Coffee and adventure in the Frei café
Interjú Frei Tamással a Budapest Sun újságban angol nyelven.
I must admit that I am a hopeless Starbucks fan and I have been waiting for years, in vain, for them to open a café in Budapest. I haven't been enthused for their expensive coffees in a horrid paper cup, but the take home espresso bean mixture. They have opened everywhere from Vienna to Beijing, but here. And this way I am a charity case because friends have brought for me my favourite Starbucks espresso mixture from Paris or Berlin or wherever they were. I can find a good cup of espresso a few places in Budapest as well, be it Lavazza or Danesi, but I couldn't find anything to take home as freshly roosted and with the aroma I like. For me it has to be the dark Italian roast, and it's important not to sit in a vacuum pack for months or years. Just look up the expiry date on your vacuum packed coffee and you'll see it. Of course I tried the few who sell the loose coffee beans, and compared it to the off the shelf's price, I paid 6-7 times more. But no luck, not the aroma, and the freshness I like.
When I went to the Libri bookstore in the shopping mall Mammut I was in for a surprise. The store had a facelift, thanks to the striking new cafe on its main floor. There used to be another cafe but this new one had charm and presence combined. The state of the art brass coffee machine was out of the ordinary, and the colourful cups and napkins had the media star's Tamás Frei's name on it. Then I looked up and I have seen his name pasted over the counter, Frei's café.
Tamás Frei, the two time Hungarian Pulitzer Prize winner's name was not unknown for me. I have enjoyed the Frei Dossier several times in the TV. He has been one of Hungary's most famous and respected TV reporters. He started as a travelling correspondent, then became Hungary's leading war correspondent covering the Somalian and the Bosnian war situations. He was arrested in Columbia by the Medellin drug cartel, he had the risky report on the Ebola virus in Zaire, had interviews with Gorbachov, Nelson Mandela and great many celebrities. He made investigative programs at Osama Bin Laden's hiding places in Yemen, and on the women in Saudi Arabia etc. etc. Now I learned that he is not only passionate about his reports, but about his coffee as well, which is his favourite drink.
Coffee was his hobby and he turned it into a business. And this way we had something in common, the divine obsession of good coffee.
I met Frei in his office in an elegantly restored 19th century villa's top floor. And frankly I could hardly ask him anything because he became so excited speaking about coffee, and had a lot to say. I had never heard such a detailed analysis of coffee and definitely not with such passion. For a while I didn't even realize that I am freezing, only when I started to sneeze. Anyone can see it's a dangerous profession. As it came out Frei is never cold and doesn't need heating even in January. He says that the daily sauna and his exercise routine keep him warm. I believe his passion as well is a useful fuel.
I have never seen such a variety of coffee in any café, than in the Libri shop, not even in Italy. I modestly have considered myself not only a gourmet when it comes to coffee, but a connoisseur, and still I have never known that the Milano style espresso is different from the Sicilian and in Toscana they prepare it differently than in Rome. Wherever I went to Italy I have never been frustrated, the coffee was always perfect and practically the same. I always have had the espresso macchiato and that was everything I ever dreamt about. I tried once in Canada an espresso with a tiny piece of lemon peel and I learned in Frei's café that it's the Milano style, but I have never known that in Sicily they grind a tad of orange peel on top of an espresso. And those are the easy riders compared to the real adventure, the world coffees. If we have world music shouldn't we have world coffees as well. I can announce that I have known the Turkish coffee, what in Greece they call Greek coffee, and that's how far I got in my studies.
No denial my curiosity was picked when I discovered that in Tibet they put butter into their coffee and ground pepper on the top, in Guatemala they mix it with hazelnut and I could go on and on, but let's leave something to discover for everyone. So far the only world café I tried there is the Caribbean with a tad of rum and cream. It shows that I like my coffee strong and my adventure light.
But according to Frei, people are not so conservative and roughly half of the coffees they sell are the world coffees.
Frei's hobby has always been coffee and he turned his hobby into a business.
