咖啡香房

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這間咖啡店是我們由它剛剛開店(2003)，一直幫襯到今日，由我們完全唔懂咖啡到現在略懂一二，這裡的水準也是依舊如一(美味)。還記得當年，香港還未有咖啡文化，咖啡给我的印象，是一定要加糖加奶才好飲的，齋啡只有苦味，但第一次來這裡，主理人竟然叫我們飲齋啡，(心想：不是玩我們嘛？) 但也決定一試，想不到，從此便愛上了，可惜當年咖啡店的選擇實在太少，不像這幾年越開越多，部份咖啡店的水準也明顯很高。這裡主要是買烘焙好的咖啡豆，而只有星期六日中午，才有提供堂坐品茗咖啡（但只有四個位），小吃也只是間中才會有，而主理人也只是用最簡單的手沖方法沖泡咖啡，只有真正喜歡咖啡的人，才能领會當中的知味。每個人也有每個人的喜好，我自已就比較喜歡偏濃，而不是太酸的口感，當然如香氣高就更好了。今次叫了Guatemala 及 Burundi 。 Guatemala ~ 味道複雜而均衡，帶有陣陣香料味。 Burundi ~ 味道不算太濃，帶有花香及果甜、微酸、回甘香甜。 continue reading

本人一向喜喝意式的特濃咖啡，但其實喝咖啡喝得多了，也會開始欣賞其他的沖煮方法，烘焙方法等，情形就有如喝得多法國波爾多，也會去喝喝布根地，又會喝喝意國的Barolo，西班牙的Rioja等，誓神劈愿的喝死一款，也許真的沒可能吧，所以世事真的冇絕對。見有個多小時的空檔，當然就去偷杯咖啡，打了個電話給這上樓的小店，確定有開門之後，就來跑馬地一趟，為的都是杯咖啡。此店由Kitamura San所開，本人也不方便充什麼識人了，基本上此店的介紹HKE吧及Boblam兄已經介紹得非常清楚，本人就光談咖啡好了。一打開屋門，真的勁清香，果然是玩輕炒的地方！坐下寒暄了數句之後，就問Kitamura San是日有什麼推介，她介紹喝喝是日才炒出來的哥倫比亞豆，先要了杯哥倫比亞，用了最普通的方法，用上瀘紙滴漏，由於Kitamura San似乎不太願意其店的照片公開，所以本人唯有用一張另外照片來代替好了。看來水非常滾，杯咖啡真的很熱，Light roast的哥倫比亞豆散發出陣陣清香，跟喝意式的espresso是另一回事，由於豆是今朝至炒的，果然是非常之新鮮，Kitamura San還讓豆在透氣，未曾放入雪櫃。咖啡表面一點油也沒有，果真是light roast，但整個味道是輕柔而香醇，淡淡的酸味帶來一種近乎 橙的果香，放久了也不會酸，質地輕柔淸爽亮麗，的而且確是非同凡響，那股近乎甜蜜的味道留中口中久久不散，感覺非常之平衡，也平易近人，三十元一杯，以一杯這麼高質及新鮮的咖啡，這個價錢簡直是超級抵。之後再點多杯重口味一點的，Kitamura San介紹了秘魯豆，這款豆dark roast了一點，嗅起來那陣焦香就是最好的証明，咖啡同樣的很夠熱，喝起來炭燒的味道重一點，反之整個咖啡的口味冇咁複雜，所以個人比較喜歡前者。不過也不得不提，其實此豆那個香味仍舊不錯，始終也只是昨日才炒好的豆，keep在雪櫃內都很新鮮的，廿五元一杯，都確是值的。喝得多Espresso，偶爾喝一杯這些清香形的咖啡，又真的是不錯，晚一點再介紹虹吸，又可說是介乎特濃及此沖煮方法之間的另一個感受，想起本人又想喝咖啡了。 continue reading

