5 great new coffees in from our pals at Manhattan Coffee Roasters based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Owned by award winning baristas Esther Maasdam and Ben Morrow - this roastery is putting out some of the best speciality coffee in Europe at the moment - get them now instore or online through our webshop :-)
Famous for towing the line between fruit and floral flavours, Yirgacheffe’s beans often boast some of the highest premiums in the coffee market. There are also arguments that coffee as we know it today owes its origin to the region. With the cultural significance of the location along with the high quality beans it is no surprise that Square Mile have taken an interest in roasting coffee from Yirgacheffe.
While most coffees you see are named after the farm or something more sentimental such as a loved one (seriously), coffees from Yirgacheffe, as well as Ethiopia generally, are in fact named after the mills and plants in which they are processed. As an example the Aricha mill’s yield is made up by the small surrounding farms, which average at one eighth of a hectare in size. It is the combined effort of multiple farmers and their personal harvest that make up the coffee that eventually lands in our cups. While it is a system that allows each farmer to be paid fairly and more quickly, it does make it significantly more difficult to track specific coffee beans in each harvest. Despite this many coffee enthusiasts consider that a good thing, adding mystery to Ethiopian coffee culture.
Given that each cup will contain the flavours of multiple farms, that were picked by the hands of multiple farmers, the Aricha gives not only the taste of coffee but also the taste of - wait for it - a community.
With cheese like this you’d swear we were Loose Cannon. We’ll see ourselves out….. :-)
You can grab this lovely coffee in store or from our web shop https://www.vicecoffeeinc.com/products
We are delighted to welcome John Vaz Matias from Panama Varietals to Dublin for an exclusive cupping of some of the most sought after coffees on the planet. John is project manager at Panama Varietals - a direct trade specialty coffee merchant with a base in Boquete, Panama and Linz, Austria. They source some of the most interesting green beans from some of the most famous farms in the Panama region.
This will be a tasting of their current portoflio featuring coffees from farms such as Finca Hartmann & Finca Leirda that command some of the highest prices for their green beans in the world - https://www.panamavarietals.com
John will also showcase some amazing coffees from his own micro-roasting venture - the Acuerdo Project.
We expect this event to be super popular so we are ticketing the cupping and all proceeds from the event will donated to Inner City Helping Homeless Charity https://ichh.ie
Thanks to Luis Alvarez for his help hosting!
This year we are hosting 2 exciting coffee events;
The Best of Irish Cupping returns - with even more coffees roasted by even more Irish roasters than last years sell out event on Sunday October 20th from 10.30am - tickets already selling fast so get them quick!
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/best-of-irish-cupping-tasting-irelands-best-coffees-tickets-72261260375
We’re also hosting a Coffee Cocktail Masterclass on October 16th where participants will get to learn about the origins of coffee cocktails and then more importantly taste a variety of electrifying creations throughout the duration of the evening - tickets are available through eventbrite
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/coffee-cocktail-masterclass-tickets-72264439885
Our March tasting saw us collaborate with Brew Box - a new coffee subscription service and one of Dublins best know roasters - Cloud Picker for an exciting tasting event.
Brew Box is a monthly coffee subscription service that was launched in late 2018 by Roisin Culligan - a passionate barista that earned her stripes working in many of Dublins best cafes. As a Brew Box subscriber, you receive freshly roasted coffee from some of Irelands best know speciality roasters at the beginning of each month - delivered straight to your door.
For the April drop - Brew Box teamed up with Cloud Picker coffee based in Dublin's docklands. Cloud Picker was established in 2013 by Frank Kavanagh & Peter Sztal. Having worked in graphic design and corporate banking respectively, they took the leap and opened up their own coffee roastery. The name Cloud Picker came from their trip to Northern Thailand where they visited a coffee farm in the Doi Chang area on the Thai / Burma border and where they went up through the clouds to see the coffee pickers!
Cloud Picker was Dublin City’s first micro coffee roastery. The team hand roast to order on their esteemed Giesen roaster on Sheriff street, and also run their café at the Science Gallery (www.sciencegallery.com) on Pearse Street.
Head Roaster James and Wholesale Manager Mike from Cloud Picker took us through their current portfolio - with a coffee cupping of origins that included Brazil, Honduras, Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya and Thailand.
To finish Roisin offered brewing demonstrations for all those avid home baristas looking to get the most from their beans - taking us through the perfect home brewing techniques for the French Press, Aero Press and mastering recipes for Nespresso compatible capsules.
Lovely buzz and thanks to all for coming!
