走遍英國的歲月 – 教人難忘的香甜house blend

剛過去的聖誕新年假，我又回倫敦了。行程中少不免到訪不同的咖啡店，可惜很多咖啡店都於這些時節休息，連我喜愛的Kaffeine 和Prufrock都沒開。幸好，今次列入行程的新店都教我很滿意，總算勉強滿足了我的咖啡胃。

位於zone1邊緣的Ozone成為我這次行程的咖啡補給站，從我住的地方乘巴士10mins就到。我早已將其列入到訪列表，但奈何倫敦實在太精彩，我想去的地方太多，遲遲未能成行。

外露的牆磚和原木桌椅正合我意，加上鐵欄杆和枱腳，帶點rustic味，教我感覺自在又舒適。

Ozone設置Probat UG22烘焙機，自家烘焙咖啡豆，咖啡豆的水準有保證。嘗過其Ozone blend的espresso, flat white, latte 和cappuccino，更能嚐到此豆的特色。

 

以巴西豆作基調的Espresso，crema夠厚亦夠甘香，咖啡圓渾，果香豐富，帶點earthy，餘韻悠長。雖非我嚐過最佳的espresso，但整體亦不俗。 

Flat white才是驚喜，奶打得尚可，至少夠flat。入口迎來一陣朱古力香甜，這非來自熱牛奶的lactose甜味，而是咖啡豆的甜，很能突出奶香。將其朱古力味道發揮得淋漓盡致，是我在這店嚐到最出色的一杯。

之後又嚐過這店的latte和cappuccino。前者相對失色，那份朱古力的香甜乃三者中最弱的，而cappuccino則介乎兩者之間。這亦難怪，香甜味來自espresso，牛奶比例最多的latte自然最弱。

Ozone又推出了Christmas blend，medium dark roast，建議沖製方式包括aeropress。本來欲點杯嚐試，可惜barista說沒有recipe，只能用其製espresso，只好點杯Christmas blend的flat white。

 

相比起house blend，Christmas blend的果酸更突出，欠缺前者的香甜，個人認為不太適合用以製奶類咖啡，用來作手沖可能更適合。最後，我亦買了包回家。這Christmas blend尚算不錯，口感頗圓渾，果酸不嗆，可惜略欠層次和驚喜。

除了咖啡，Ozone亦供應早、午餐，旅程食滯了的我只嚐過其牛角包、提子酥和朱古力蛋糕。甫拿起麵包，便知道不好吃了。感覺很重身，而且面層不脆。咬下去，口感亦如是。只能說是很「抵食」的麵包，但剛從巴黎來到倫敦不久的我，實在思念巴黎外皮酥香鬆脆，內裡軟熟的牛角包呢~

朱古力蛋糕看起來是homemade的，所以吸引了我。切下去的時候，還擔心會太乾。吃下去卻不俗，外層帶點脆，中心仍算軟熟。不知道是放久了，碰巧造成的效果，還是原意如此，反正好吃就是了。

 

以倫敦top café而言，Ozone的奶泡打得不夠好，仍欠滑溜，與Prufrock和Workshop Coffee Co.有段距離，希望有機會嚐到Ozone其他barista的手勢。每次寫倫敦的咖啡店最熬人的就是勾起我對它們的思念…再訪倫敦，要待到年末了吧~

Ozone Coffee Roasters 

11 Leonard Street

 

Food: wwwwwww
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走遍英國的歲月 – gentrification的見證 @ Climpson & Sons

與香港一樣，倫敦亦有不少地區出現士紳化（gentrification）的現象：原有的人口和鄰里關係被有產階級取代，社區變成合乎中產品味的特色小區。以往因治安問題，不太敢到東倫（我和CM太細粒，去旅行還是安全為上），但隨著當地的gentrification，東倫的確煥然一新。首次來到Hackney區的Broadway Market，雖然早有心理準備，但目睹的仍與預期中有點出入。我已經來遲了，這裡已經是gentrified的社區，光鮮的屋子、高級食品店、街角的地產店、以售賣設計和生活書籍為主的書店，還有…如財爺所說，代表中產的咖啡店，都反映了這社區的定位。