He is passionate about it and he gave me a lecture about what happens to coffee from the tree to the cup. I have never known that the quality of coffee depends on the height of the plantation, the best quality grows between 1500 and 2000 meters around the equator, and it shouldn't get more than a few hours sun. Around 40 degrees, lots of rain and humidity, -rainforests are ideal- but no direct sun and during the night the temperature shouldn't go under 10 degrees. It has to be picked by hand, and the workforce has to be professional, since they have to separate the ripe and unripe beans. The handling is very important. But it's only the beginning. To get a perfect cup of coffee first it has to be good quality beans, the roasting and the grinding are essential, but the coffee-maker and the water are equally important. He prefers the Central-American beans for his espresso mixtures.
"I want to give the best and on a price people can afford. I don't use middle man, I do the shopping myself. I know the growers and the best quality of beans."- says Frei.
No question that Frei's intensive travelling and media connections help and he doesn't like to go half way.
"In our café, in the Libri book store, we got 5 coffee-grinders, since for each mixture we use a different one."-he emphasizes.
Why so many? "The different beans need different roasting. For example the authentic cappuccino beans have higher citrus content and require different roosting and grinder." - He states. Frei instructs his staff in their own school. They study for weeks before they get into his cafés. I am not least surprised since there are so many kinds of coffees and so differently prepared.
I find that the prices are fair. 250.-Ft for an espresso, 290.- Ft for a cappuccino and a bit more for world coffees. He has a good selection of loose leaf teas nicely served, for 350.- Ft.
As far as the take home beans, or ground or ungrounded, are concerned they are all 750.-Ft for 125 grams. I would say roughly the price of Starbucks coffee I take home from abroad.
"But the quality of beans are better then at Starbucks". - states Frei.
I would say it is not cheap certainly compared to the off the shelf vacuum packed ones. " But as there is a huge selection in the quality and prices of wines, we should get used to it that good quality means higher prices in coffees too. "- says Frei.
Interjú Frei Tamással a Budapest Sun újságban angol nyelven.
Tamas Frei, in front of his coffee bar
I must admit that I am a hopeless Starbucks fan and I have been waiting for years, in vain, for them to open a café in Budapest. I haven't been enthused for their expensive coffees in a horrid paper cup, but the take home espresso bean mixture. They have opened everywhere from Vienna to Beijing, but here. And this way I am a charity case because friends have brought for me my favourite Starbucks espresso mixture from Paris or Berlin or wherever they were. I can find a good cup of espresso a few places in Budapest as well, be it Lavazza or Danesi, but I couldn't find anything to take home as freshly roosted and with the aroma I like. For me it has to be the dark Italian roast, and it's important not to sit in a vacuum pack for months or years. Just look up the expiry date on your vacuum packed coffee and you'll see it. Of course I tried the few who sell the loose coffee beans, and compared it to the off the shelf's price, I paid 6-7 times more. But no luck, not the aroma, and the freshness I like.
When I went to the Libri bookstore in the shopping mall Mammut I was in for a surprise. The store had a facelift, thanks to the striking new cafe on its main floor. There used to be another cafe but this new one had charm and presence combined. The state of the art brass coffee machine was out of the ordinary, and the colourful cups and napkins had the media star's Tamás Frei's name on it. Then I looked up and I have seen his name pasted over the counter, Frei's café.
Tamás Frei, the two time Hungarian Pulitzer Prize winner's name was not unknown for me. I have enjoyed the Frei Dossier several times in the TV. He has been one of Hungary's most famous and respected TV reporters. He started as a travelling correspondent, then became Hungary's leading war correspondent covering the Somalian and the Bosnian war situations. He was arrested in Columbia by the Medellin drug cartel, he had the risky report on the Ebola virus in Zaire, had interviews with Gorbachov, Nelson Mandela and great many celebrities. He made investigative programs at Osama Bin Laden's hiding places in Yemen, and on the women in Saudi Arabia etc. etc. Now I learned that he is not only passionate about his reports, but about his coffee as well, which is his favourite drink.
