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Today, we take you on a unique audio journey that combines the intimate experience of coffee culture with the spontaneity of a walk through cold Berlin. As I step outside with my microphones in tow, I aim to explore how coffee has become not just a beverage, but a crucial part of our identities. From the rituals of brewing to the ever-increasing prices at third-wave coffee shops, we dive into the intricacies of what makes coffee special—not just for its flavor, but for the community it fosters. We’ll chat about my own espresso machine journey and how it transformed my coffee experience from merely drinking to actively engaging in the brewing process. So, grab your favorite cup, and join me as we navigate the chilly streets while brewing up conversations that are as rich and nuanced as the coffee we cherish. We're taking a trip down the streets of Berlin, navigating the chilly air while chatting about something that brings a little warmth to our lives: coffee. As I step outside with my portable setup, I reflect on how this isn't just a drink for many of us; it's a ritual, a culture, a part of our identities. Sure, some folks might not get the coffee obsession, but for those of us who do, it’s like a religion. I’ve dedicated a part of my life to understanding coffee culture—not just the act of drinking it, but the entire experience from bean to brew. Today, I want to share my journey through the world of coffee, from the simple pleasure of a well-brewed cup to the complexities of sustainability in coffee production. As we stroll, I’ll also touch on the evolution of coffee shops—how they’ve transformed into spaces that reflect the hustle of modern life, often prioritizing speed over comfort. So, lace up your walking shoes and join me as we delve into the aromatic world of coffee, exploring the joy it brings and the challenges it faces in today’s climate.

Takeaways:

1. In this episode, we explore the personal connection many people have with coffee, viewing it as integral to their identity and daily rituals.
2. We discuss the evolution of coffee culture, highlighting how the rise of third wave coffee emphasizes sustainability and quality over mere consumption.
3. I share my experience with a semi-professional espresso machine, which has transformed my coffee ritual into a rewarding, hands-on experience.
4. The price of coffee has risen dramatically, and I express my frustration over the trend of smaller servings with the same price tag, feeling cheated by cafes.
5. We delve into the differences in coffee culture between cities like Berlin and Prague, noting the charm and comfort of cafes abroad.
6. By brewing coffee at home, I not only save money but also enjoy the satisfaction of mastering the brewing process, making it a rewarding ritual.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

1. Profitec

Hey, everybody.

Welcome back.

Today we're doing something different, but not necessarily new.

I've been making this form of recordings forever and I've stopped recently, relatively speaking.

I've recorded a bunch of episode from home.

But today I have my.

My outdoor setup on a ma.

I've got microphones attached to my body and we're still at home.

But I will leave now.

I need to go to work and obviously I'll take my microphones with me.

We'll be walking and talking and I know that for some people it might be a big turn off because why would you.

Why would you want to deal with the accidental noises and, and sirens and traffic and who else, who knows what else?

But that's the whole idea.

You will go with me on this little audio journey and anything can happen.

I feel like I thrive in this, you know, it's always so raw and just so pure.

It kind of makes this recording what I want podcasting to be very personal, very candid, not overproduced as so many podcasts are those days, I think.

So I just want to take you with me.

So you basically will be traveling with me today.

It won't be a long commute.

I'm planning to just walk for about 20 minutes until I get to the train station and then I'll just take the train.

I don't want to take you on the train with me, but we'll walk for a bit and.

Today it's quite cold in Berlin.

It's minus three, but it feels like minus six.

And there has been warning about black ice.

So there was a sudden freeze, I imagine.

And yeah, it's very slippery, very white.

There isn't that much snow, but it's cold and snow is just everywhere, but it's not very thick.

I think it might be an enjoyable walk today.

Now I have an idea what to talk about.

I don't know if this, this idea will persist and continue, but I'm intending to make this episode about coffee.

And yeah, I mean, I feel like I wanted to make this podcast about technology, but I think whether you are into technology or not, coffee unites us.

Most of us.

I know some people just don't drink coffee.

Some people don't get it.

That's fine.

That's fine.

More coffee for us.

But yeah, I feel like people often claim that they, they love coffee as if it's a religion.

I feel like a lot of people connected to their personality, they openly talk.

How like, like, how do they like to indulge in coffee?

It's part of their identity.

I think what is it for me, I guess it is part of my identity because I did commit a certain part of my, a small part of my life to coffee.

Not really as much for the, for the drinking itself and brewing, but just coffee culture.

So that also doesn't mean only going to cafes and you know, just hopping from one cafe to another.

What I'm talking about is just getting more interested in the, how coffee is made, how do you brew coffee, what tools do you use?

I also wanted to know as much as possible about the nuances of the flavor.

Yeah, like all the variables, you know, what is a variable in the world of coffee?

So I want to talk to you about third wave of coffee, but I don't want to deconstruct the whole concept.