聖誕節後的週六來到，market沒有開，幸好路邊的商店大多已開門營業。走到街尾的Climpson & Sons，一如所料的人聲頂沸。舊木枱長凳的裝潢，感覺平易近人，但吸引我目光的卻是位衣著新潮的斯文英國型男(沒錯 !正是我喜歡的類型，我早已暈倒了~)，從其與barista的對話，相信他是住在附近的熟客，這裡算是英國新潮的居住地嗎？

好不容易定過神來，到counter前落單。對其cookies & cakes都不感興趣，只點了杯espresso和latte。不止一眾穿著有個性的客人，收銀的女生同樣有格調，帶點凌亂美的長髮，白色背心，我認出她就是 Nicky。

 

鮮紅色的La Marzocco為沉樸的咖啡店添上色彩

說回咖啡，甘香豐厚的espresso入口帶點焦糖的香甜，味道平衡，在口腔中留下花香，餘韻悠長，較早一天在Workshop Coffee Company喝到的更好，又比Ozone 的更有層次。

是日的barista 是Anthony，他的奶打得不錯，溫度掌得好，我能嚐到釋放的乳糖香甜，與帶點焦糖味的espresso base合拍得很。很喜歡其espresso blend，用來沖製奶類咖啡實在不俗。

我另外買了包Rwanda Red bourbon回家，似乎手沖比aeropress更適合~ 豆的大小很一致，圓渾飽滿的，素質不錯。咖啡的口感頗圓融，有包裝說明所提到的lime acidity，但不很突出。整體算是我飲過的Rwanda中，不錯的了。

回港後，到訪早於出發前已想去的St. Francis Street，竟能喝到Climpson & Sons的咖啡。這裡gentrify的情況比Hackney更是有過之而無不及，更糟糕的是這區的連鎖店眾多，
遍地「豪宅」，不知是喜是悲？

Climpson & Sons

67 Broadway Market, London E8 4PH
Mon-Fri : 7:30am – 5.00pm | Sat: 8:30am – 5:00pm | Sun: 9:00am – 5:00pm

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A new hot spot - Mano (by invitation)

I have been longing to visit this new cafe. The first thing that caught my attention was their food. Being a fan of Petit Café in Admiralty, I found the salad and pastry offered by Mano no less appealing. However, in my first visit, which was a cupping event, the targets were coffee and barista – both were indeed exceptional.  

Mano offered us seven types of coffee beans to taste, including two CoE (El Salvador and Guatemala), two direct trade coffee (Nicaragua Finca La Picona and Costarica Finca Verde Alto), and three African coffee (Kenya Tegu, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Dama [Washed] and Ethiopia Yirgacheffee Aricha Natural). The beans for Mano are home roasted, and are sent to the cafe every week.

The cupping night was more like a casual sharing session than a formal cupping class. Water temperature was not monitored, cupping roast was not used, and the participants walked around the table and smelled the coffee’s aroma. In terms of aroma, we sort of shared the view that the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe was the best of the night, because of its distinctive floral notes. That batch of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe was among the best I have tasted. 

When it came to the taste, we were rather divided over the three African beans. It was one of the toughest moments for me to pick my favourite coffee as they were all splendid. The cherry and winey flavour of Ethiopia Aricha was overwhelming, while the lingering and creamy body of Kenya was unforgettable. I was amazed at the quality and the superb roast of the coffee beans. The roasters of Mano certainly know their trade well. That is why I only buy beans from trusted coffee roasters. 

After the cupping session, the handsome looking Korean barista showcased his handdrip skill to us. It was a clean cup and its complex acidity was amply released after cooling down. 

