Who was in the October 2022 box?

Tangled up with coffee in Kaposvár (HU), we meet our favorite monkey back in Halle (BE).

For the first time, coffee from Vienna (AT), and not three but four coffees this month.

Friends we can always count on in need from Bucharest (RO), and a bit of Urban Exploring in Nederokkerzeel (BE)

Nederokkerzeel - Belgium

Jonathan Livingst0n

Jonathan has been an Urban Explorer, photographer and artist for many years.

Recently, he has discovered the wonderful world of specialty coffee.

He captures all this in his unique way.

Hi Jonathan!

Jerry is already a fan of your work for a while.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Hello Jerry!

It’s a real honor to be featured by you!

As you know, I got quite late into coffee myself, but you turned me into an addict really fast. :)

I have been into (urbex) photography for a few years now.

I love capturing forgotten places where time stood still for many years.

Besides photography, I also do some videography.

What do you need to have in your bag to explore the underground in an urban environment?

Truth be told, I don’t even own a bag.

Google Maps takes me places, and my camera captures it and of course, a good cup of coffee to get going.

How often do you look for new abandoned places to shoot?

Have there been any recent discoveries?

At the moment I’m doing a bit less urbex photography, but I still have a list of places I have yet to visit.

Whenever I go traveling I always check if something is interesting nearby.

So lovely that you have a "Cara lager addiction":-).

Can you explain this one a bit?

I’m not an addict, I just need it.

Cara is the ideal beer to cool down during a hot summer, especially if you drink it at room temperature or heated in a microwave.

What can we expect from you in the future?

More of the same I presume.

Photography is a creative outlet for me, I will keep on posting my perspective of the world.

Besides urbex, photography, and specialty coffee what are your interests?

My biggest passion has always been music.

Been playing guitar for over 20 years now, and I always need some good tunes surrounding me.

I’m also a big movie buff, especially classic cinema, from the silent era ‘till the late 80’s.

“If you don’t think about it, there’s always a chance it didn’t happen."

Kaposvár - Hungary

Roastopus

He constantly strives for better coffee in the world.

So doing better than, doing more than, the existing norm.

For most people, Normo needs no introduction.

It started as hanging around in coffee bars as a student product development.

In 2008, he started his coffee bar and in 2011 he began to roast his coffee.

Everybody knows that Jerry has a soft spot for art.

Who does the beautiful branding of Roastopus?

The branding is the work of Kiss Miklós.

We had seen Miklós’ works several times before, and only his personality which we got to know at the first meeting was more impressive than his projects.

We knew in an instant that we had to proceed with him.

An energetic personality and handles the complete process of appearance as a whole, every detail is important to him.

Do you have a favorite artist in Hungary?

I think you will have a hard time figuring this out, but our favorite artist is Kiss Miklós.

It was hard to find specialty coffee roasters in Hungary.

Can you tell us about the coffee scene over there?

In the last 4-5 years, the specialty coffee community has expanded greatly, there are more and more roasters offering quality coffee, and more and more people who drink light-roasted coffee.

We think the direction is good, but we still have a lot of work to do, we want to introduce as many people as possible to how magical and diverse coffee is.

Are you working alone or do you have people who help you with your coffee mission?

Since it is a very complex thing, the team is quite large.

However, this is how we were able to ensure that everyone deals with the subfield that really interests them, and is therefore really good at it.

Broadly speaking, among the company's founders, Gabi is responsible for marketing and all official matters, Ákos is the man of numbers, and Balázs' area is everything related to coffee.

We would not be able to list everyone, but we would like to thank everyone who contributes to our mission every day.

When in Kaposvár, what would you recommend us to do?

The city center is also worth a walk, but we would definitely recommend visiting Lake Deseda, which is a few minutes walk from the roastery.

You can also rent a bicycle and go around the lake.

In autumn, the landscape is truly enchanting.

What makes coffee special?

The fact that it is diverse and can always show something new.

Also, it reaches a fairly large audience, so we share the experience with quite a few people.

"We are very happy to be able to share our passion with you, and we hope to meet you in more and more places in the future, even in person.

We’ve bean waiting for you! :)”

Halle - Belgium

Brander

Hmmm Jerry remembers this coffee roaster as the monkey coffee (in a good way, of course).

Exactly one year ago we had the honor to have Brander.

