[RECAP] VIRTUAL: Show & Tell Coffee Lovers Social

[KarenVChin]

Coffee Lovers Unite!

Last Saturday, on May 9th, I hosted the 1st ever VIRTUAL: Coffee Lovers Social meetup using Google Hangouts.

The 9 Local Guides who participated came from 7 countries:

• North America – U.S.A. (@kwiksatik) & Canada (@LuisMGonzalez )
• Europe – U.K. (@TheRealKristin @AdrianLunsong), Italy @Giuseppe75 @ermest), & Greece (@Stella2)
• Asia – Japan (@HiroyukiTakisawa) & Bangladesh (@MahabubMunna)

As with my last two virtual meetups, Parent Talk and Wine Lovers, we easily surpassed the scheduled 1-hour virtual meetup by close to an extra hour!

Since we all have been self-quarantining in our homes because of the Coronavirus pandemic when you get passionate coffee lovers together in one “virtual cafe,” we talked about:

• How are you making your coffee?
• What is your coffee brand(s) at home?
• What is your coffee-making/drinking tip(s)?
• What you miss about your favorite cafe (share your Local Guides review link)?

We started our meetup by taking virtual tours of each of our coffee bar setups.

How are we making our coffee at home?

Several of us showed how by giving coffee demos.

Traditional Vietnamese Coffee always consists of adding sweetened condensed cows milk at the bottom of the cup before you pour the boiling water onto the ground coffee that is inside Vietnamese Coffee Drip Maker.

Vietnamese Coffee can either be served hot, as shown in the photo collage. Or it can be served cold by pouring the hot coffee mixture into a cup of ice to make Vietnamese Iced Coffee.

Created by a Ph.D. Made simply from non-porous, borosilicate glass and fastened with a wood collar and tie, the Chemex® coffeemaker brews coffee without imparting any flavors of its own.

The Chemex coffeemaker is a one-piece, hourglass-shaped vessel made of high quality, heat resistant glass.

The Chemex coffeemaker, together with Chemex-Bonded® Coffee Filter, makes perfect coffee. Clear, pure, flavorful, and without bitterness or sediment every time. The coffee only comes in contact with the scientifically designed filter and non-porous glass. With the Chemex® method, you can make coffee as strong as you like without bitterness. Perfect for iced coffee and coffee flavoring for gourmet recipes. Because of its purity, Chemex brewed coffee can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for reheating without losing its flavor.

Luis also uses a Chemex coffeemaker. He likes to regulate his boiling water even more by using his surgical stainless steel Coffee Gator Pour Over Gooseneck Kettle, which is essential for hand drip coffee perfection.

Hiroyuki showed us his Cafflano® Klassic, a portable pour-over coffee maker. It consists of a coffee grinder that has a foldaway conical burr ceramic hand-mill, dripping kettle, dripper, server, etched stainless filter, and tumbler. And all of these components are integrated into a single assembling unit.

We have a lot in common!****

• Adrian and Luis LOVE Starbucks. Adrian’s favorite is the American version of the Mocha Frappuccino (with everything on it – sugary sweet with whipped cream). He also enjoys collecting Starbucks coffee mugs and stocks his kitchen with Starbucks Doubleshot Espresso canned coffee drinks. Luis has been drinking Starbucks for 20 years. Besides collecting Starbucks mugs too, he used to buy Starbucks coffee when he traveled overseas. Luis also would mail order Starbucks coffee beans from America and have them shipped to his home country of Venezuela.
• Adrian, Kristin, Luis, and I love drinking Philz Coffee. Adrian loves the Iced Mint Mojito while Kristin loves the Iced Coffee Rosé. I love both. Luis loves trying out new coffees.
• Adrian, Kristin, Giuseppe, and I all own Nespresso machines. I own the American version (Vertuo line, which uses larger pods (makes more than espresso) versus the classic, or Original line espresso pods).
• The best coffee filter (or strainer) is made out of cotton, not paper or porcelain, and never metal. Both Hiroyuki and Luis use similar cotton coffee filters.
• Ermes, Giuseppe, and I drink Italian coffee brands Lavazza and Illy at home.
• Luis and Megan both make their coffee using a Chemex® coffeemaker.
• Hiroyuki, Kristin, and Luis are hardcore coffee lovers. Between the three of them, they have a lot of coffee gadgets and coffee!

When to drink and what kind of coffee to drink in Italy?

Italians are passionate about when and what to drink their coffee. Ermes said to an Italian “coffee” means “espresso.” And we make our coffee with a “Moka.” There is a Moka pot (Bialetti is the brand) for every number of coffees you want to serve: 2, 4, 6, 8 cups, etc. You don’t add anything to overtly sugary to Italian coffee, unlike Americans with Starbucks (no added whipped cream, extra flavors, etc.)

Giuseppe shared that Italians don’t drink coffee past afternoon time. It is not an after-dinner drink.

Ermes and Giuseppe explained Italians drink “sweet” ONLY in the morning. A cappuccino with a biscotti or a croissant in the morning. If it is afternoon, drink only espresso.

Ermes shared he can tell who is a tourist anytime after lunch if someone orders a cappuccino at a cafe. Italians never drink a cappuccino or latte after 11 am!

Luis shared that when he was in Italy, his waiter refused to serve him a cappuccino as an after-dinner drink (major faux pas).

Ermes shared where he is from it is common to add a splash of grappa at the bottom of your used coffee cup “to rinse” it–to get the last drops of coffee, now mixed with the grappa, which I agreed tasted good after Ermes showed me how to drink espresso during Connect Live 2019 properly.

What are our favorite coffee brands we drink or use at home?

Coffee Beans/Ground Coffee (no particular order)

• Lavazza
• Illy
• Peet’s Coffee
• Philz Coffee
• [Carrera Coffee](http:// http://carreracoffee.ca/)
• Pike Place (Medium roast - sold in the UK)
• Nescafe (US site)
• Starbucks Coffee (US site)
• Nespresso Capsules --Vertuo & Original (US site)

Coffee Equipment / Accessories

• Nespresso Milk Frother (UK site)
• Nespresso Lattissima (UK site)
• Nespresso Vertuo line (US site)
• Chemex Coffeemakers and Filters
• Bialetti – Moka Express (US site) --make Italian coffee (espresso)
• OXO Good Grips Cold Brew Coffee-Maker (UK site)
• Iwaki Snowtop Cold Brew Coffee Maker (Sold in Japan)
• Cafflano Klassic
• Vietnamese Coffee Drip Filter Gravity Insert – make Vietnamese Coffee
• IMUSA Coffee Strainer Handle Colador De Tela (cotton strainer/filter) (Luis’ favorite)
• Nel Drip Preparation Guidelines (Hiroyuki’s favorite)

What we miss about, and what are our favorite local cafes?

The group agreed that it isn’t always the best-tasting coffee, but being in a cafe surrounded by either your good friends or what you see as you sit, that makes the best places to drink and enjoy your coffee.

For Stella, seeing the ocean as she sips her Greek coffee, which is like Turkish coffee, is the best coffee drinking experience.

Here are our Google Maps Lists to our favorite cafes:

• Favorite Coffee Lovers Social Cafe List
• Adrian Lunsong’s Eat, Sleep, Repeat! (Manchester, England)
• Luis M Gonzalez’s Favorite Coffee Places in Montreal

Cheers,

Karen

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Next Virtual: Coffee Lovers Social Meetup

If you are interested in attending, please comment below. I am happy to host again up to 9 Local Guides who want to share and talk about their love for coffee experiences.

My Next Virtual Meetup is this Saturday, May 16th.

Done with Coffee, we will now talk about Tea: “Show & Tell” Tea Lovers Social. Sorry, this meetup is already full. There is a growing Waitlist. I am happy to host a future virtual meetup. Please comment and tag me in the Tea Lovers Social link.

What are “Show & Tell” Virtual Meetups?

