Tuesday, March 25, 2008

There’s coffee and then there’s café


A comment by Teena in Australia made me think about the French coffee conundrum: How can a country that has one of the world’s most developed café cultures not have the best coffee? One could go on for days about the unique quality of the French café, or the quintessentially French nature of it’s customs and clientele, or the long list of Famous Writers and Thinkers that have created great works while sitting in one. But does anyone really have anything to say about the coffee? There’s the wonderful shape of the tiny cups, there’s the deep blackness of the mysterious brew within, but what about the taste? Does anyone really care?

It’s hard to tell. The quality of coffee in Parisian cafés can range from acrid to excellent, but it’s rare that you’ll come across a cup that would make your average New York coffee freak sing. I think it’s an acquired taste. If you are expecting Italian espresso, you’ll be disappointed. But if you are willing to accept your coffee cup as merely one piece of your overall café experience, you’ll soon find that it’s syrupy, bitter quality is the perfect complement to the peculiar atmosphere that reigns in a Parisian café. Now that there’s no more smoke (see The End of the Smoky Café), it is the coffee that must express, as it were, the gestalt of the establishment. The French are not afraid of the negative, in fact they often embrace it whole-heartedly. So if their coffee is slightly acid, or harsh, well, hey, so is life. Chances are, the person behind the counter is not going to feel like prettying up the bitter reality of the dark liquid that seeps out of the massive machine behind him or her, nor is the customer at the zinc bar going to expect it. Which is one of the reasons that I think (hope) that Starbucks, despite its current invasion of Paris, will never really catch on.

We bought an espresso machine last year, and I was surprised how little interest my coffee mania inspired in my French friends, or in the machine sales people, for that matter. Though weak, American style brews are simply not tolerated here, coffee is coffee for most French people, and that could mean anything from drip to pods. Nespresso has made huge inroads here, probably mostly thanks to George Clooney’s mug on the advertisements. People like the gadget, but no one seems to really get worked up about things like grind, aroma, or beans (which are really hard to find). That’s OK, we managed to find a good machine, and to my delight I’ve realized that you can find Italian espresso in the supermarkets here, if you dig around a bit. But you’ll still be hard pressed to find a decent cappuccino in this city, which is perfectly understandable to a Parisian. After all, this is Paris. They just don’t do frothy here.

9 comments:

Starman said...

Having been to Paris (and France) many times, I've never actually had a "bad" café, but I have had many good cups of cappuccino. Maybe, I'm just lucky. Or maybe I was French in another lifetime.

Abfab Art Studio said...

Hi Margie, So pleased I inspired you because of one of my loves - coffee. :-)

I found great Italian espresso and latte in an unexpected place - Cafe Kimbo de Napoli, 5 place des Ternes, 75017 Paris, where they use REAL milk, not UHT or any other long-life milk.

I do love French cafes, perfect to spend a long leisurely people-watching parade.

Ciao for now
Teena!

Le Meg said...

You are so very right, Margie!

Visitors who say they adoooooore the coffee in Paris are just distracted by everything going on around their cup. Which, to the city's credit, is pretty great.

But the coffee stinks.

Margie Rynn said...

Starman: it's not that I think the coffee is bad here, in fact, I drink it all the time...but it just ain't on a level with the Italians. Could be just another example of the French trying to ignore Italian cuisine...or it could just be a native preference...
Abfab: I'll check out the Italians you mention!
Meg: It's funny how when people go on about French cafes, they rarely mention the coffee...it's the ambiance that counts.

I gotta admit, I'd forgotten how great coffee can be before I went to Rome in November!

nathdeparis said...

The only way to get nice coffee in cafés parisiens consist in ordering "un café serré". The coffee is then less bitter (and by the way contains less caffeine). Of course uou get less coffee in your cup but you get more quality :-)

Margie Rynn said...

I'll have to try that. I've always heard people ordering café serré and I never bothered to try it. Thanks for the tip!

Bad Dog said...

I have been lucky enough to have cafe in a cafe with Margie (what made me admire her even more was that she took off afterward on one of Paris's new Vel Libre bikes). Love this article and am eagerly anticipating the next!

From Micki Maynard: said...

Brulerie des Ternes, 10 rue Poncelet, sells a number of different types of coffees which they roast themselves. I am partial to the cafe blend, which you also can get in decaf. I make it in a press pot.

You might tell them exactly what taste you are looking for, and perhaps they have it.

Margie Rynn said...

Thanks Brendastarlet, I'll check it out!