Brussels embraces slow coffee trend
With a host of speciality coffee shops opening across the city in recent years, Brussels appears to have caught on with the caffeine trend that has swept other European cities
Filling a niche, and a craving
The latest newcomer is Bocca Moka near the Stefania roundabout in the city’s Sint-Gillis district. It’s run by Karina Salieva, who opened the bar because of her absolute love for coffee. “I used to work as a sales representative for a hotel chain,” she says. “In every city, I saw these lovely coffee places but somehow in my hometown of Brussels, there wasn’t anything like that.”
About a year ago, she decided to start something on her own. She quit her job and found herself on a plane to Italy for an intense barista training.
“I wanted to distinguish myself from other coffee bars and focus on different brewing methods,” Salieva explains. “The V60 ceramic drip and Aeropress weren’t being used in Brussels, so I decided to focus on those and add even more options.”
At Bocca Moka (pictured) you can order Italian coffee straight from the mocha maker or a cup brewed by a Japanese siphon, a contraption that slowly heats the water through a halogen lamp. Soon to be added to the range of options: molecular coffee – a first in Belgium. “It’s an experience similar to a hookah pipe, where you basically inhale the coffee,” Salieva explains.
All these methods take a little time, hence the umbrella term “slow coffee”. But if you love coffee, it’s worth the wait, since the slow brewing process really brings out the flavour of the beans. “The speciality coffees are made with 100% single origin coffee; for the cappuccinos or espressos, I use an Italian blend of 80% Arabica and 20% Robusta,” says Salieva.
Location, location, location
Finding the right spot for the bar proved a challenge. Salieva wanted to set up shop in the city centre, the European quarter or the Louiza area. “It took me about five months before I found a space that felt right for my project,” she says.
Locals are not familiar with this kind of coffee drinking
But since the beginning of May, the many shoppers, tourists and office workers in the upscale area have a new spot to still their caffeine cravings. “Because of the neighbouring Italian embassy and school, I see a lot of Italian customers,” Salieva says. “They drink their mochas strong – no milk or sugar – and often just standing at the bar.”
Visiting tourists also have their own preferences. “They are quite keen on single-origin coffees and, as many of them are used to speciality bars, have no trouble choosing their brewing method.”
For the city’s locals, all this is still uncharted territory. “They’re not familiar with this kind of coffee drinking,” Salieva explains, “but they are very interested in the process and always want to know more about it.”
Besides an extensive list of coffee options, Bocca Moka also serves muffins, cookies and cake, and Salieva has teamed up with an American supplier for her bagels. Different coffee makers and coffee beans are also sold at the bar, should customers want to test their own barista skills at home.
More specialty coffee bars in Brussels
The story of OR Coffee began in 2001 with a small coffee roaster in Aalst, East Flanders. Partners Katrien Pauwels and Tom Janssen began from scratch, teaching themselves everything they needed to know about coffee.
They opened their first coffee bar in Ghent to attract a bigger crowd. It worked out so well, they opened a location in Brussels a few years later, close to the Beurs, followed by a second one just this year on Jourdanplein, right in the European quarter.
Pauwels and Janssen go many extra miles to serve the perfect cup, since they buy all their coffee directly from farmers across the world. And yes, they say, there are differences between coffee drinkers in Ghent and in Brussels.
“On average, a Belgian drinks about seven cups of coffee a day,” says Pauwels. “In Ghent mainly cappuccinos or milk-based coffees; in Brussels we sell a lot of strong espressos.”
The OR owners plan to open a second coffee bar in Ghent next year.
Located at the end of Louizalaan, Café de la Presse opened at the beginning of 2011 and has quickly become a gathering place for trendy coffee drinkers. Three years on, owner François Lafontaine has decided to branch out. At his new Café du Sablon in Grote Zavel, everything revolves around slow coffee. There’s even a small indoor roaster.
While the cappuccino is the star of the menu at Café de la Presse, at Café du Sablon it’s all about “slow drip”. Customers choose the extraction method – Chemex, V60, Aeropress – pick their single-origin beans and enjoy their slow coffees. The tasty salads, sandwiches and cakes from Café de la Presse are also on the menu here.
Photo: The counter of the Bocca Moka coffee shop in Brussels