It's not like I expect that you know a little bit about third wave coffee, which is this latest approach to coffee coffee culture where you think about it as a sustainable system.

You know that coffee is in fact a scarce resource.

There is only certain amount that can be grown and the demand is keep on going higher and higher all the time.

The climate change isn't helping.

So it is, it is effectively a scarce resource.

And we can see that because prices of a coffee cup, it goes up and up every year.

It's not only because price of coffee, I feel like it's mostly dictated by the price of rent for those cafes.

The rent is rising and effectively consumer pays more for a coffee cup.

But when you buy beans, you see that the as well.

I mean it's all interconnected, isn't it?

Okay, let's go because I'm, I'm boiling in my jacket.

So I'll just leave the house right now.

There we go.

And.

Yeah, so I, I already had my, my cat this morning.

Okay, wait.

Okay, we're leaving the building.

Okay.

It's not too bad.

Wow.

It feels very nice outside, actually.

I'm walking out on the street, the sun is shining, sky is mostly blue.

I would say, hey, this, this to be a nice day.

I was kind of worried that it wouldn't be okay.

I had my cup of coffee already and of course that was the main inspiration for me to, to make this episode about coffee.

I tend to drink between one or two cups per day.

Otherwise I'm just not feeling too good.

I feel like I'm, I'm crashing a little bit energetically.

I feel like I'm becoming a little bit shaky and a coffee doesn't really taste that well to me.

So I like to limit myself to one or two perfect cups of coffee.

They need to be as good as they can because I don't want to.

Like, if I drink bad coffee, then I know I will need to make another one to make it even.

And since I have a limit, daily limit, I don't.

Just don't go beyond two cups.

Try not to.

All right, So a few years ago I pulled the trigger and I got myself this semi professional espresso brewing machine from Profitek.

I think it's Profitec PDI 500 Pro.

I think that's the model if you want to have a look at it.

It's a small chrome unit, it's a box, it's a cube and it serves me well.

I'm really happy with it.

I mean, it's my first espresso machine.

I don't know what I'm missing, but I absolutely love it.

It's sort of like an altar for my ritual.

And it was a lot of money that I had to put on the table in order for this to be a part of my life.

But you know, when I was buying it, I knew that I'm buying a mostly mechanical machine.

There is a, there is just a little bit of electronics in it, some sensors mostly, I would say.

But I opened it few times to clean it up, to maintain it, which is also such a satisfying thing.

You know, you get a machine that you get to fix on your own and it's not a big deal.

It's not like a computer, you know, where when you open it it looks like a little, little city with streets and buildings.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

When I opened it, it was just a bunch of pipes and a boiler and a bunch of screws, some cables.

But anyway, my idea here is I know I will have this machine for very long time.

Even if it severely breaks.

I can take a component or whatever broke and I can easily replace it.

And this is so unique.

I think.

It's not like there's a lifespan to it.

It's not like there will be a new model with, with some interesting features.

It's not like they will add a new camera to it or they will make, you know, like, it's not like with a phone, you know, And I, I know I, maybe I'm.

Maybe I'm naive, but I'm thinking this machine could last me whole life.

Maybe my daughter could inherit it.

And all of this combined, you know, the, the fact that I like coffee.

I said like I, I do love drinking coffee.

I love the flavor.

I don't Know if I love it or like it.

I like it very much.

I like my ritual, I like my machine, and it just gives me a lot of comfort.

I. I love what happened to my life when I finally got this thing.

Now I also wanted to get it because I was just very frustrated.

By the way, how cafes are transforming lately.

I already spoke about the price increase per cup.

Right now, if you want to have a, a decent cappuccino, when you go to a third wave coffee shop, you need to pay about €4 50 per cup.

I think it's quite a lot.

It's quite a lot.

And I feel like the real price of coffee got even higher because what I've noticed is that a lot of places serve just one shot.

So basically it's a half of the amount of coffee for regular price, which is now getting higher.

I'm generalizing here a little bit because some coffees use just one shot, some coffees use two.

But what I'm saying is you pay more for a smaller volume of coffee.

And this is like a borderline cheating, I think.

There's this one coffee shop next to my office where I used to buy coffees there in the morning I would have one in the.

I'd have one at home and my second coffee would be there like an hour or an hour and a half later.

I don't know why, don't ask me why.

That was also like a bit of a ritual.

It was sort of a reason to motivate me to go to the office, to be honest.

I'll be like, oh yeah, I will go there.

I'll get some beans.

Okay, I'm not staying at home today.

I'm going to the office.

So, you know, I would taste their coffee.

I'll be using the same beans because this, this place is a roastery as well.

And I would notice that they, their coffee just tastes really, really smooth, really milky, really gentle, which is something I like, but it's not what I, when I do at home.

When I, when I do it at home, it's a lot more, It's a lot richer.

But I like that milky, soft feel to it.

