Interviews March 2022 | I KNOW JERRY FROM TORONTO

Who was in the March 2022 box?

I’ve never seen so many spray cans and colors together (NL), a collab in (BE), catching the sun in (ES), and what the HMMM doughnuts with our coffee in (NO)!

Leiden - The Netherlands

Karski Roy Valk

Already bringing color into people's lives since the 80s.His murals are true masterpieces time and time again.From the city where there is an abundance of art.Here you can see the Homunculus Loxodontus, among others.He is no stranger to the coffee scene, as his father ran a coffee bar for many years in The Netherlands.We are happy that this month's box contains Karski's colourful work.

When/How did you know you wanted to be a graffiti artist?

Back in 1984, my cousin took me out one night as a watchout while he and his friends painted illegal graffiti, at the end they gave me a spray can and said “Write your name on the wall”...since then I was hooked.

Why do you do what you do?

I love to bring colors into people's life, I love to create and I love the adventure of traveling and painting.It gives me the freedom I want.

Are there any particular artists who inspire you? Any favorite artists?

Well, there are a few yes, some graffiti artists such as SatOne, Bond, Tretze (RIP),..But also music artists can inspire me and abstract artists such as Yago Hortal.

What is your dream project?

I still would like to paint an airplane. And make a living out of my abstract work only.

You are no stranger to the coffee world.Do you often sit in coffee bars yourself?

My Father used to have a coffee bar and even won a golden coffee bean for his coffee.And I drink my coffee every day in the studio or at the wall when I am painting a big wall…I LOVE A GOOD COFFEE 😁

“This is my first print ever and I am pretty happy that this came out like this.I hope that it will bring the coffee drinkers some extra joy."

Dendermonde/Leuven - Belgium

Klik & Dick Wynendaele

He is creating the specialty coffee scene in Dendermonde.Like Jerry he wants to connect the art and coffee scene.The most enthusiastic barista Jerry has ever met.Together he joins forces with Dick Wynendaele of Tāne Roasters Collective to roast a sublime coffee.

Hi guys!How did you get the idea for this collab?

This came organically. We just have a good ‘klik’ ;) We connect, definitely with our approach in the coffee scene.

Dick we know you from Tāne Roasters Collective but Clifford you are new to us.Can you introduce yourselves briefly?

I grew up in Dendermonde in the punk/hardcore scene, where I also started my first pop-up specialty coffee shop in 2019. Since then coffee and Klik became my way of life and how I look at things.

What can you tell us about the coffee you have picked for the Jerry box?

The coffee we’ve picked is a very clean, slightly sweet fully washed Ngororero Rwanda with a subtle citrus acidity to it.This coffee has a low body, so we tried to keep the roast profile pretty short in development time, to keep all of this as bright as we can.

Clifford soon you will open a new coffee bar in Dendermonde.What may we expect from this new place?

More specialty coffee and more collabs!And of course, our own ceramics atelier in the back, and there is way more creative stuff that we want to do. We want to explore the boundaries of what we can do with Klik in Dendermonde as a concept that brings all kinds of creatives together.

Coffee and art!Like Jerry, you try to make these two worlds flow together, how do you do it?

We both (me and my girlfriend Lisa) had some art projects in the past, like photography and music stuff. Coffee and ceramics are now our main focus at the moment. We just love to create, move people, get connected, and express ourselves. A good coffee shop does the trick for me to lift my creativity to a higher level. Just good vibes, good people, and the best specialty coffee to make your brain go wooooosh :p

Both of you use refillable jars to sell your beans.How is this appreciated by the customers?

So much!In Dendermonde more and more regulars take their refillable jars with them for a refill of our basic ‘Klik Roast’ beans almost every week. That’s super awesome and way better for the environment.We also get a lot of compliments for the nice esthetics of the jar and branding too :D

“Everything I brew, I brew it for you”

Oslo - Norway

Talormade

There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing, Jerry totally agrees with this! Jerry would like to go ski-touring here and afterward eat doughnuts and drink coffee.They told me we could have the best doughnuts here in The Tiger City.But not only for doughnuts, but also for coffee and art you are in the right place. I am very pleased to introduce you to Talormade from Oslo this month.