一間很別致，很有個人風格的咖啡店！之前在一本講咖啡的書看過這店的介紹，星期日那天終於有機會親身拜訪！ 店主是一位很nice的日本人，店雖然不太大， 但是裝修，擺設都很別致，很有日本的style! 咖啡呢，跟其他一般coffee shop的不一样，咖啡的味道很香，但是不濃，而且價格也比較便宜，是一個飲咖啡的好選擇 continue reading

這家咖啡店在很多雜誌，書本都介紹過，這天終於見見廬山真面目！店不是很大， 但是進去有一種很warm， 很舒服的感覺，而且店裡有很多精緻的擺設，真的很日本風格，肯定是日本老闆的精心之作！ 那天點了一杯咖啡，忘了是什麽咖啡， 味道不是太strong，但是咖啡味道挺好， 本人覺得比一般的咖啡連鎖店的好喝， 下次再去時應該買一點回家自己沖 continue reading

In business since early 2000s, Kitamura san is among one of the earlier force in the industry. I have been ordering coffee from Kitamura san since May 2008 when the shop was still in a building in Tin Hau area though I’m not a regular one here. I re-visited her shop back in April last year and definitely like her new place much more. Open, airy with lots of drip accessories, this is a drip coffee heaven and there’s lots more offerings at Kitamura san’s shop than just the recently discovered hip dripper Hario V60. As far as I remember, Kitamura san also offered her drip coffee on spot in a paper cup and some baked goods or stuff that went well with her coffee, depending on the day. Nevertheless, you should give the shop a call to see whether she’s there before dropping by.Some of her practice was quite unique including keeping roasted coffee in the fridge can be controversial to current Indie coffee trend. Nevertheless, I typically ask Kitamura san for any coffee she roasts fresh at the time and packs right away after it is cooled enough without going into the fridge and mails me as soon as possible. I only have her words that that’s what she did to all of my orders. So, this is like an omakase for coffee which means I only know the coffee when it arrives. My latest order was Colombia.I requested for a lighter roasted coffee. However, the coffee I received was very dark roasted. One can see oily surface of the bean even though this is only about 1 week after roasted date. The look of the coffee indicated that roast level at least Full City Plus to French Roasted, the level that pretty much imposed the roast profile on the bean which will overwhelmed whatever origin tastes the bean has. The oily surface indicated the ‘count down’ of the bean as rancidity will soon follow due to the chemical reaction of oil and air which is the same as most oil products. One can compare directly how dark the roast was with the coffee bean from the same source.Both coffee below are Colombia coffee. I happened to have on hand from hkcoffee.com which was approximately two weeks after roasting at the time. The coffee from the same location typically subject to the same processing so they should response to the roasting in a very similar fashion. Of note is the dry surface of older coffee which theoretically should be more oily than the recently roasted one at the approximate same roast level.Just the sight of it can give you a hint of what to come, the cup profile that will be overwhelmed by the roasty toasty taste due to the roast and the minimal profile from the origin of the bean. And my taste buds and others told the same story. Parallel of what Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV/dailygrape.com called overwhelmed oaky taste in red wine “Oak Monster”, the “Roast Monster” in the cup killed almost every nuances of the origin profile the only thing that got left is its nuttiness which is synonymous with coffees from Colombia. The acidity, flowery, exotic aroma/fragrance are typically of less significant in the taste profile of coffee from Colombia to begin with. Nevertheless, some could still survive in the lighter roast but they won’t see the light of the day with this kind of dark roast level. I typically describe the dark roast taste as more toward very dark chocolate and, in some sense, borderline with bitterness though not yet cross over to that area unless you brew at very upper range of 200 +/-5F, the SCAA’s recommended temperature range.However, the coffee was clean, a prized possession for any roaster to have this high quality coffee, thanks to Japanese’s meticulous selection of its coffee. The roast tone is also a nice change from what is hip and in these days from Indie roaster, ie acidity snap, flowery and exotic fragrance. Even an acid lover like me can be numbed by coffee from those Indie that seemed to ‘try’ too hard to impress with its tooth-aching acidity and exotic fragrance sometimes reminiscent of moldy/mildew things.Also, I believe this roast profile is typical to Kitamura