Morning Beverage Routines

We had such great fun featuring reader responses about their morning beverage routine that it got us thinking. What about baristas and café or coffee shop owners? What does the morning routine look like for these beverage experts? What are some interesting requests they get from customers? And so begins our new, occasional series.

When traveling, I like to find a place in the neighborhood to stop in each day for my morning coffee. There is something so enjoyable about starting a morning in a familiar place when the rest of the day will be filled with the unfamiliar. It’s fun to recognize or to be recognized by the barista and perhaps even to continue a conversation started the day before. Plus, the process of ordering my morning coffee provides the perfect opportunity to ask for local recommendations.

When my daughter and I were in Paris, we followed a friend’s recommendation to visit Café Oberkampf. The first morning of our arrival we did just that and then returned most mornings for the rest of our visit. Café Oberkampf, a tiny café tucked away on little side street near Rue Oberkampf, is located in the 11th Arrondissement, close to where we were staying. We loved the quiet, sophisticated atmosphere, the food—everything so fresh and beautiful—and, of course, the coffee.

When I asked Guy Griffin, the owner of Café Oberkampf and its sister café, Café Méricourt, about his morning beverage routine, I could picture the smile on his face in his response.

“I have no means to make coffee at home! I know it sounds weird, but I already drink too much during the day. My daily routine is quite simple. In the morning I wake up early to spend a precious hour with my wife and newborn. We share a big pot of black tea that is often drowned in a big cloud of milk.

I then ride over to Café Oberkampf at 8am where I have my first coffee and chat with the team. I start with an espresso and then maybe a cappuccino. We rotate our beans so I like to check the recipes and make mental notes on the new roasters. Then at 8h30 I go the Café Méricourt and do the dial in and prepare the recipe for the day. So by 9 I have quite often had 4 or 5 coffees under different forms.”

What exactly is “the dial in”? I learned that it’s the process involving setting up the coffee machines for the day. “We create a recipe that we feel makes the coffee taste as best as possible. It’s very subjective, but it’s what defines a good barista.”

I asked Guy to share a bit about some questions and coffee orders he hears in his café.

Something that makes us laugh are clients that come in, ask so many questions about the coffee, its origins, our methods, and then put three spoonsful of sugar in their espresso. We chuckle, not because sugar is bad or that you shouldn’t put it in your drink, but mainly because that it alters the taste so much that it’s impossible to define if it was good or not, let alone where it came from.

Also, Latte Art. It’s still quite novel in France so it makes us smile when someone replies to the “what coffee would you like?” question with, “Which one has the pretty drawings in it?”

Oh and I love being able to “find” someone’s drink. Someone who is discovering the world of specialty coffee and doesn’t really know if he or she is a cappuccino drinker, a cortado person, an espresso lover. After some trial and error, that person will later come in on a regular basis and ask for “the usual” now knowing that their coffee of choice is a piccolo.

We always love it when people come back.

I am struck by the devotion Guy has for helping his repeat customers find their drink and his commitment to his craft (as well as his good humor). I will indeed be back to his charming Café Oberkampf.

How about you? Do you have a morning travel routine? Have you developed a fondness for a particular coffee spot in your travels?

[Photos courtesy of Guy Griffin.]