Hi,I am impressed by the combination of specialty coffee and doughnuts.Can you tell us how this started?

I’ve been working in the specialty industry for 21 years and over this time I’ve seen the evolution of the industry from its infancy where we as baristas were desperate to be taken seriously as a legitimate career choice. In doing so, I feel we alienated a lot of people by gatekeeping and having a very narrow view of what quality could be. I saw it condensed at its most extreme over the 3 years I roasted at Tim Wendelboe. My goal after leaving was to maintain the quality of the coffee but make it much more welcoming and inviting. That's why I wanted to combine my skills as a pastry chef with quality coffee. Doughnuts are delicious when made with high-quality ingredients and care. But they are inherently always going to be fun and a little silly, no matter how good they are. It's the perfect representation of what we are trying to do, as creativity is also limitless. So we’ve gotten a little famous in Oslo for our doughnuts. That way I don’t have to convince someone that our coffee is amazing, they just find out by accident when they come for a doughnut.

If you had to choose: never again coffee or always doughnuts?

Doughnuts, actually.Strangely enough, I’m not a sweet tooth.I think that's why our doughnuts are good, there is more focus on balance than sweetness.

Can you describe your favorite coffee and doughnuts for us?

A well-made cappuccino and a cinnamon sugar doughnut straight from the fryer is the most magical experience you can have

What is the Oslo coffee scene like, and how would you like to change it?

We are still 5 years behind the rest of the industry here.When I arrived in 2012, people were still not weighing their shots and it was total cowboy country in terms of quality and consistency. Things have improved since then and people have started to understand the importance of automation and good systems. Specialty places are very cliquey and it's all about who is cool and who isn’t and not many shops put serious energy into quality of life for their baristas. I’d like to see more of a community feeling and a serious effort towards more ergonomic working conditions.

Apart from coffee and doughnuts, what more can we do here in Oslo?

Take ourselves a little less seriously and have a bit more fun.

"Since it's just been International Women's day, I’d like to see a world with more women kicking ass in the specialty industry."

Seville - Spain

Ineffable

No way! This city was discovered by the legend himself.Yes indeed, Hercules :-)He was probably here for the same reason as Jerry, Coffee and art!Seville is known for its juicy oranges... and the coffee of Ineffable.

Hey Omar.Tell us the saga of Ineffable, we are curious about it.

We are three partners at Ineffable Coffee.We are all from Seville but previous to starting Ineffable Coffee we were traveling around.Jose and I, Omar, lived in Cape Town, RSA, for a few years from 2005 to 2012, we were studying, working, and enjoying that beautiful city.It was there that we experienced the beginning of our journey into specialty coffee.Jose started working as a barista and later roasting, which later led him to manage a roastery and coffee shop that was set up in Istanbul, Turkey.From my side I came back to Spain to realize that coffee was horrible, it could simply not be drunk.So I guess it was destiny as all the ingredients started to mix in.I started a coffee shop with Alejandro in Seville and that served as the stepping stone for what would later become Ineffable Coffee.Around 2016 Jose moved back to Seville and we continued to work, now as a team, towards opening a roastery with a clear vision.Our goal was to change the culture of coffee in Seville, Andalucía, and Spain and to offer ethical and responsible quality coffee in our surroundings.Responsible for the environment and the entire coffee chain from the small producer at origin to the final consumer.

Do you have a favorite brewing recipe of this Costa Rica - Santa Rosa 1900 you would like to share?

