KAUFLAND supermarket coffee adventure - part 8

From 100% Robusta to ''breakfast'' and ''standard'' coffee

This time we are gonna look at Kaufland supermarket, a brother of Lidl chain owned by same Schwarz group. Probably less numerous than chains like Carrefour or Biedronka, yet definitely present in the city and media. I was reminded of it by my car radio and radio at work. Yet, somehow I didn't see any of those on my rout to work or down town. So I googled it on the map as the time came to see what kind of coffee they offer.

 Not bad, ha? This very night I was actually looking for coffee to brew on ROK hand espresso machine that was kindly landed to me for about a week by my espresso coach Krzysztof from Kawa-Warszawa.pl. My original goal was to find dark enough yet little sour beans. Let's see if I succeed.

Even though Kaufland is related to Lidl, they are totally different. Coffee wise as well. If Lidl on most days has a very short line of coffee available and some premium stuff on occasions, Kaufland meets you with quite a choice.

How about that? 100%...not Arabica but Robusta! I am surprised to see such honesty or is it a marketing trick? Robusta is rarely associated with tasty coffee, yet maybe in this case it is rather '100%' that stands out than the coffee plant type.

In case those numerous brands confuse you, there is simply "standard" coffee on the shelf. No need for extra info or details. Not my case, but somebody might appreciate such an approach.

Kaufland keeps surprising with items available. Cereal instant drink is something I never tried before. I'm guessing it is intended for coffee substitution. In the mood for something healthy and experiment? There is more!

How about malt coffee with zinc and vitamins from Anatol? I found one more items worth attention. It has both coffee and chicory (30%/58%). Claimed to be cellulose and magnesium source for you. It looks like instant coffee and substitutes have quite a share in the coffee market here in Poland.

As I was looking for espresso roast, my choice fell on Columbia by MK Cafe. It smelled gourgeous. When you press the pack a little, nice tempting flavour of roasted coffee is too strong to ignore.The price was not bad also. Around 15 zł (4$) a 250 gramm pack.

Overall, Kaufland has a decent coffee offer for common drinker. Also some fun and extravagant options of coffee substitutes. Not much to choose from for coffee freaks though.

P.S. After trying various grinds and temperatures, I still got too sour a coffee from ROK hand espresso machine with this MK Columbia. Now it is time to experiment with filter methods...

Monique Bakery and Wine

The coffee, the view, the atmosphere

Weekend, no hurry anywhere. Perfect time to slow down, relax and have a bite. After having lunch in the food court at Galeria Mokotów my little son was 'strongly persuading' me to find a place for desert. We passed Starbucks, I even paused for a moment thinking of getting a muffin or Belgium waffles. Yet, decided to explore the area and found a nice, busy, promising bakery+wine cafe.

Those colourful Macarons desert caught my attention as well as pies/buns with cherry filling. After couple minutes of figuring out which table to choose we ended up sitting on a couch in a cosy outside area protected with glass.

On spending several hours inside the mall not seeing any sun light, this felt like a breath of fresh air! I can see the sky, people, buildings, cars. High five goes to designers of this comfort. Tall glass windows are rather walls than actual windows. In couple weeks when it gets warmer, I bet the doors will be open and it should be even livelier with the fresh air and some light street noise.

 You are basically on top of the building where one of the parking lots is. Anyway, it feels great to see the sky, don't you think? Or one can simply park nearby and watch their expensive Porsche :).

Never knowing what kind of coffee you might get in a new place I went for a double espresso and milk 'on the side''. Crema looking pretty much like tiger skin, dense body, nutty/caramel notes... I am well pleased! Love, love love! The waiter told us they get coffee from a small roastery near Lublin city. Good to know the owner/manager cares about coffee even though it is a wine +bakery restaurant.

My cappuccino expert confirmed her drink to be decent, tasty with rich milk foam. Macarons had various tastes so some colours deserved more attention than others. Tastes would be very individual here. Overall, Monique is a success to me. Coffee was great, deserts too. Atmosphere was simply contagiously inviting. I could spend 2-3 hours straight just sipping coffee and watching people pass. There is more to try here, maybe other bakery products and wine as it is something they advertise.

BIEDRONKA supermarket coffee adventure - part 7

Survival mode

Warsaw seems to be pretty developed in matters of shopping with main European supermarket chains present. Groceries, shoes, jeans, fashion items know no shortage. How about something more local? Are there still some polish chains not bought by big fish?

