Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Paris Coffee Tastes Like Ass

Tourists are often too distracted by the ambiance to notice that brew between their fingers tastes funny -- but connoisseurs abhor the sludge that's on offer in the everyday Paris café.

It sucks for many reasons, including the frequent use of robusta (not arabica) beans, chalky water, sterilized milk, dirty machines with low pressure and temperature, and untrained baristas who almost never tamp their shots.

And while French drinkers don't seem to know what they're missing, many 'Mericans - even those from Kansas - certainly do. For those of you in search of a jolt without the dirty mouth, I made a list for Gridskipper of the top places in Paris where you can find a decent cup of coffee.

>and here it is...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm.. not being a regular coffee drinker, I have to admit I'm much more about finding a cute place to have a café, than the quality of the actual coffee itself!

xox Girl and the City

http://girlandthecity.wordpress.com

Le Meg said...

Well in that case, my dear Girl and/or City, I might refer you to the following articles about cafes and teahouses that are more about scene than bean:

The Paris Terrace: Secret Gardens

Paris Tea for Neo-Colonialists

Paris Tea for Zen Wannabes


Happy sips,
Le Meg

Dean said...

I'll definitely have to file this away for future reference.

My Parisian coffee experience is limited, but I have been trying for several years to replicate the taste and feel of what I remember as "French coffee" and I've almost done it.

I use Illy coffee to make two shots of espresso from a stove-top espresso pot and hot milk. Mmm... tasty.

Adrian said...

disgusting photo...

Cassoulet Cafe said...

Thanks for the good coffee recommendations! I will print it out.