Ok, I’m in a café in Warsaw and I’m not even sure what the name is. But it's stunning. I think its the one Malgosia recommended, but the coffee is superb, out of this world. Or from all over the world. Oh, I’ve just found out that it's called Sklep v Kawa. 'Coffee Shop'. And yes, there's a small coffee shop attached. So… There you are. Does what it says on the tin. And I do love how understated this is - they must know just how good their stuff is. It's literally on a par with the Algerian Coffee House in Old Compton Street in London, except the latter doesn't have a fantastic café attached. They have genuine Jamaican Blue Mountain. Even a peaberry variety. Hawaii Kona, Yemen Matari, Mexico Maragogype and Altura, Nepal Mount Everest Supreme, (which is actually grown at the foot of the Ganesh Himal mountain, about seventy clicks from Kathmandu, but which is fed by waters from the melted snow of the Himalaya), Ethiopia Sidamo and Djimah, as well as Yirgacheffe, Costa Rica Tarrazu san Rafael, Guatemala Antigua, (in choices of roastings), Brazil Pergamino sul de Minas (certified by BSCA), Nicaragua SHB, Papua New Guinea Pearl (a romantic word for peaberry), Java WIB, Colombia Supremo Medellin, Puerto Rica Yauco Selecto, Sumatra Mandheling, a selection of Indian plantation roasts. I mean, come on. What more could anyone want?
Well, how about this: they make all the coffees in little 'Szeherezada' ceramic topped macchinas on a stove at the front of the café right there in front of you. With ginger, cardomum, cinnamon, natural spices as part of chinese medicine brewed in a kettle for two minutes. And Kulczycki Coffee, Ethiopian Djimah brewed with honey. It’s going to take wild horses to remove me. Or possibly excess caffeine. One lady brews and delivers, and another pops her head out from the room beyond to retrieve the used pots. The café itself is small, with wooden tables replete with - slightly oddly (or maybe not - Africa after all) zebra skin wraps around the wooden topped stools. Three small tables for four people and and one for two.
I watch stove lady making my coffee. Brewing the beans with cardomon. Good for the kidneys, apparently, and that's fine by me. She brings the small cup and a little side order of milk. I asked her what's best - with or without? She said she felt without. Mmm. Good choice. A double espresso in a small cup, full to the brim. Simple. But, oh… the aroma from the top - it's not cheap at 8zl, or about a pound sixty, but it's the best I’ve ever smelled, and I haven't even tasted it yet. In fact it would be worth the price just for the aroma. Just sit and smell it. 8zl. Yeah, I’m fine with that. Contemporary music, which is actually ok; Turkish or trad music might be more in keeping with the feel, but conversely could turn this into a museum piece, a tourist curiosity, which I can see it isn't. So i'm ok with it. An alternative would be no music at all. That would also be fine. Maybe what it needs is Darek with his duduk....
Ubiquitous tealights on the table, and the huge german sweetener dispenser spoils it a bit. The single light from the window would be fine. They also have a Pepsi fridge full of Liptons iced tea and of course Pepsi. Which also seems out of place in a place so small and so dedicated, but I’m sure they get asked for it, or they wouldn't have it here. Oh, and that coffee tasted every bit as good as it smelled. Truly, truly great coffee. And my kidneys do indeed feel fortified and ready to face the brutal cold outside. This was an unexpected find. A quick stunning coffee. And now I must be on my way to see a lady about procuring some beautiful girls. All in the cause of the furthering of photographic art, of course.
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