And I was trying to recreate it, you know, and then only then at home, I accidentally realized that they just use very little coffee and a lot of milk.

That's why it's so gentle.

I'm basically paying a lot for a little cup of warm milk and just a spoon, basically a spoon of espresso in just made me so angry.

And I asked what's going on?

And they said, oh, we use just half of the amount of espresso.

I just felt really cheated.

I feel this is really unfair.

And I hardly ever go there.

Sometimes I do, but I feel like, yeah, I don't like to support this kind of behavior.

I get it.

Everything's getting more expensive.

And yeah, maybe I wouldn't like to pay six euro for coffee.

Maybe that's just the way it's a sweet spot.

Maybe.

You know what I mean?

So, yeah, also what happens with coffee places, they're becoming less of a.

Less of a piece of calm and tranquility and they're more about.

They're more chaotic, they're more noisy.

I think this is also the way to, to manage the traffic.

You know, it's like the cafe owners, they don't want you to stay there with your laptop for two hours, sipping, for sipping your coffee for two hours, right?

They want you to get a coffee, stay 15, 20 minutes, have your little conversation, make your little journal entry and go, you know, and maybe that would be fine, but those places are, I would say, too loud.

The sitting, the table, the chair tend to be not that comfortable.

And I've noticed that mostly about Berlin.

I recently went to Prague and I found a lot of really cozy, quiet, comfy cafes.

And I saw also a few recently cozy, comfortable cafes in Paris.

But I would say it was like a mix of two types of approach.

I don't travel enough.

I would love to travel more.

But recently I have been around and I always make a point of going to nice coffee place and I like to see how coffee culture is different in those places.

Okay, I'm losing my breath.

I should slow down.

I hope you're still there and I hope you're enjoying this.

We're almost at the station, so I won't be recording for much longer.

Yeah, it's.

It's quite challenging, I have to say.

Today it is.

I'm.

I'm under pressure to get to the office fairly early.

It's a little bit cold.

I have many layers on me.

My nose, I don't know if you can hear that, but my nose is mostly blocked.

And I'm.

I'm realizing that I'm talking about possibly too complex topic here.

I hope this is maybe just a little bit of introduction to what I'm thinking about when it comes to coffee.

Also, you know, I don't want to overload you with information and definitions.

It's more of a impression.

It's more of a extended audio message on your WhatsApp.

So I guess what, what is the bottom line here from the technology perspective?

If you like coffee and if you feel like you're overpaying for your cup and you're not enjoying your coffee experience, I would recommend you to get a manual espresso machine, kind of like just like mine.

There's a lot of different brands.

They're not that different.

There are some substantial differences, like how many boilers you have inside and, you know, different brands.

Have a look around, and you may spend around 1,000 to maybe 5,000 for a machine that does pretty much the same.

Now, the thing is, I.

About mechanical machines is that you need to learn to use them.

You need to practice a lot.

I feel like.

I feel like it took me three, maybe six months to properly learn my strategy, my.

My routine around that machine.

You know, it's almost like a. Yeah.

Because it's manual, you cannot rely on just pressing a button.

You really need to operate everything with levers, with switches, with.

Yeah, you need to use both hands and you need to check the time separately.

So it takes a while to learn.

Coffee is a very volatile substance.

If you apply too much temperature or pressure, or if you brew for too long, the flavor will be very different on the way out.

You know, that's on top of different kinds of beans you can use.

So there is a lot to learn.

But I think it's fascinating and I feel like I'm getting a lot more satisfying experience from brewing it at home.

But also, I'm paying much less.

If it's a concern for you, just make a quick buck over an envelope calculation because I feel like this really adds up.

I like to drink my coffee every day, twice.

So in my case, that would be €9 per day.

You know, it adds up throughout the week, throughout the month, throughout the year.

Come on.

And I feel like because I'm interacting with this kind of less popular kind of technology that's just so mechanical.

Again, just pipes, boilers, chrome, no electronics.

It's a very unique experience, and I would say it extended my ritual from just ritual of drinking to the whole ritual of brewing.

I have a dedicated coffee station.

It takes a lot of space in my already small kitchen.

I. I don't know, it sounds like I'm complaining, but actually I like it a lot.

I do like it a lot.

Okay, I'll leave you with that.

With that thought.

I hope you enjoy this format.

If you have any questions regarding what I just said, if you want any coffee machine recommendation, I would like you to drop me an email because I don't use any social media.

I will be happy to respond to you.

Or maybe you've got some clarifications for me.

Maybe there's something you want to clarify.

Write me an email.

And also maybe you have some remarks about this format where I just walk and talk.

Unfortunately, I cannot hear myself.

I will check the quality of this later on.

But I do like walking and talking like that.

It's a very different dynamic.

All right, thank you for listening and I'll talk to you soon.

Sarah.