secrets here.

For those interested, I use an Elektra Microcasa Piston Lever Machine and I have a Mahlköhnig Vario grinder.

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Prices are on par with the decent Italian stuff - Lucaffe, Passalaqua

I might order a few bags to try

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I can recommend the following:

From Haenowitzpage: Guatamala, Honduras, Strong

From Kafischmitte: Adado (I have yet to try the others I bought, but so far a big winner)

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I think black and blaze also do a terriffic roast...

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I love the coffee from Haenowitz, the blends they do are very good too. I currently have their Strong blend in my grinder. Their Honduras single origin bean is just delicious, chocolaty and velvet smooth.

That wee bit extra effort of grinding beans fresh, making an espresso & steaming milk is all worth it! Getting rid of my Nespresso was the best thing i ever did coffee wise, that & getting a Gaggia Classic as a Christmas present

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I've now tried a couple of the African beans from Kafischmitte, the Kenyan & the Ethiopian and both are fantastic coffee's. Thanks for the heads up

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Coffee at Babu Bakery in Zurich is very good as well.

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Tim hortons coffee is the best! Consider Ive tried many different brands and beans all over the world. I highly suggest it to you all. Try ebay or amazon for containers and see for yourself! Greets

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And McDonald's makes the best burgers!

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Thanks for the post.

Out of interest, have you tried roasting your own beans and if so, have you found a Swiss supplier of green beans?

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That will be the next step I am sure! Kafischmitte sell raw beans.

http://www.kafischmitte.ch/kaffee/ro...uct-5402721163

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I can reccommend Rast http://www.rast.ch

They are a roaster based in Ebikon, Luzern. They roast fresh to order each week.

Because the roast is so fresh, its best to leave it for 2 weeks or so to settle before grinding and pulling a shot.

Their website is a bit confusing. Click on the top left "Zum Shop" and you will then get a list of all the blends you can order.

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Hi, I already posted this in some of the topics on coffee in this website but FYI, in Geneva there is an artisanal roaster called Viverra Coffee.

I tried some of their coffee, and very much satisfied. They actually have the third variety of beans called Liberica.

You may want to check their website: www.viverracoffee.ch .

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Schwarzenbach in the old part of Zurich also roasts some very nice coffees. You can buy them in the shop or order online:

http://www.schwarzenbach.ch/

http://www.schwarzenbach.ch/g3.cms/s.../s_level/11390

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Finally an interesting topic :-).

Many years ago I used to roast green coffee and got the beans from

http://www.sweetmarias.com/index.php

or

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/

On my search, I've also found several German suppliers - not a problem right now as coffee roasting is one of the things every modern hipster should do ;-).

I went through a couple of machines as well as roasting in the oven or a frying pan - all methods can yield a good roast, as long as you are careful with your technique. Frying pan method is an easy way to get started without investing a rappen.

In the end I became lazy and switched to ordering freshly roasted beans and for many years it's been always from http://www.hasbean.co.uk/

As for coffee varietals, I found out that I mostly enjoy Central American coffee (El Salvador being the favorite) as well as African (Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi AND Yemeni, which probably deserves its own category). I tend to order random stuff once in a while - I've had great Arabica coffees from countries such as India or the Philippines, which are not commonly recognized as coffee growing countries. Not once have I had luck with the "famous" Jamaica Blue Mountain. Hawaiian Kona is, however, awesome.

Thanks for sharing the links to Swiss roasters. Will have to do some shopping :-)

edit:

Just had a look at http://www.viverracoffee.com/en/shop

Appears they sell only Philippine coffee, but are quiet about it. Sagada is the good stuff.

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My Swiss friend also recommended Schwarzenbach (in Zurich old town) for best coffee beans. They roast some of their coffee beans (or all, I am not sure) as I have seen them roasting coffee beans in the shop. Hope some of you who are real coffee drinkers can check it out and come back with feedbacks on their coffee beans.

What kind of coffee machines do you guys use? Do you grind your beans or you get them grinded in the shop? I am interested to learn more about real coffee ever since moving to CH.

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hasbean are great. I've sampled a few of their beans, all with great success.