Check out Biedronka. I don't know who owns it, but these are smaller grocery stores with a name that definitely sounds polish and translates as 'lady bug'. Biedronkas are not big in size or have a super wide choice of products, but they are all around the city. Remote districts and down town. Probably due to their reasonable size they fit almost anywhere.

Ok, cute little store, have you got coffee? Anything worth trying? Can you satisfy millions of Varsovians craving for coffee when they are short on time and go shopping to the nearest grocery store?

Looks like coffee offer here is not very rich to say the least. Definitely not a first priority. It is ok taking into consideration the size of the store. In case you are low on coffee and need it right away, there is some instant and ground coffee here. I even found a fun glass cup of coffee. Cream/milk additions to coffee are situated here also.

Biedronka will help you survive if you are slumming. That makes sense to me even though I expected to see more. Numerous offers and shops all around make us a bit spoiled. To sum it up, Biedronka wouldn't be my first choice when I got time and gas to drive extra 5-10 minutes to a bigger grocery store. However, it could help a student study through the night with some rough instant coffee.

Nastrojowa Cafe - sweet place for a chat and coffee

Comfy, quiet and old style

Friday, lunch time, half day till weekend left. What could be more positive? Add coffee and good people. Now you got it all to be happy. Nastrojowa Cafe was our target destination today. Thank goodness, traffic was ok and my pretty french car delivered us to pasaż Ursynowski 9 at Ursynow district of Warsaw quickly. Unless you live or work somewhere nearby, you probably wouldn't know about the place. Tourists would be rare guests here. Yet, if you are close, give it a shot.

You can't but notice drawings on all possible walls inside. Nastrojowa has a mix of things: coffee, gallery of drawings, deserts, Moka pots and even cute old style cups! A memory came up to the surface of my mind. I was in a similar place on my first visit to Warsaw. It had same atmosphere. Just a different location, somewhere down town. Here you are given a choice of various coffee options by origin and flavour. It can be a standard espresso blend or more premium single origins.

Two opposite emotions I have in Nastrojowa. Enjoying great atmosphere, small red armchairs and dim light on one hand, and my soul demanding better coffee on the other. Jonny and I had Peru and Kenya espresso. It wasn't bad, yet not perfect. Lacking body and thickness in crema, to my mind. However, I enjoyed my several sips by adding a little sugar to it.

Hard to tell if the place is very busy or not, for it was middle of a work day. While we were chatting, a lady with an adorable baby in a sling came in for a coffee drink with whipped cream to go and went on her way.

This is a perfect place for conversation. You can either sit next to the window and watch the life happening outside or go up to kind of a inside balcony with several tables there with even more intimate atmosphere. Nice place to stop by after work with colleagues for tea or coffee and desert. Here you can discuss the day or all of your boss's actions))). I am nostalgic when remember such chats at a coffee house with my reception team after night shifts at Alfavito hotel in Kyiv (decent place for a night actually). Good old times indeed.

No reason of being too picky with Nastrojowa. It is not intended for coffee freaks who would turn around on simply seeing grinded coffee sitting in the grinder for more than 5 seconds. This cafe gives you right setting and mood for an open and maybe long conversation.

Sowa desert shops - part 2

100% Arabica does make a difference 

Here is another interesting desert shop in Warsaw. Cukiernia Sowa boasts to be a shop with a story (more here). More than that, they treat coffee well by brewing only Arabica for customers. I suppose that should leave a mark on the taste, for Arabica is known for its better taste.

This shop is a small comfy corner for a short break from running places and completing tasks in a big city. Take a deep breath, sip coffee and finish with a desert. Sounds good? I bet. So what have we got here? Desert shop with coffee. Seems to be a popular concept nowadays, don't you think? I found out that good desert is not to be found in big grocery stores. Small bakeries or desert shops are what you need when looking for sweet stuff. And they indeed stand to the calling. 

Wedding cakes? no problem. Special occasions? This is the place. Want some cakes to go? Stop by and get it. I am not that much of a sweet tooth but occasionally enjoy a piece of a cake here with my family. Sowa similarly to other desert shops is equipped with professional grinders and espresso machines. Is the end result same then? Is coffee also of average taste?

Surprise! Coffee is great! Very slightly bitter as for espresso, thick, rich taste. Pleasant and balanced I would say. The guys who decide which coffee to sell, didn't compromise on the quality and taste. You can tell right away that this coffee is tasty. I was impressed when had my first espresso there. Love, love love! The barista girl was busy with the customers, so I didn't bother her with my questions about coffee origin and the like. Usually baristas in shops like this don't go deep into details anyway. 

