Mr. Beans
According to Anteneh Mulu it’s not about from where you buy coffee or how much it costs; it’s all about coffee beans and how they are roasted. Shilpa Shah speaks to one man who makes a living out of a cup of coffee.
There are days when you stand in a queue to buy a cup of coffee; coffee, probably, not the best. But, what the dickens? It’s cold, you need coffee and you are late to work. Well, that’s how the big coffee shops became giant and global. The question is how many of us really know all about coffee? Not until I met a man who calls himself ‘Borat’, even I was one of those coffee-illiterates who drank coffee without any goodness in it.
I met this young, tall looking Borat with dreadlocks, wearing a blue winter cap at Real food market at Southbank Centre, outside The Royal Festival Hall (London). It was a very unusual experience with the perfect cup of hot mocha. The first interaction will make one think he’s crazy. The second time his jokes will make one smile. The third time one will make sure to visit him. Anteneh Mulu, a funny man who wishes to live in medieval era, owns a little coffee shop by the name ‘Ground Control, on Clerkenwell road.
As I stood in the queue (Trust me, it is worth standing in this queue) watching him serve a freshly brewed cup of coffee, he announces, ‘I’m the coffee man’. Born and brought up in Ethiopia, Anteneh grew up performing multiple roles. Before coming to England four years ago he not only drank coffee, but preached at a church, was a circus director, painted in his free time and put on his tour guide smile on busy days. After getting mesmerized by the Ethiopian flavours and befriending Anteneh, an English tourist advised him to introduce the coffee beans to England. It was serious coffee business to Anteneh. He carried out research on coffee beans and travelled to England with a few sample bags to start in a market place at Duke of York Square on Kings Road. ‘Different regions of Ethiopia are known for different coffee beans that have unique flavours of their own, and this is one of the reasons why Ethiopian coffee is easy to fall in love with’, grins Anteneh. Soon ‘The Ethiopian Coffee Company’, the brand name by which Anteneh sells coffee beans today, entered the bigger and popular Real Food Market at Southbank Centre.
‘The term coffee has been derived from the word Kaffa, which is a place in south-west region of Ethiopia, where coffee berries were first discovered’. Continuing to give an insight to why it’s called the birthplace of coffee, Anteneh, a coffee maestro, is always pleased to give his expert opinions and talk about coffee. At the market, he is often found explaining the different types of Arabica beans to those who loved his coffee and wished to take some home. ‘Nowadays, most people have coffee machines at home. I always recommend them to buy freshly roasted beans, which have a clean taste and are full of flavour’. His expert advice helps in buying the coffee beans depending upon the grinder one owns and in learning storage tips to preserve its full flavour.
The process of roasting determines the after taste of the coffee. ‘We roast our coffee every week’, Anteneh takes pride in sharing the secret behind his fresh and flavourful coffee and continues saying, ‘because roasting is the key process to good coffee’. He likes medium-dark roasted beans. ‘These beans are more acidic in nature. To balance it and to give a nice fruity flavour, medium-dark roasting is perfect’ , said Anteneh, who uses a 1959 German roaster named ‘Probat’.
‘When you have passion for something and you dedicate ample time to it, the result is always outstanding. It’s a new era for independent barista and roasters who are devoted to change the history of coffee industry that got lost in time, and lost the true essence of coffee. I’m proud to be one of them’, says Anteneh.
On asking Anteneh the best compliment he has ever received, with rolling eyes, lost in thought and with a blooming smile, very humbly he replies, ‘A lady from Barcelona once visited my café and said that it was the best coffee she had in a decade’s time.’ After launching the website,http://www.theethiopiancoffeecompany.com, their sale increased by a large margin in London, and soon, started delivering coffee beans in Oxford, Birmingham, Bristol and Brighton to name a few
Anteneh Mulu, the real coffee man who is frappuchino cool, says, ‘I’m a lazy man. After making coffee and roasting beans, I don’t like to swim or go running, I like to watch David Attenborough on television’. His warm caramel macchiato goodness reflects in his plans. ‘I wish to organize coffee tours to different parts of the world and invest my energy and passion in supporting coffee producers’, smiles Anteneh.
As I step away, Anteneh winks and says, ‘Coffee brings people together. Keep calm and drink coffee’.
(College Assignment)