I am of the belief that the truth can truely only beheld within ones own eyes

it also occurs to me that maybe the soluna way — pulling lungos with better coffee — might actually make some sense, as a step. french-style coffee, but done better, seems to be making a dent.

then again, it appears that for ryan there were actually well-measured shots at the hands of other baristi. mine came from the owner, gloria.

andy, french may seem bygone to you, and parts of it are, but there is a very distinct sense of vindication in the country right now. their economy is the least damaged in europe, and far better off than the u.s. because of the government’s large role in the employment sector. a more socialist environment may not roar like an unfettered capitalist one, but it doesn’t crash as badly either. they have a president who’s a bit odd for them, but also highly successful leading france to the head of european military and economic negotiations over the past year. they have an immigration problem and and unemployment problem, yes, but it’s beginning to pale next to those in the wild west.

so while the rest of the western world in in shell shock, there’s a certain resurgent appreciation for the foundational comforts of life in france, in my opinion — a realization that globalization and wall street-driven success and foreign wars aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, while fine food and fashion and cultural pursuits can be great , enduring comforts.

i’m not gung ho on this mindset, but from france it actually looks like it’s the u.s. that “USED to be,” and is now a shell of its former self.

spronomy remarks upon the over-romanticization we often have for europe. this is true, but it’s not what i’m about. italy DOES have very enjoyable espresso. france does not and never has (until soluna, and that’s not without qualifications). it’s not a problem of mythologizing europe, in my opinion, as much as making europe a monolith.

london has some great coffee and espresso. italy has some real old-school adventures. scandinavia has always been part of the vanguard. paris just now has a promising spot. germany i know little about. so … it’s hard to paint with a broad brush.

i’m not

Then again, they probably think we’re strange for what we do, going to competitions to make espresso, measuring our coffee by the gram and performing peculiar rituals and techniques to create our coffee.

Perhaps because the typical American coffeeshop is mainly about large drinks and flavor syrups, it’s easier to differentiate ourselves from them? In Europe, maybe there’s less room for differentiation when everyone serves up caps and espresso?

Espresso everywhere else in Paris was uniformly terrible.

I desire to see the social shrapnel with mine own eyes. Please delight me further.

Andy

the only baristas there when i went by were gloria herself and the brazilian “guest.”

investor? dude, sign me up for the trip if you’re serious. barista, biscuit boy, whatever. paris is just too huge of an opportunity for serious coffee. and yeah, there are spots to be had.

marais or saint germain either one would work. montmartre, even.

I so enjoy Cafe Soluna. Don’t know if their baristas Victor and Yann are still there but they really were taking their espresso seriously and were producing some decent shots the last time I was there.

And I did find a couple of excellent spots for Third Wave Parisian cafes. Let me know if you’re interested in being an investor!

Oh, so many beautiful places in Paris. Enjoy!

for me this is a classic example of context meaning everything. i’m so used to tar-like paris espresso that this WAS a quantum leap forward. and the lady WAS carefully selecting estate coffees to use.

now, the espresso method was still what we’d call “geysers of blondie.” but it was oddly non-bitter, non-tangy and non-offensive. just watery brazilian coffee.

i don’t want to overhype the place, but for paris, that’s actually saying something.