woensdag 10 juli 2019

ROOTS IN COFFEE


Every now and then most of us in coffee trade and hospitality, get questioned about ‘that first moment’, when coffee became a/the big/gest part of their life, be it as amateur or (later as) professional. Often heard is THE moment someone drank ‘another’ coffee, then they were used to. Probably the time and place and mindset and (in both senses) company intervened considerably. Let’s agree to “blame” serendipity here. (I serendipity)


For me it was a build-up several years, being around my father, him always creating some mythical stuff around brewing, ordering and tasting. Respectively, a pinch of salt on the grounds and blooming first, very important! (I’m talking the 80’s now). Ordering meant asking for the exact description of the beverage, usually espresso, so especially on holidays in Spain it had to be a café solo (NOT just “un café” or worse, “un expresso”). And tasting… the first sip always seemed to decide his mood for the next hour(s). It became a habit to – cautiously – ask him after that first sip had sunken in: “And? Is it good..?”

Later I inherited his Krups portafilter machine, a holy (albeit mostly plastic) device, for only being meant to be used on special occasions. Between then and now coffee slowly, became more and more one of the (three 😉) most important things in life for me. Continuously upgrading my soft- and hardware, fed by more (and more, and *more*) information and all other 3rd wave’s be(a)nefits, sideways collecting logo branded espresso cups as a hobby that is getting a bit out of hand 😂. And oh yeah… switching careers 11 years ago!


Of course I do remember the feeling and experience my regular cortado at Dutch first specialty shop Coffee Company gave me about 20 years ago (often made by barista Jasper Uhlenbusch, their current green coffee buyer) – a cortado then being a sophisticated step-up from bigger milky drinks from lesser quality beans; the moment from whom I had my first specialty beans (Has Bean UK as a 12-months subscriber back in 2008!); and I do know when I drank my first Geisha (in 2013 and no, not a Panamanian but the ‘original’ first Central-American, a Costa Rican, from Coffea Diversa via Brazuca Coffee Amsterdam).

All are great moments and memories! But was one of these my real first sensorically subliminal momentum (“a stimulus or mental process below the threshold of sensation or consciousness; perceived by or affecting someone's mind without their being aware of it.”)??

(c) Haagsche Courant, 1975

(Denneweg 126, The Hague - year and photographer unknown)


These pictures represent *that* moment probably best. This is “Inproc”, an ancient establishment (read more about them below) in The Hague, The Netherlands, where I, as a little kid at the age of 8-10 years sometimes joined my father when he was buying tea (!).

The walk up to the doorstep always raised excitement, literally. And also a pleasantly weird aversion 😏 just narrowly overtaken by curiousness with regards to… the aroma of roasted coffee [💥] !! Overwhelming in all senses, together with the noises from the customers, the negotiations, … and that roaring roaster, all of this in a weirdly darkish atmosphere, creating a mysterious ambiance, as if sensory secrets were being produced and traded (which they were of course 😬). This is the place where the seed must have bean [sic] planted in me!


✏ Now.. how about your roots in coffee?!


About Inproc (Indonesian PROducts Center):

Already in 1853 this company started selling Indonesian products in a shop in The Hague. Three different families ran the business for 114 years until 1967 when the pictured Buys family took over. Piet and Corrie had little experience with stores, but by opting for quality and attention they were successful (hear, hear!). The coffee was freshly roasted and ground by themselves and they also blended the tea in-house. The focus more and more became on these two products, no longer selling other (typical Indonesian) products such as “kroepoek” and “tempeh”. After Piet's death in 1993, Corrie continued with the help of trusted employees. Unfortunately, Corrie also passed away in the first decade of this century. The store threatened to close four years ago, but coincidentally it was saved by a Chinese statue in the shop window. The statue was owned by the Buys family. The owner contacted Krista, the daughter of Piet and Corrie: she had to come and get the statue because the store was closing. She couldn’t let that happen and decided to… buy the store back into the family! Krista succeeded her parents with pride and enthusiasm. To this day – 20 steps further down the same road, there are still customers who already came to get orders from her parents at the time.

(tekst adapted from www.ikgidsudoordenhaag.nl from city guide Jacqueline Alders)