san as all of my coffee ordered over the years from her have a very consistent kind of dark roast profile. I cannot say she has never roasted light; my order from her was not that frequent to detect such change if there is any. You can see the comparison in the picture and the shinier dark roast bean is from Kitamura’s. Note the oily surface and the roast date of about 1 week in the picture vs. at least 2 or more week for other famous Indie’s including hkcoffee, Richmond Hill, Ontario based Social Coffee Company and British Columbia based 49th Parallel (labeled under Crema Coffee of Toronto) which have absolute no oily surface, implying a much lighter roast and more origin tasting note in the cup.So what is the benefit of this very dark roast profile. Surprisingly, this roast level worked well for me on coffee with a rather harsh acidity like Kenya. When I first tasted her Kenya, I was shocked it’s unlike any other Kenya I had. Had I don’t know the name of the coffee before, Kenya will be the last thing in my mind for Kenyan beans from Kitamura san. The overwhelmed roasted profile in the cup balanced out the harsh acidity, reducing it to a more manageable level one can easily drink and enjoy. In a word, the dark roast profile reduced the cup for exotic and forward acidity to a very balanced cup I thought I was drinking coffee from Central America which is renowned for its bright acidity and balanced nature. Don’t get me wrong on this but, to me, her Kenya is unique and charming in a way though some would say what’s the point of having Kenya if there was no harsh lemony kick from the bean. I said that’s what I like and if she has it in stock, freshly roasted, then go for it as it will be rancid quite fast after 1 week to 10 days after roasting.I remembered the conservation with her a long while back that she roasted her coffee darker following the popularity of Starbucks in this territory. It’s also another way to describe her coffee in that her coffee is very close to Starbucks style. Now, for those who sneered at Starbucks, you can appreciate how Starbucks coffee will taste like when it is freshly roasted. This is an easy way to see how the freshness of the coffee after roasting affects the cup quality and understand why the world these days put a lot of emphasis on the freshness of bean from the roast date. While Kitamura san coffee is bold to extra bold, to use Starbucks’ terminology which seemed to imply dark roast, the liveliness in the cup is mesmerizing in a sense. If you are a Starbucks’ fan, you should really try Kitamura san coffee for a change. Make sure you finish her coffee within a week or 10 days to avoid the rancidity from the reaction of oil on the surface of the coffee bean due to the dark roast style to the air.To me, Kitamura san is a great treat once in a while after one enjoys the Indie coffee from the whole year. The dark and roasty tone should be good with clean tasting food like Japanese style cake and pastry. You’ll be surprise how well they all go together.In addition, the darker roast also worked very well in a blend. One can easily achieve a simple but tasty coffee with an equal part French roasted Colombia for caramelized sweetness, full city to full city plus generic Sumatra for body which seemed to be a thing for Hong Kong people, from my observation, and some bright sweet acidity snap from Central American lightly roast beans such as Guatemala. Yes, blended coffee is not what’s all the rage these days; progressive roasters scoured all over the world for the best coffee and roasted their coffee lightly to let the flavor of its origin shines is. However, once in a while, this kind of blend gave a more satisfying experience and Kitamura coffee is definitely a source that makes this thing happen, particularly on a darker roast profile which is quite hard to get freshly from Indie roaster in Hong Kong which followed mostly lighter roast principal.So, Kitamura san is a really nice change for coffee lover to a more traditional Japanese style dark roasted coffee. Also, I find the coffee here much better than Okada coffee both in term of coffee quality and the price, ie you could do much better than Okada coffee with Kitamura san's coffee unless you like to really sit down and eat/drink something which Kitamura san wasn't the place in the exactly same as Okada. Highly recommended for this category. continue reading