Coffee was his hobby and he turned it into a business. And this way we had something in common, the divine obsession of good coffee.
I met Frei in his office in an elegantly restored 19th century villa's top floor. And frankly I could hardly ask him anything because he became so excited speaking about coffee, and had a lot to say. I had never heard such a detailed analysis of coffee and definitely not with such passion. For a while I didn't even realize that I am freezing, only when I started to sneeze. Anyone can see it's a dangerous profession. As it came out Frei is never cold and doesn't need heating even in January. He says that the daily sauna and his exercise routine keep him warm. I believe his passion as well is a useful fuel.
I have never seen such a variety of coffee in any café, than in the Libri shop, not even in Italy. I modestly have considered myself not only a gourmet when it comes to coffee, but a connoisseur, and still I have never known that the Milano style espresso is different from the Sicilian and in Toscana they prepare it differently than in Rome. Wherever I went to Italy I have never been frustrated, the coffee was always perfect and practically the same. I always have had the espresso macchiato and that was everything I ever dreamt about. I tried once in Canada an espresso with a tiny piece of lemon peel and I learned in Frei's café that it's the Milano style, but I have never known that in Sicily they grind a tad of orange peel on top of an espresso. And those are the easy riders compared to the real adventure, the world coffees. If we have world music shouldn't we have world coffees as well. I can announce that I have known the Turkish coffee, what in Greece they call Greek coffee, and that's how far I got in my studies.
No denial my curiosity was picked when I discovered that in Tibet they put butter into their coffee and ground pepper on the top, in Guatemala they mix it with hazelnut and I could go on and on, but let's leave something to discover for everyone. So far the only world café I tried there is the Caribbean with a tad of rum and cream. It shows that I like my coffee strong and my adventure light.
But according to Frei, people are not so conservative and roughly half of the coffees they sell are the world coffees.
Frei's hobby has always been coffee and he turned his hobby into a business.
He is passionate about it and he gave me a lecture about what happens to coffee from the tree to the cup. I have never known that the quality of coffee depends on the height of the plantation, the best quality grows between 1500 and 2000 meters around the equator, and it shouldn't get more than a few hours sun. Around 40 degrees, lots of rain and humidity, -rainforests are ideal- but no direct sun and during the night the temperature shouldn't go under 10 degrees. It has to be picked by hand, and the workforce has to be professional, since they have to separate the ripe and unripe beans. The handling is very important. But it's only the beginning. To get a perfect cup of coffee first it has to be good quality beans, the roasting and the grinding are essential, but the coffee-maker and the water are equally important. He prefers the Central-American beans for his espresso mixtures.
"I want to give the best and on a price people can afford. I don't use middle man, I do the shopping myself. I know the growers and the best quality of beans."- says Frei.
No question that Frei's intensive travelling and media connections help and he doesn't like to go half way.
"In our café, in the Libri book store, we got 5 coffee-grinders, since for each mixture we use a different one."-he emphasizes.
Why so many? "The different beans need different roasting. For example the authentic cappuccino beans have higher citrus content and require different roosting and grinder." - He states. Frei instructs his staff in their own school. They study for weeks before they get into his cafés. I am not least surprised since there are so many kinds of coffees and so differently prepared.
I find that the prices are fair. 250.-Ft for an espresso, 290.- Ft for a cappuccino and a bit more for world coffees. He has a good selection of loose leaf teas nicely served, for 350.- Ft.
As far as the take home beans, or ground or ungrounded, are concerned they are all 750.-Ft for 125 grams. I would say roughly the price of Starbucks coffee I take home from abroad.
"But the quality of beans are better then at Starbucks". - states Frei.
I would say it is not cheap certainly compared to the off the shelf vacuum packed ones. " But as there is a huge selection in the quality and prices of wines, we should get used to it that good quality means higher prices in coffees too. "- says Frei.
Cafe Frei érzés
