Neku wrote:Thanks for all the info, zix. Anyway, consider yourself lucky to have that "EspressoHouse" thing. In Belgium, nobody has a clue how to make a decent espresso (except maybe me, and Phil would probably even disagree with that
).
You are quite right, of course (about us being lucky). EH are a sign of the times too, expanding in the same tempo as the new coffee attitude.
Espresso House is a comparatively well-run establishment at the time being. Alike starbucks, they have a well thought-out concept, here with a tightly controlled, modern scandinavian "arty", a little sparse interior design. They serve acceptable but not great espresso, and quite good pastry + sandwiches. Really, there´s nothing at all wrong with them - apart from this running-smaller-cafés-out-of-business part of the concept, which - viewed from another angle than I choose to take - isn´t really their fault. If they are good enough, can provide a richer customer experience and are inexpensive enough to make people go to them instead of to other cafés, is that really Espresso House´s problem?
My hope is that the new swedish fab for lattes, cappas and espressos also would mean people start looking at the coffee grower part of the coffee business, and generally get more well-informed about that, and that they realize that this latte thingy is not necessarily another "concept" or "lifestyle" they must embrace - to me, all that is needed is to start tasting and getting to like the taste of... well, real coffee, again. Like our grandparents did. The freshly roasted, ground and extracted coffee bean,
not the post-processed industrial, sometimes artificial product. That is what the coffee revolution
should be about if you ask me. If some of those people, alike me and many of you fellow TMC members, choose at some point to combine that "real" coffee with a good grinder and an espresso machine, all the better.
Neku wrote:I'd love to see this evolve into some sort of article, a bit like what I wrote about Brussels. Do you feel up to that?
Yes, sure I do, if I can have two weeks respite before I start writing, and then two-three more weeks to write it. I would need to check things out in Stockholm and in the smaller cities, a little time to take some pictures and also time to iron it out a bit.