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The illy Factor

Jul 23, 2010 by Ted Botha 1 Comment

This week I spent two days at the University of Coffee. Yes, believe it or not, there is such a thing. Actually it’s called Universitá del Caffé, which, you might have guessed, is Italian. And if it’s Italian and it’s about coffee, chances are illy will be in the picture. Yes, that’s illy with a small i. And it’s illy that runs the UDC.

For $125, Coffee (by Capsule) at Home

For $125, Coffee (by Capsule) at Home

In brief, we learned some coffee history, what elements an espresso should consist of, how to single out the tastes in a good espresso (a bit bitter, sweet, salty, sour), some of the world’s major bean-growing regions (who knew that India is becoming a major coffee producer?), the myths (coffee doesn’t make your heart go faster, coffee is not bad for you – talk to the scientists!), the politics of coffee (direct trade vs. fair trade), the inner workings of an espresso machine (Question: What is that silver screwtop coffee maker we put on the stove called? Answer at the end), and we got to drink various types of espresso to gauge whether we could tell the difference between caf and decaf (no, we couldn’t) or over- and underextracted espressos (yes, we could). And if you don’t know what it means to ‘extract’ coffee, get thee to your nearest Universitá (or just Google it) to find out more. And of course, we got to pull espressos and try to make as good a cappuccino as you can in two days.

I used to be a cynic about illy. For me the distinctive red label was a bit like Coca-Cola. You saw the sign everywhere, which was both good and bad. Good because it meant that If you were in a place where there weren’t many coffeeshops, an illy sign promised at least a decent enough brew and perhaps someone who knew what an espresso was. But if there were other options – which there are increasingly today, as specialty coffeeshops proliferate – you would pass illy by.

The X7 iperespresso - a New Generation

The X7 iperEspresso - a New Generation

But turns out that illy not only makes serious coffee – and has been plugging away at it since 1933, when Francesco Illy started the company in Trieste – but has also been doing some pretty darn innovative things.

Take direct trade (forget fair trade, that’s passé), where roasters deal directly with the farmers, often also teaching them how to grow better beans and get more bang for their beans. Today lots of roasters, especially in America, wear it as a badge of distinction that they work in tandem with farmers in Colombia or Rwanda, but illy has quietly been doing this for a long time without blowing its own horn.

At the company’s Universitás in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Bangalore, India – there are 10 UDCs around the world, with courses for professionals and consumers – illy schools local farmers in new techniques and technology. Agronomists pay visits to farms to see where they can offer help and suggest ways to improve crops.  Because illy buys its coffee from 9 countries – and from that intake it concocts a signature blend that it tries to keep as constant as possible every year – it pays the company to make sure that the beans it gets are of the best quality.

A Moka

A Moka

Then there’s the coffee-making equipment, an area where illy has been no slouch either. Check out the X7 iperEspresso, part of what illy calls ‘the next generation of espresso’, which uses a nifty-looking, specially designed and crafted capsule to give you an espresso or a lungo or a cappuccino. It might be a bit too Jetsons and space-agey for some, but if illy’s doing it, it’s the future. And you can bet it tastes good.

(Answer: It’s called  a moka.)


Filed Under: New York Blog Tagged With: brazil, coffee, espresso, illy, india, iperespresso, moka, udc, x7

What’s Hot in N.Y.

Feb 10, 2010 by Ted Botha Leave a Comment

If people ask me what they should see in New York City, I tell them that there are two routes you can take…

The route I suggest skips out Times Square and lots of lower Broadway (too many T-shirt shops) and Chinatown (nightmare crowds), although there are probably elements in all three places that are worth seeing – just to say you’ve been there. But here’s a couple of places to go and things to do that might not always be apparent. Bryant Park (42nd and Sixth Avenue): Just go hang out there, buy a coffee from wichcraft and people-watch. The Staten Island Ferry: It comes free with your Metrocard (another essential, either daily or weekly) and is best taken across to Staten Island and back, viewing the Statue of Liberty along the way.  The small coffee shops: 9th Street Espresso, Joe, Gimme!, Third Rail (Google them for addresses). Rent a bicycle at Columbus Circle and go through Central Park (it’s a six-mile loop in total) or along the Hudson River. Check tripadvisor.com for cheaper hotels. Get some takeout lunch at Whole Foods, the wholesome supermarket, and go sit and eat it in a nearby park. For a couple of my local favorite cheap eateries: Gazala Place (Middle Eastern, Hell’s Kitchen), Sapporo East (East Village), El Paso Taco (Mexican, East Harlem). And that’s a start!

Filed Under: New York Blog Tagged With: broadway, bryant park, central park, espresso, gazala place, hudson, lunch, times square, whole foods

About Ted

Ted was born in New York and grew up in Japan, South Africa, and Washington, D.C. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, and Outside. His books include Apartheid in my Rucksack, a personal account of discovering Africa as a white African; Mongo, Adventures in Trash, where he follows the people in New York City who collect what others consider garbage; and, with Jenni Baxter, The Expat Confessions, about South Africans abroad. His latest book, a nonfiction thriller about a forensic sculptor titled The Girl with the Crooked Nose, comes out in January 2012. His novel, The Animal Lover, is on Kindle. He is a swimmer and a runner, and has done his share of triathlons as well as long-distance swims in South Africa and New York’s Hudson River.

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