Even though Sowa shops are not as numerous as other chains, they are my personal favourite among non Third Wave coffee shops. Simply speaking, they have best espresso among non-specialised places like Blikle, Grycan and even coffee shops like Costa, Nero and the like. You got me as a loyal customer, your espresso is like sunshine on a typical foggy Warsaw day))).

P.S. Some Sowa shops have ice-cream. And it is just radically delicious! Try the strawberry one, it even smells like true strawberries! Vanilla or mango also definitely deserve a bite.

Blikle desert shops - part 1

Desert comes first, then coffee

These fancy looking, welcoming and chocolaty smelling Blikle desert shops have been tempting me for a while. Usually lacking time I would just pass those with a thought that I must pop in one of those later. Love that wood in décor. Gives you a feel of quality and traditions going far into the old times. The rest also looks rich.
Really hard to ignore deserts in such a nice shop. Yet, I did this time, cuz I just wanted to try their coffee. And I know well that little cup of espresso and desert don't really go together. Desert requires a cappuccino or at least americano. Agree?

The place was empty with just me sitting and sipping espresso. I noticed a sweet modern machine these guys make espresso with. Can't tell you the brand, I tried not to be too intrusive or paparazzi to the barista/shop assistant lady. She was busy tiding the place, taking away the free cake samples (shoot, I was just a minute late for free stuff!).
Was coffee great? Rather ok, than something extraordinary. Crema wasn't that thick, and body was kinda too watery. However, it was good enough, generally speaking. I'm not sure on how much attention coffee gets in desert shops and Blikle in particular.
Cakes occupy the podium here. There is also wine being sold. My guess coffee is not number#1 drink. Yet, if you are craving for desert and would like to accompany it with a big coffee, you are very welcome. It is decent enough.

Relaks and relax more

A hidden jewel 

Minimalistic design, soviet looking apartment buildings, tiny park among those, trams and cars passing by. Life goes on. People rush to their workplaces. Happy ones with flexible schedule take their dogs for a walk during the day.

About a month ago I had some unplanned free time and spent it in a park on the other side of the street . If only I knew there was such a sweet place nearby! 'Relaks' on Puławska 48 is a bit hidden from the main street. more than that, a so to say food triangle of a hamburger point, Italian restaurant and a vegetarian cafe would be the first to see through your vehicle window.

Anyway, Relax was on my list of places to visit on my move to Warsaw. I found it in coffee blogs this past fall. One friend of mine mentioned it couple days ago and I realised that I kinda forgot about my list of coffee shops to visit. Time to go find a new place is always a challenge so I just waited and waited for the chance. And here I come with my fam and a good friend of ours.

Unless you walk in, nothing really captures your attention on the outside. Simple sign, no expensive advertisement, blinking lights or music playing to catch your attention. Walls are covered with posters from several decades back into history. I could spend a day just reading those and meditating on the events of the polish past, for it has much in common with other eastern Europe countries.

Barista Dema moved to Warsaw from Kyiv and could tell my accent right away. He shared his excitement of working in an atmosphere of professional attitude to coffee. It was so good to meet somebody from your native land! These guys buy best beans, brew them and decide on what they are gonna sell in Relaks. We chose 1) Costa Rica roasted in Denmark and brewed in Kalita drip, and 2) Guatemala roasted in Krakow and brewed by Fetco automatic drip. I enjoyed the first one more. It seemed to have a stronger acidity and brighter taste.

As one might spend a good deal of time at Relaks, they offer some snacks, deserts and non-alcohol drinks. As i set on a couch with a cup of coffee I saw people living their lives in this place. There are business talks happening, shares being bought and sold through laptops, articles written, magazines read and so on.

Chalk board with a menu and shelves with coffee and alternative brew equipment are pretty standard nowadays for places like this. Yet that one with trophies from various contests does add certain respect for the business for you see the owner knows his stuff really well. It is more than money making, it must be a passion.

I loved every minute of my stay even though a dog licked on the quiche I naively left on the table while chatting with barista. Heating was a little to strong that day and I was hot. However, Relaks is on my list of favourites now. It ads a positive note to first days of spring that is still grey and foggy here in Warsaw. I heard there was one more Relaks downtown...

P.S. love that cup in the picture!

AUCHAN supermarket coffee adventure - part 6

Evening coffee, malt coffee and whatever else you want!

Looks intriguing, doesn't it? And there is more to it, coffee for any time of the day. Such a bold approach requires testing for sure. Usually coffee shops are closed around 8 p.m. Will this coffee help me sleep or keep awake? Is it a decaf kind? Too many questions bombarding my mind right now!