I consumed more caffeine than I need that night, but I still wanted more of their coffee. To come back and try their milk-based coffee and pastry is imperative. Needless to say, this will become one of my coffee bean suppliers : ).

Mano

G/F, The L. Place, 

139 Queens Road,Central 

Food: wwwwwww1/2w
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The taste that I would never forget @ Le Dôme de Cristal (by invitation)

When I was invited to this tasting, I wondered if the quality of the food offered could match the Cristal champagne, one of the best brands of its kind. Any residues of doubt was dispelled after the first few dishes. Before the dinner had started, I had a cocktail at the outdoor balcony. I am hardly a big fan of cocktail as I dislike the artificial taste of syrup, but this cocktail surprised me. No syrup was used, only nice bits of fresh fruits. The ginger gave a kick to the drink. This was one of my favourite that night.

After the drink, we moved into the dining room. I would love to try the sofa which can be rotated for enhanced privacy, but we had too many people for that. 

Oysters are must-have for a champagne dinner. The freshness and temperature of the oysters were at their optimum. We had the Louis Roederder Brut to match with them.

There were four appetizers on the menu. Organic salad with white anchovy, Carpaccio of yellow fin tuna, scallops and salmon roe, Alaskan crab meat with Imperial caviar in Du Barry cream sauce and Terrine of duck foie gras stuffed with fig chutney. The salad and carpaccio relied largely on their very good ingredients, and the crab meat with caviar in Du Barry cream sauce was also very enjoyable. The crab meat was very sweet and the cream sauce added an extra smoothness to it. The terrine was creamy and rich. I would like to have it with more chutney. It was definitely enough for two to share.

If the appetizers were to show us the high quality ingredients they use, the main courses succeeded in convincing us how good the chef can cook. The linguine with Sicilian red shrimp & Imperial caviar in cherry tomato sauce and the slow cooked lamb loin with gratin potato in Morels cream foam & yogurt were particularly enjoyable. If you have tried Silician red shrimp, you would not forget its unique flavour. It is an awesome partner with tomato in pasta sauce. Apart from the rich shrimp flavour, there was a distinct hint of butter taste in the tomato sauce. My dining companion even cleaned up the dish using the bread.

The lamb loin was perfectly cooked. What impressed me most were the potato gratin and the yoghurt sauce that pushed the lamb loin to another level. Both dishes paired with the Louis Roederer Cristal 2005 amazingly.

Before trying Cristal champagne, I hardly understood how champagne could be "elegant", but I was enlightened that night. Instead of stimulating one’s taste buds through its acidity, it demonstrated its complexity in a subtle way. Not to mention its silkiness and its persistent tiny bubbles. I found it matches well with the slight creaminess of the red shrimp pasta and the yoghurt sauce of the lamb loin.

Although the char-grilled Yellow fin Tuna & Alaskan crab leg with fennel salad was a bit blan, the char-grilled Canadian pork rack with apple & rhubarb chutney in red currant glaze was a perfect pair. I am not a big fan of pork, but I found this succulent and juicy pork rack very inviting.

While I was still indulging in the elegant Louis Roederer Cristal 2005, the Louis Roederer Cristal Rose 2004 came to our table. With a sweet peach flavour, it was definitely a better companion to the coming desserts.

Even the desserts were infused with champagne. The Champagne caviar with white peach mousse Cake was a demonstration of luxury. Chocolate lovers must not miss the Valrhona chocolate Le Dome with wasabi filling vanilla ice-cream and sorbet. This innovative combination worked unexpectedly well and stroked a balance between two strong flavours. However, my favourite that night was the gold leaf champagne jelly with fresh grapes. I loved the sweetness with a pleasant hint of acidity that was so refreshing. I wish I could have a whole cup for myself.

The romantic environment, superb champagne, and amazing food was an unbeatable combination for all couples….only if my another half could drink a tiny drop of alcohol. Once you have tried this champagne, you could never forget it. This was simply addictive….!

Le Dôme de Cristal
3/F, 9 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong