PORTLAND, Maine — Sometimes you see something new, and you have to learn more. That is how this one started.
A friend had taken me to a new coffee shop called Novel Book Bar and Cafe on Congress Street in Portland. We got our coffees and played Jenga for a couple of hours. It was exactly what I was looking for, because I was able to catch up with a friend with a good drink and a fun activity.
What caught my eye was a giant machine in the corner. Not being hidden, but instead shown off. I asked questions and found out that they roast their own coffee in house, right next to where I was sitting! I had never seen that before so I had to learn more.
I met up with co-owner Joshua Ames and he showed me the ropes. To make this blend, we started with Brazilian coffee beans. Ever seen unroasted coffee beans? Not me. I can confirm they they look and smell completely different. They're green!
We put them into the chute of their European convection roaster. He likened this typed of roaster to a hot air popcorn popper. It uses very hot air to roast the beans instead of a heated drum like many other roasters. Ames said it provides a move even roast and believes it results in a better product.
As they roast, the beans "crack" a few times which is what takes them from unroasted, to light roast, to medium, to dark. You can literally hear the beans cracking as this is going on. Once we got the beans to the roast we want, we pulled the handle and dropped the hot coffee beans into the cooling pan. It's quickly cools them off to stop the roasting process, similar to the cooling cycle in the dryer.
Espresso martini anyone? I worked with bartender / barista (in my words, BARista) Blake Foster to learn how to make one. It's two parts vanilla vodka, one part Kahlua, and one ounce of their fresh espresso. He said it makes a difference using fresh espresso because it gives a better flavor but also gives you that nice white cap on top.
They finish theirs off with shaved milk chocolate to match the notes of the coffee beans.
Taste test? Amazing. It is definitely the best espresso martini I have ever had. This may sound obvious, but you could tell it was from a coffee shop because the coffee wasn't an afterthought. The coffee was at the forefront of the martini. Novel put the work into the beans and the espresso, and that really came though in the drink.
If you like a drink and some fresh air, good news! Ames said they're opening a biergarten June 7, so you can have an adult beverage while enjoying the outdoors.
Thank you SO much to Joshua and everyone at Novel Book Bar and Cafe for having me out and teaching me about how coffee is roasted and turned into a martini!