Tag Archives: Coffee

Drink: My Top 5 Coffee Destinations

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Un Café, Gare du Nord - Paris 2013

Un Café, Gare du Nord – Paris 2013

When I was in The Hague, my friend and guide remarked that the Netherlands has the best coffee.  End of conversation.

But doesn’t every country boast that their coffee is the best?

When I was growing up, I saw TV commercials for Folger’s, Maxwell House, and Sanka coffee.  Our choices seemed fairly limited back then.

However, by the late 1990s, specialty roasts began to gain speed in the marketplace as coffee drinkers’ tastes evolved.

It’s no secret that drinking coffee has become an experience and your local café has become a destination.  In fact, the Specialty Coffee Association of America “predicted that by 2015 there would be 18,000 coffeehouses in the U.S.”*  By 2006, there were already 15,500.

Here are my favorites from here and there:  

  1. Visiting or living in Washington, DC?  Hit Peregrine on 14th Street or Filter on 20th. Peregrine serves up coffee with time and care, resulting in a drink that rivals any European café.  Filter offers espresso and French pressed coffees.
  2. La Maison du Gateau in the Lake Geneva area of Nyon, Switzerland offers fuss-free coffee, pastries, and quiches, and is located across from the train station.  Hop off the train, fuel, and go.
  3. The Outer Banks of North Carolina has the Front Porch Cafe.  There’s a reason why this coffeehouse has been voted the local favorite four times.  The rich-tasting coffee is roasted locally by Kill Devil Coffee Roasters and served by a friendly staff.  In the warm months, take your cup out front and relax on the porch.  (Website ordering is available.)
  4. Wired Puppy serves up the best coffee in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  Located on Commercial Street, it’s a happening hangout any time of the day and a convenient place to fuel before a bike ride in the dunes or a day at the beach.  (Website ordering is available.)
  5. Remember my Dutch friend?  Zebedeüs in The Hague is intimate and tucked away on a busy shopping thoroughfare.  Sit outside and order a latte.  Hungry?  The restaurant serves great lunches including omelets served on bread with salad on the side.

Tip:  If you like your coffee rich and inexpensive, check out Sweden’s Gevalia.  You can buy it at CVS or your local grocery store.

*Source:  Highbeam Business

 

 

Eat: Lo-Cal Treats from The Hague

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Hopje - The Hague

Hopje – The Hague

I was fishing around my camera bag today in preparation for my trip to photograph Baltimore this weekend and came across a sweet treat from The Hague:  a Hopje.

Last month, I wrote a post about my wonderful stay at the Hotel Petit in The Hague.   Each afternoon, I’d find a personalized note from the housekeeper thanking me for my stay along with a Hopje.

According to history, the Hopje originated in The Hague.  This coffee-tasting candy is named after Hendrik Hop.  Legend has it that Mr. Hop was advised not to drink coffee. Bucking doctor’s orders, one day, he made a concoction of coffee and sugar and overcooked it.

This stove top mess resulted a thick, caramel-tasting treat.  He enlisted a neighbor’s help to create  candy lumps that could be savored, I imagine, without the negative effects associated with coffee.

Over the years, U.S. coffee chains such as Starbucks, Caribou, and Dunkin’ Donuts have capitalized on Americans’ palates for the highly caloric and have concocted drinks containing hefty amounts of sugar and fat, yet only a whiff of coffee.

For example, take the Caramel Macciato, Starbucks’ third favorite drink ranked by customers.  The calorie count clocks in at 140 for the “healthier” 12 oz. tall with nonfat milk to a staggering 340 for a venti with whole milk.  Furthermore, on top of the hundreds of calories, the venti contains 40 grams of sugar and 13 grams of fat, eight of which are saturated.

I’m neither a nutritionist nor entirely slim, but I can imagine what Mr. Hop’s doctor would say about a daily diet of venti Caramel Macciatos.

I’m also not asserting that the Hopje provides any nutritional value.

However, each piece contains 15 calories and can be an occasional caramel-coffee alternative to the gut-busting and wallet-draining “coffee” drink from a chain.

Free yourself from the excess calories of a coffee drink and enjoy a Hopje or two instead.  On occasion.

Want coffee that doesn’t come in a wrapper?  Check out my top five coffee destinations.

The easiest way to order a package is through Amazon.  However, you can also order from Hollands Best and The Sweet Life.

Special thanks to Absolutely The Hague for providing an overview of Hendrik Hop’s culinary misfortune that evolved into a fortune.