My meetups are small in size because I use the free version of Google Hangouts, which has a maximum of up to 10 participants, including me, as the host. The purpose of my Saturday 1-hour virtual meetups is for the Local Guide, who wants to fully interact, “Show & Tell” their favorite things, with up to 9 other Local Guides.

• Pet-Friendly Local Guides
• Plant Lovers Social
• Wine Lovers Social
• Parent Talk Social

[system]

Hi @KarenVChin

Wow. The coffee meetup sounds really interesting for me. I was surprised I didn’t see any French Press users. I would love to be in the next coffee social. As for teas, I drink black teas - not the Earl Grey type. Thanks for sharing these great meetup ideas.

[ErmesT]

Yeaaahhh, finally this recap is live, @KarenVChin .

One of the best meet-up I had, and I really didn’t expected so see so many different ways to prepare a coffee, live on a meet-up.

This is possible only thanks to the Virtual meet-ups, where we can be in 10 houses at the same time.

We learned how is the coffee that we prepare at home, and the one that we drink on a bar, or a coffee shop

Indeed Italian breakfast is always sweet, if an Italian is in Italy. If we are abroad, we can have eggs and beacon, ham, or even salted herring with a cappuccino, but in Italy NOOOO, we will never do that.

I really appreciate your effort in “educating” me to the “american taste” of coffee. I like it, simply, I cannot call it caffè.

Caffè, in my country, means “Espresso”, so an espresso is what you will get in a bar ordering a caffè.

But if you are used to the espresso, you can explore the big number of options, in size (Short, long, medium) or in different cups (big cup, or in a glass cup) added with milk (macchiato caldo o freddo, cappuccino, caffelatte, latte macchiato) and so on.

Thanks to everyone who attended the meet-up, helping me to know more about the great world of coffee

[FaridTDF]

Una recopilación muy completa y detallada, se ve que la pasaron muy bien @KarenVChin ,me interesa experimentar el cafe con leche condensada, creo q eu puede ser una buena experiencia, intentaré hacer un cafe de esa manera, brindo con mi cafe por ustedes

Saludos Farid

[Giuseppe75]

@KarenVChin ,

This recap is amazing, love it so much all these beautiful photos!!!

I can definitely say that this was one of the funniest and most instructive meetup I had during this quarantine period.

So happy to have met amazing Local Guides sharing not only their passion for coffee but also giving tips and advises on how to prepare or taste a good coffee.

As shared during the meetup I definitely miss my daily Cappuccino at my favorite Café but your meetup gave me a lot of energy and enthusiasm. Yes, I had the feeling to live a real social moment with friends. Thank you so much to you and all participants for making that day special to me.

[JAHEDx]

Thanks @KarenVChin For Sharing Such a Nice Moments While Virtual MeetUp. It’s Really Means a lot for people like me stuck in home without work for Two months and more for avoiding COViD-19 infections.

And Nice to See U @MahabubMunna Brother, I Really Like The Photo U Holding Coffee Mug

[LuigiZ]

Hi @KarenVChin,

wow looks like a day coffee experience rather than a hour virtual hangout ?. Very well done, I can read lot of interest in the coffee everywhere with its own specialty and @ermest and @Giuseppe75 who kept the very good mood of the Italian coffee espresso .

Thank you for sharing wonderful recap, here an Italian espresso for you.

And this is my Philz Coffee of last November ?.

[HiroyukiTakisawa]

Hello, @KarenVChin Thank you for sharing this beautiful recap! Unfortunately I couldn’t drink coffee because of the midnight in Japan? but it was really fun meet-up?
It’s great to share each passion. Of course, I also remembered a coffee meet-up in San Jose that was hosted by you the last year, and I hope to participate in such a meet-up again.
Thank you, all participants

Hello, @LuisMGonzalez ,
I hope to talk to you about coffee more deeply someday. I’m looking forward to it?