I took delivery of two vivera varieties yesterday, the sagada peaberries and the Batangas. I have not yet tried the Sagada, but the Batanga is a very dark roast, deep tobaco, leather adn fruity flavours with a very pleasant sour note.

Thanks for your input.

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Curious about the OP's experience with the Elektra Microcasa Piston Lever Machine - I've read largely critical reviews of the machine, mostly in regards to build quality, overheating and fairly steep learning curve for use...Did you get the machine en Suisse?

I've been wanting to invest in a quality espresso machine and have had my eye on a Marzocco GS/3

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Hi FCBarca,

I did a lot of research on lever machines. I was originally going to get the La Pavoni and in fact ordered it. It was only when there was a delay on account of stock that I changed my mind and ordered the more expensive Elektra Micro Casa.

Like you I found very mixed reviews about this machine.

I used to be a chef and in kitchens we have a saying; a good chef never blames his tools . For nearly 8 years I used a crappy Fust (the same as Morphy Richards) 200 CHF machine and managed to churn out pretty good coffee until it finally packed up. I learned to work with the machine, which was important.

So I applied the same concept to the Elektra. At first it was a pretty steep learning curve with about 10% success rate on pulling good espresso. I had it overheat and trip and I thought I broke it (only to discover that it has a trip switch that can reset it). Now though, I'd say I have an 80-90% hit rate on GOOD espresso shots.

The nice thing about the Elektra is the piston lever. The La Pavoni requires you to apply the pressure pulling the shot and therefore is difficult to use consistently. The piston lever in the Elektra means that you only pull down to fill the chamber then you release the lever and let the spring piston do the rest.

All you have to calibrate is the granularity of the ground coffee.

I can calibrate a new bean in 1 or 2 shots.

As for overheating... OK, you can't leave it on all day as it will run dry or overheat. I can make 4-6 coffees in row before I need to switch it off for a few minutes to let it cool. It takes about 10-15 minutes to heat up.

I never run dry and I never burn shots. I don't have a problem with overheating, but I do switch it off between coffees.

As for the milk frother, WOW. It's supreme. It can heat milk for 2 coffees in about 20 seconds. Also, it produces excellent micro-foam. The foaming capability of the Elektra is superior.

The machine is a dream to keep clean. The build quality is exceptional, it's a hand-crafted machine, which I find solid and beautifully designed.

In short I love my Elektra and have learned to become one with it.

I would say that if you drink a lot of coffee and can't be bothered to learn or get to know your machine then you're probably better off getting a more automated machine.

One thing that is of vital importance is the grinder. Do get a good grinder. I have a Mahlkoenig Vario. It's a great grinder but if I ever upgrade, I'd go for the Mazzer mini.

Also, do get a proper tamp. I am constantly amazed that these beautiful machines come with plastic tamps. I have learned what a huge difference this can make.

As for the Marzocco GS/3 - that's a serious machine! It has a lot going for it with dual boilers (one for brewing and one for steaming) and what you will find really good is that you can control the brewing temperature. A shot pulled a little cooler is less bitter... you can control a lot just with temperature alone.

There is a good review for this machine on home-barista

I am considering a second machine. The Elektra is a bit like a sports car.

I ordered all my gear from https://www.espressocoffeeshop.com

They reduce VAT and ship to CH. Good prices.

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Terrific rundown & excellent points, Magick...Grazie

I'm willing to put in the time & effort to get a wonderful shot, complete with rich golden crema...and even invest in a high priced machine...But I also realize they come with risks, particularly in terms of a lack of warranty/repair that can turn something into an expensive paper weight

I did get the impression the Elektra was more classic sports car whereas the Marcozzo seemed a bit more BMW/Mercedes but I think a good shot almost always involves a learning curve

Temperature was something I learned from my wife, whom I met when she was working as a barista at a cafe, can be an overlooked yet vital aspect of the elusive perfect shot...I'm sure many of us have had a bad shot before as a result of a machine running too hot and burning it...And of course a great burr grinder - I had a Mazzer back in the US and the mini was the one I was eying for here as well