The Wake Up one has coconut, Midday - pear and Afternoon - tiramisu taste. Do you have same associations with the time of the day? Anyway, the idea is really cool. What is left is tasting it sometime soon. 

Auchan offers Marila brand coffee with a happy farmer on it. The bag also reveals how much of Arabica and Robusta is mixed in it. 90/10 is not at all bad. Origin is not a secret too. All this is pointing to a good trend in attitude to coffee in supermarkets. There is more and more info on what we are actually buying and drinking. I guess some call it Third Wave in coffee shops business. It is no longer just coffee, there is so much more to it like country and even farm of origin, type (Arabica or Robusta to put it simple, more on difference between the two here), roast and so on. 

These bags are meant to give you a feel of buying a big bag of coffee from a farmer in Colombia. I've seen it in other shops too. One kilo is too big of a pack for me though. It would turn old before I drink it up. Big family could deal with it in a week.

Delta brand offers some pretty looking packs with pretty faces. And the bag has a shape of a thin body I guess. Anyway, it probably is to give you certain associations or emotions. Whether you would like to look like those women or be as slim as they are or whatever else comes to mind, Delta Coffee Sensations stand out on the shelf. 

What in the world? Malt coffee? Are you familiar with it? All I know is that it is a substitute and probably without caffeine. As a kid I tried chicory several times and that didn't really make me a coffee fan. Yet, then coffee was something quite expensive and rare. I guess it might work for people who just can't have any caffeine or choose not to. 

Ok, I must say Auchan has almost everything possible there. I want to mention these popular filters. They are meant for drip coffee machines and can also be used at home as a cheaper version of filters or ones to start with and experiment with your brewing technics. At least they worked for me when I had no idea about Hario, Chemex and other cool brands.

Auchan is huge and the choice of coffee it offers is also very wide be it instant, decaf, 100% arabica, 3in1, capsules, pods and what not. They only stuff lacking is light roasted specialty coffee. I'm pretty sure it is a question of time now. More and more cool coffee shops open up offering specialty coffee and supermarkets don't want to lag behind.

'Tea and Coffee shop' coffee boutiques - part 1

More tea than coffee boutique

While various crazy ideas keep coming to my mind, this particular one made me chew on it for a bit. How about visiting big malls and checking out what coffee options they have? I've got a series of posts on grocery stores, but this is different. We face a different level here. While supermarkets do have quite a choice of coffee brands, these small boutiques are specialised in selling only coffee and tea. I guess their goal is to offer premium coffee and sophisticated service for those who are looking for more or longing for some new taste, top level quality and so on.

MODO mall has a gazillion of boutiques with clothes. It is enormous! If you care about fashion, there is a place for you here. One can easily spend a whole day here shopping and still cover maybe only half.

As for me, my heart is sold to coffee, and of course this tiny cute coffee shop caught my attention. I couldn't ignore it, so I walked in. Lady at the desk was nice to ask me whether I wanted anything in particular. I asked for lighter roast (for those who don't own an espresso machine at home) and rather acidic than bitter. Here you could smell the coffee, which I surely did. Coffee samples are stored in special glass containers, yet I could hardly tell the aroma at all. So I went for the one that had a light but pleasant one. Columbia Supremo La Ceibe. How do you like these small pretty red packs? Remind you of tea ones, don't they? As you can see, only 50 grams to start with and see if it is worth coming back for more.

The prices vary from 10 zł (2.5$) to about 30zł (7.5$) per 100 gr of coffee. Definitely higher than supermarket options, even the Tchibo premium stuff, yet still cheaper than for e.g. Krakow's Coffee Proficiency or German Bonanza Roasters. 3 out of 4 on my coffee price scale where 4 is the highest and hits your wallet hard every time.

Nothing else to wait for, let's try it. So i did two turns. Both pour over, with temperature first 90C, and then second 85C. My expectations were not met, I must say. On grinding the coffee smelled nice, but when brewed - not that much. The roast was meant to be light, yet turned out still darker than acceptable for filter coffee or home coffee equipment.

If I had to add cream the first time, the second go was much better. After cooling down a little, I could even feel some pleasant sourness. I'm pretty sure Columbia has more there than this dark roast actually releases. I envy you guys who have espresso machines. Looks like you got more options with coffee out there. To sum it up, Tea and Coffee Shop coffee should be brewed on the lower temperature edge of 80-85C. Otherwise one ought to add milk, cream or sugar. In case you like coffee with milk, then welcome to this shop. Their coffee goes well with milk.

P.S. They got some really good yellow tea there. Maybe it is more of a tea than coffee boutique?