[beka_knows]

Wow, that’sgreat @KarenVChin

[NunungAfuah]

Oh wow @KarenVChin I do love this post! I am not coffee drinker but I love how people make it. Thanks for sharing

[KlaudiyaG]

What a great summary, @KarenVChin ! It seems that you’ve hosted another successful and very interesting meet-up. I’m not a coffee lover, I’m afraid, but the way you’ve described your and the attendees passion for coffee is so compelling that I’am actually thinking of having a cup right now. Thanks for sharing!

[ShahriarAzadEvan]

@KarenVChin great post . The photos are really looking very nice .

I can see @MahabubMunna also holding a mug of coffee .

[Giuseppe75]

Ciao @LuigiZ , thank you you for your tag.

Yes it was definitely a great experience and as you can see from the recap I couldn’t miss to show my collection of Cappuccinos .

Hope we may meet again for a good coffee in Parma as we did last year

[KarenVChin]

@user_not_found , happy you enjoyed reading my recap. We did have a French Press user. It’s just that we didn’t have enough time to talk about it. Are you a French Press? Do you have good cafes to go to where you live?

The Tea Lovers meetup is going to be interesting because, like coffee, there are so many ways to drink tea: hot vs cold, flavored vs not flavored, decaf vs caffeinated, purest vs you add things to it, east vs west. My only issue is that there is never enough time to cover the topic fully because you can easily talk for hours.

I have you down for the next Coffee Lovers Social. Hopefully, you can “show and tell” your favorite coffee item(s).

Hope all is well!

Cheers,

Karen

Cheers,

Karen

[karan_iclickthese]

Idk how i missed out on this one Being a Coffee Lover @KarenVChin

Amazing knowledge about brewing Coffee in different styles, would love to connect with you to discuss on Another Virtual Coffee Talk

[KarenVChin]

Thanks @ermest for attending and sharing your insight both at the meetup and here on the recap.

I totally agree drinking coffee is not the same after having friends who don’t live in one’s country. It’s because of you my hubby went out to buy a Moka pot to add to our coffee equipment collection. And he is always looking for a good dark roast coffee bean to try – hence Illy and Lavazza are now in the house.

And it doesn’t take much to drink a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha during the Holiday Season. You were my excuse to drink this and, of course, get the limited Holiday Starbucks coffee tumbler was the “icing on the cake” last year when you were in town.

Don’t forget your 1st of 2 Philz Coffee moments in Downtown San Jose. I give you a lot of credit – You do humor me with my flavored coffee impulses.

As for trying out new coffees, it is because of meeting and knowing @Giuseppe75 and @LuisMGonzalez last year that has gotten me to work my way down the coffee menu at my local cafe once a week prior to coronavirus. They unknowingly gave me the push to try something new and new material to post my coffee experiences on Instagram and Google Maps.

I am hoping to visit my local cafes again once things settled down.

Cheers,

Karen

[KarenVChin]

@FaridTDF – I wished you were able to join us last Saturday. I know you are a big-time coffee lover! You would have added more richness definitely to the conversation.

For me, one squeeze of the sweetened condensed milk in the coffee makes the coffee taste creamier. I also add a sprinkle of cinnamon powder now took to give me that “cafe” feeling at home.

Cheers,

Karen

[KarenVChin]

Thanks @Giuseppe75 for your lovely words.

I was really looking forward to watching you demonstrate your new milk frother last Saturday. Hopefully, I will get to see it soon (HINT!).

It’s because of Local Guides like you that are continually inspiring me, that get my creative juices flowing with the new ideas. I have a new virtual meetup topic that will be coming up that again you were an inspiration for! I wonder what that could be???

Cheers,

Karen

[KarenVChin]

Thanks for your kind words @JAHEDx . Happy to know you enjoyed reading my recap here.

Cheers,

Karen

[KarenVChin]

Thanks @LuigiZ ! Are you able to go out and drink an espresso at your local cafe?? SJ

I haven’t been able to do that now since the beginning of March, which feels like a decade ago. It makes me laugh to see how tiny your espresso cup is. Here in America, it would be three times as big!

Cheers,

Karen