Brulerie de Montrouge
73 Av. de la République, 92120 Montrouge, France
Click right to take a look around…
When a gust of wind rushes through a forest, catches every leaf, stem, and dislodged petal, twig, and bud, there’s a calm that this seemingly universal rustle conjures. Coffee roasting’s agitation in the drum, heating and transforming, produces a sound that is kin. And the Giesen, up one step just behind the counter, fills this cafe and roastery with this breathable, soothing serenity. The apple red threshold portends a boutique and signals an impassioned roaster within, but the simplified Mandala window decals spaced along the storefront and defining the logo tips the scales in favor of craft. You can breath easy here. On one side, sturdy shelving stocked with tea tins, artsy MOKA pots, and a few built-in coffee dispensers create your neighborhood coffee store. While there is a kind of cabana back room, people on their laptops at the granite circulars fashion the cafe in the front. At the ordering counter are cookies under pastry domes, babka, banana bread, and a subverted cooler filled with juices and colas, Lemonaid, paf, and Alain Milliat. The milk storage sits snuggly in there too. On exposed brick and under pendant lamps of golden transparency, blown glass with bulbs sewn to their pontils before finding final forms, it’s a shop that congenially compiles many a coffee thought.
SCROLL DOWN
SCROLL DOWN
For More
〰️
For More 〰️
Drink: Cappuccino
I have this longstanding anger around a review I read once where someone wrote that they loved their “creamy cappuccino.” That anger was obviously unjustified (to each his own!). Nevertheless, it has found shelter in my head for almost eight years. This cappuccino finally offered that review a leg to stand on. I never thought I’d see the day...let alone like the day it came. There is a richness uncommon to most cappuccinos. It has the smoothness of butter and the sweetness of artisanal chocolate. I drank it and felt completely certain, marvelously satisfied with my choice. It’s not the frills of latte art and the promises of some front-facing trifles. It’s quality, fresh roasted coffee with a refined focus on flavor and composition.
••••
MUHONDO Rwanda Honey Anaerobic
The woman taking care of my TOOK CARE OF ME. When I stopped in to this place, I had a bag of coffee on me that I needed ground. I didn’t know if the cafe would let me pop in and use their Malhkoning for it. If they had said no, I would have understood. But, gleefully for me, they said yes. You know what that means? With my cappuccino in hand, I would be buying more coffee. When kindness is shown, you return it with kindness. So, I asked her what their most popular coffee was. She said that it depended on what I like. Valid. Then, she pointed to two Rwandan coffees. You read that right folks. TWO RWANDAN COFFEES. Then, as I struggled to decide, she pointed to this coffee. “You can try it, I made some on filter today,” she said, returning with a petite cup. Given that it was an anaerobic, I was expecting to be knocked over the head with the flavor notes: fruit rouge, caramel, soyeaux. However, the soy note really shined and subsequently drowned the caramel and red fruits. Personally, I don’t care for earthier or grainy flavors in coffee (pea, soy, peanut, hops, yeast, etc.). While it’s a great coffee, it’s one that my palate has trouble appreciating.
MUHONDO Rwanda Nature
I decided to buy this coffee as a gift for my friends instead of the honey anaerobic. A coffee from the same elevation, a teensy bit lover in SCA score (84 versus 86), and naturally processed seemed to be a better bet. The coffee they had been drinking before I arrived was Terres de Cafe’s Marcala, a washed Honduran, 85+ score, characterized by white flowers, milk chocolate, and peach. While surely deeper in flavor and mouth feel, this Rwandan coffee (made in a French press) comes out balanced and the tasting notes (aromes)—fruit noir, caramel, intense—work hand in hand distinctly. There’s no flavor of overwhelming intensity, rather it’s a statement on flavor’s sturdiness that’s unmissable in each sip.