Next event details coming soon!
We were thrilled to have Brian & Darren from Silverskin Roasters to Vice for a special event focusing on the intricate art of coffee roasting. Founded by Brian Kenny who has over 20 years experience in the coffee industry - Silverskin is one of Dublins best known roasters - supplying numerous cafes all over Ireland.
Brian represented Ireland in the World Cupping Championships 2006 and in the following years Brian opened the iconic Coffee Kiosk in Ballsbridge. The premium grab and go coffee outlet was Ireland’s original and smallest Micro-Roastery and at 37 sq ft was probably the smallest roastery in the world!
Brian and Darren talked about how Silverskin sources coffee and their approach to roasting at their new roastery in Glasnevin giving participants a basic understanding of the roasting process, including the roast cycle and how to control sensory aspects of the coffee by roasting light or dark.
Using an Ikawa sample roaster - the guys sample roasted some coffees onsite to give participants some insight into the complex world of roasting. As part of the tasting and demo - we looked at the effect roast profile has on taste and flavour - by cupping green, under roasted, over roasted and optimal roasted coffee beans.
To finish we cupped the current range of coffees from Silverskin - featuring origins like Colombia, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Tanzania, Brazil and others.
Whopper event - thanks to all for coming and to Silverskin for such an insightful event!
Super pumped to feature one of Ireland’s newest roasters for our first tasting event of the year!
We’ll have Andrew & Paola in from Carrow Coffee to talk us through their current range of coffees - featuring origins like Ethiopia, Congo, Guatemala & Brazil!
Andrew is one of Ireland’s 6 Q graders and will give us an insight into sensory analysis - delving into the fascinating role of aromas and flavours when evaluating coffees!
All attendees will get a bag of coffee from Carrow to take home with them after the tasting!
Places are super limited so that each participant has plenty of time to complete the sensory skills exercises!
Join us next Wednesday Dec 12th for our last cupping of 2018 with one of our all time favourite Irish roasters - Bailies.
We'll have Celeste, Stephen & Ross from Bailies all down to talk us through some really special coffees that feature on their current mirco-lot list. There'll be crowd favourites like the Kenyan Kianderi & Ethiopia Yirgacheffe alongside a brand new Guatemalan Cup of Excellence winner - El Limonar.
Entry is free - just sign up here and if you come early - you might just grab yourself a lil’ irish Coffee and mince pie!
http://bailies-xmas-cupping.eventbrite.ie?s=90395896
See you next Wednesday from 6pm
Tom & the Vice Crew
We had an incredible evening with Origin Coffee Roasters and Dan Fellows on Wednesday Nov 21st.
Dan Fellows - fresh from his recent win at the World Coffee In Good Spirits Champs in Belo Horizonte, Brazil was joined by Dan O’Regan, European Wholesale manger for Origin - for a cupping of their current coffee portfolio. We were lucky enough to taste some wonderful coffees from Colombia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Kenya and a special release washed Geisha from Panama.
After the cupping Dan jumped behind the bar & ran a pop up coffee cocktail bar showcasing 2 of his drinks from his routine in Brazil. His menu featured the Kyushiki - a Japanese Old Fashioned with Hibiki, plum liqueur, Jasmine cold infusion, Cachaca, Dark muscovado sugar syrup & lemon juice paired with a chilled espresso of the Finca San Antonio, Semi-washed, Red Pacamara, El Salvador.
The second drink was the perfect cure for a cold and wet winters evening - the Caribbean Irish Coffee made with Balvenie 14yo ‘Caribbean Cask’ whiskey, Chivas Regal, Light muscovado sugar syrup, Coconut palm sugar syrup, organic double cream & a brew of the Finca La Huella, Natural, Yellow Pacamara, Nicaragua.
An absolute pleasure to have the lads from Origin Coffee Roasters over & so great to try Dan’s winning coffees - a true speciality coffee champion!
We have loads of epic coffees from Origin Coffee Roasters still in stock - so swing by and pick up a bag!
The longest ever cupping table of Irish Roasted Coffee ever seen - was a feast for the senses! We had 2 coffees from 19 Roasters from all across the island of Ireland.
A wonderful event - with some incredible coffees from across the globe! A truly phenomenal job by all the roasters who sent us in coffee for the event.
Above we have a few pics from the event - head over to our facebook page for the rest of the pics & get tagging!
Thanks so much to Anna from Dublin Drinks Coffee for taking some awesome snaps!
Next event coming up on November 21st with Origin Roasters (Cornwall, London, UK) - full details to follow soon!