# Anything of interest for the coffee lover in Brussels?



## garydyke1

Potentially there for a few days in September and could do with some specialty coffee in my life!

Beer, chocolate and food .. wont be an issue


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## garydyke1

phew ill be alright


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## pendragoncs

garydyke1 said:


> phew ill be alright


Unless your going on a Mon, Tue & Wed


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## garydyke1

nah, weekend : ) Also There is OR Espresso coffeeshops and roasters, meant to be decent


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## garydyke1

Can confirm that Brussels is THE city which needs people to start opening up specialty coffeeshops ASAP. Literally only 2/3 shops across the whole city even worth visiting.

Aksum - run by a Finnish dude, nice guy has all the passion in the world for African coffee, the espresso was over extracted & milk over steamed & they dont do brewed coffee. They roast beans on site but quite dark and espresso-geared. He even asked if I worked in coffee and that I should open up a shop there because I knew so much & the city was crying out for it!

OR Espresso - bigger outfit various outlets in Belguim. Slick operation, the coffee was of a higher standard and they sell a wide range of well roasted beans, the espresso is a little darker than say has Bean but well selected blend and SNG estate options. They do Chemex and batch-brewed coffee , both pretty decent. This place was busy every day and right in the heart of the city. Cakes to die for. Girl behind bar very engaging and had heard of Has Bean and SQM etc. She again asked if I worked in coffee as I knew so much......

Blomqvist espresso - no , no , no. such a shame. Great location, great decor and equipement and the Passion for erm Italian style coffee. ie shots run for 50 seconds about 40 seconds past the blonding point and milk steamed to a temperature hotter than the surface of the sun. ''Our toilet is broken'' to a customer just because they were about to close. Shame

This city loves food and drink and coffee! opportunities lie here for someone


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## garydyke1

So the beans i purchased from Aksum were opened yesterday. The bag had not puffed up much and there wasnt much aroma on opening. The roast looked amateur. ie maybe 10% by volume was chaff! The roast looked a little uneven to my untrained eye.

Grind the beans for a CCD brew released some dull aroma but I wouldnt have been able to suggest an African coffee, didnt bode well.

Anyway cutting to the chase, I produced the CCD as per normal and the resulting brew didnt smell that great but actaully tasted pretty good. There was some acidity and sweetness and no taint of any kind, kind of like month old beans. Im wondering if these beans were actually roasted way before the hand written biro comment on the pack indicated. Will try these as espresso as that all Aksum serves and the owner admitted its all he drinks


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## bronc

I'll be visiting my sister in Brussels in the beginning of January so I'm looking forward to finally tasting some specialty coffee made from a skilled barista. From what I've read here I'll definitely visit OR Espresso but was wondering if there were any other good places that might have opened after Gary's visit.


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## Glenn

Nope, OR Espresso is the best place I have come across

Nowhere else came close


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## JoshBrown

Glenn said:


> Nope, OR Espresso is the best place I have come across
> 
> Nowhere else came close


Parlor coffee is fantastic - great space, great service and really tasty coffee. When I was there they were using OR coffee but I think they've since expanded to guest stuff. A bit out of the way but worth the trek - https://www.facebook.com/parlorcoffee203


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## bronc

Thanks, guys! I'll make sure to visit both places when I go to Brussels.


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## mym

I usually get my espresso at Corica.


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## mym

I usually get my espresso at Corica (http://corica.be/EN/home/) who have a great Wall along the bar of grinders with about 20 different coffees in them ready to make whatever you choose.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Corica+Brussels+


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## bronc

I finally got to Brussels a couple of days ago. The first place I went to was OR Espresso as it was recommended over here. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The beans were roasted quite dark and the espresso was too bitter and overextracted with no complex flavors. I was quite disappointed as I thought this was supposed to be creme de la creme for the Brussels coffee scene.

However, with a bit of Googling I found about My Little Cup. Honestly, my expectations were pretty low at this point so when I went there the other day I ordered a double espresso just hoping to get something palatable. The barista (who later on I found out was one of the two owners) offered me a Brazilian and a Kenyan bean of which I chose the second. The espresso tasted amazing! I don't have a lot of experience with specialty coffee produced by trained baristas as there are no such coffee places in Bulgaria, but this is simply the best espresso I have had. Today I had the opportunity to visit again, this time hoping to have a chat with the guy over there. I met the other owner who is also a barista and we talked for an hour or so. He is very passionate about coffee and loves what he is doing. I finally got to talk with a comrade coffee lover, haha. They are currently using beans from a Paris roaster (Belleville) but plan on opening their own roastery in the future. Their equipment is pretty sweet too









I recommended the owner (didn't get his name!) I met today to check out CFUK so hopefully he will join us.

P.S. I forgot to mention that they have amazing pastry (if you visit make sure to taste the cannelé) and lovely lemonades and cold teas.

tl;dr If you go to Brussels, visit My Little Cup


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## DannyMontez

bronc said:


> I finally got to Brussels a couple of days ago. The first place I went to was OR Espresso as it was recommended over here. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The beans were roasted quite dark and the espresso was too bitter and overextracted with no complex flavors. I was quite disappointed as I thought this was supposed to be creme de la creme for the Brussels coffee scene.
> 
> However, with a bit of Googling I found about My Little Cup. Honestly, my expectations were pretty low at this point so when I went there the other day I ordered a double espresso just hoping to get something palatable. The barista (who later on I found out was one of the two owners) offered me a Brazilian and a Kenyan bean of which I chose the second. The espresso tasted amazing! I don't have a lot of experience with specialty coffee produced by trained baristas as there are no such coffee places in Bulgaria, but this is simply the best espresso I have had. Today I had the opportunity to visit again, this time hoping to have a chat with the guy over there. I met the other owner who is also a barista and we talked for an hour or so. He is very passionate about coffee and loves what he is doing. I finally got to talk with a comrade coffee lover, haha. They are currently using beans from a Paris roaster (Belleville) but plan on opening their own roastery in the future. Their equipment is pretty sweet too
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I recommended the owner (didn't get his name!) I met today to check out CFUK so hopefully he will join us.
> 
> P.S. I forgot to mention that they have amazing pastry (if you visit make sure to taste the cannelé) and lovely lemonades and cold teas.
> 
> tl;dr If you go to Brussels visit My Little Cup


I'll check this place out as I'm going there over new years!


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## martinierius

My litle cup is 50m from where I work. Indeed very nice 

Also worth going is corica.be at the chicken market in Brussels. They roast next to the bar and if you ask questions it is clear that they have a heart for coffee.


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## BenL

I would suggest Parlor, Chaussée de Charleroi 203. They apparently use Caffenation's "Little Green Bag" which I've enjoyed in Norwich, Hasselt and Groningen


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