Awesome branding and definitely mouth-watering coffees!

For the people who don’t know Brander yet, how did you get into coffee

Can you give us a bit of background on your career so far?

Exactly five years ago we started Brander.

We fell in love with specialty coffee the year before, and after a lot of training and testing, we launched our coffee.

Nowadays you can find our coffee in gastronomic restaurants, coffee bars in Belgium and abroad, and at the homes of coffee enthusiasts.

Jerry still loves your monkey!

Have you never had plans to do more with this, some artwork for example?

Our monkey is loved by many.

By the way, it is called Titus.

Others used it to print on T-shirts and other stuff.

But we stick to coffee.

What does coffee go through before it reaches you?

The cultivation and processing at the plantation and the mill are very important.

It determines the taste enormously.

While roasting, it is our goal to respect the work of the farmer and reveal all the flavors that are in the beans.

If you roast too dark, you lose a lot.

That is why we love light roast coffee.

Did you visit the Antwerp Coffee Week?

Yes, we were in Antwerp.

Do you think we need something bigger like a Belgium Coffee Week?

We would indeed like to participate in Belgium Coffee Week.

Because some nice coffee (like Brander for instance) is roasted outside the large cities.

What may people not know about Brander?

In November you can find us at the Milan Coffee Festival.

We will learn the Italians about good coffee ;)

When not enjoying coffee, how do you spend your time?

Oh yes, there is life outside coffee, though very limited ;)

We love to walk the dog and enjoy simple things in life.

"Enjoy!"

Vienna - Austria

Jonas Reindl

We are not just here for balls and efficient and regular public transport.

Like every month, we are looking for the best coffee roaster.

This month we are in Vienna, drinking coffee at Jonas Reindl.

And do you know why they invented the croissant, yes yes not the Frenchmen ;-).

Can you tell us the story of Jonas Reindl?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a person.

Across the street from our first Café stands the Viennese traffic construction Schottentor, which is the inspiration for our name.

Major Franz Jonas had it built in 1961.

The word “Reindl” is Viennese for an oval cooking pan.

Since this tram station resembles a Reindl’s shape, the locals dubbed it “Jonas Reindl”.

Is your team as multicultural as your city?

Yes, we have people from all over the world, Canada, Zimbabwe, Ukraine, Germany, Turkey, Cypress, Greece, Scotland, and Estonia.

Are you born in Vienna?

Yes!

Besides Vienna, what is the best city in the world for coffee?

Berlin & London

Can you share with us your secret to making a good filter coffee at home?

Use the Mindful Design Brewer, that we use in our shops :)

What do we need to do in Vienna when we are here?

Eat a Schnitzel :)

"We know which farms our coffee seeds come from and undertake origin trips to see these fascinating estates for ourselves.

We appreciate the hard work and the risk that farmers take, by choosing to grow coffee varieties renowned for their unique flavour rather than their yield.

We roast and brew to extract the full potential of the coffee in your cup; that is how we honour the hard labour, that was put in before us at the farm-level."

Bucharest - Romania

Sloane

Not three but four coffees this month.

Friends we can always count on in need from Bucharest!

So glad you are back in the box!

So does this mean that 'I know Jerry from Toronto' has been a good experience?

Of course.

We love to collaborate with subscription boxes, we think it’s a great way to experience many different coffees and roast styles.

We hope Jerry will keep on growing.

I remember from last time that you pretty much lived in your roastery.

Has it changed much in the meantime?

Ha, ha!

Yes, the pandemic life.

It was nice actually, it gave us some time to develop some new projects.

This spring we managed to fulfill one of those dreams we kept postponing: we opened a flagship store in the heart of Bucharest where you can come and drink any of the coffees in our offer and learn more about each of them.

Has the coffee scene in Romania changed much since the pandemic?

There were some uncertain times but people have come back stronger from it.

People's habits changed: the office areas are semi-deserted, and people don’t grab their coffee on their way to work as they used to, so the areas for coffee shops to strive are different now and the approach is more of a leisure experience.

This is great because we always said that coffee and specialty coffee in particular is all about the experience: the sensory experience and the human experience.

So the coffee scene changed, some coffee shops closed but so many learned their lesson from what failed, and with newfound energy a wave of coffee shops opened in spring.

“It is close to miraculous and you should cherish it.”

we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!     we're the artists!