Santa Rosa 1900 is one of our all-time favorites, a direct trade made possible through our friends in Costa Rica, Selva Coffee.We love the complexity and the subtleness of the double-washed process which in fact, lets the terroir, climatology, and botanical come through beautifully into the cup. In general terms, we have been brewing this coffee with a finer grind setting than we use for many other coffees for filter.For Kalita: 24 gr400 ml96 degreesmedium/fine grindtotal time 3:00ratio 1:16 0:00 pour 100 ml with an aggressive pour (I use pouring as a way to stir the coffee bed)0:15 swirl one full circle.0:30 second pour, all the way to 250 ml, medium to gentle pouring1:00 swirl one full circle1:30 third pour, all the way to 400 ml, medium to gentle pouring2:00 swirl one full circleAt around 3:00 all the water would have gone through the coffee bed and you should have a delicious cup of coffee ready to drink.

Are you alone in Seville or can we find other specialty coffee roasters here?

Some commercial roasters have started releasing “specialty coffee” offerings.In our view, we do not consider this specialty coffee since the traceability is not complete or the company trades most of their coffee without upholding specialty coffee values towards producers and so on.For us specialty coffee is not just quality, it is a whole, it is a way of life. Seville is a lovely city to visit.We have lots of suns and winters are mild and sunny.The city is vibrant and packed with people on the streets. For sure you will find great coffee shops and more that are coming up soon.
Delatribu Specialty Coffee, Pasaje Andreu 3
Bio Mio Sevilla, Mateos Gago 9
Jester Coffee & Juices, Puerta de la Carne 7
Moya Brunch, Santa María la Blanca 20
La Mundana, Av. de las Erillas 6

Like Jerry, you also combine art and specialty coffee.How did you come up with this idea?

We offer cards with information on the coffee.So on the other side of the card, we thought we would do something cool to make the card even more memorable.But, everything we do we try to do for a reason and so for a long time we did not know how to add value there.Eventually, we came up with the idea to play with the concept “TOSTADO EN SEVILLA” which means “roasted in Sevilla” and so we decided to play with our city, and with local artists from the south of Spain.Our first collaboration was with Ana Jarén https://ineffablecoffee.com/en/new-packaging-same-philosophy/ putting the city of Seville and coffee into the spotlight of every illustration.Step by step we came to love and appreciate more art and so inevitably we got pulled a little into this world.I must say we were pushed and continue to be supported by the great Edu, the designer behind everything you see at Ineffable Coffee https://lostipejos.comAt the moment we are immersed in a collaboration with LITTLE https://ineffablecoffee.com/en/little-and-ineffable-coffee/.People really love the artwork and we love to be able to feature local artists, it is a beautiful combination with powerful results that we feel proud of and will continue to foster.

It makes me wonder, you see "NO8DO" everywhere in your city, what does it stand for?

NO8DO is the motto and logo of the Seville City Council.It is a half acronym half hieroglyph with not so much clarity on the origins.It means “No me ha dejado” which translates to “they did not leave me” or “they have stayed / they have remained with me”. The legend of Alfonso X tells us that he was an enormously learned person, both in law and medieval science.However, all this knowledge did not serve him to efficiently govern the economy and public administration. Because of his way of governing the kingdom, discontent spread and two sides were formed.Faced with the possibility that these sides would end the dynasty and even the monarchy itself, Alfonso's son, Prince Sancho, with the support of the king's wife, Violante de Aragón, took up arms to reestablish authority.Sancho and Violante won cities to their cause where Alfonso X was declared dispossessed of the Crown. Sancho had a powerful army but always tried to avoid fighting his father directly and tried to limit himself only to win followers. With hardly any use of force, Sancho became king of practically the entire Kingdom.Seville was the city where Alfonso X had taken refuge.Sancho did not want to attack this city. His father was in it even though he was already an old man. The aristocracy of Seville left the city to recognize Sancho, who was in Córdoba.Old Alfonso stayed in the city and was accompanied by only eight dignitaries.However, the Seville City Council made up of different social classes, was completely faithful to him.`

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