Coffee Mania Moscow!

Day two (for me anyway ”I’m here in Moscow for the last half of team one’s adventure, and the beginning half of team two’s), anyway, so day two began with sunshine! These Latin baristas ”Raul, Daniel,, Alejandro, I’m talking to you ”as well as the Italian ”were having some trouble with the cold yesterday. For Monika, who lives in Dublin, and me, from Portland, it was nothing. Still, all of us were happy to see a sunny day dawn on Moscow. We met early in the hotel lobby to head to Coffee Mania, which is one of two specialty coffee cafe chains dominating Moscow. There are plenty of cafes in Moscow serving mediocre coffee, but Coffee Mania (and the other chain, Koffein, where Russian Barista Champ Olga works) does it right.

Everything is lovely at Coffee Mania, no detail left unattended to.

We feasted on caviar blinis and lemon curd pancakes, and sipped simply amazing Kenyan, Salvadoran and Panamanian Chemexes and pour-overs until we were well sated. Coffee Mania’s awesome head staff, Gleb, Irina and Nadia, took amazing care of us.

All of us after we finished eating. It was a fantastic morning at Coffee Mania! From left, Sergey, Raul, Irina, Nadia, Drago, Alejandro, Monika, Asli, Daniel, Gleb, and Francesco.

While chatting with Gleb, I was curious about the cold coffee culture in Russia ”it’s been such a hot Twitter topic between the Scandinavians, the Europeans and the Americans this past summer especially, that I wanted to know what Coffee Mania’s situation was.

Two of Coffee Mania’s most popular summer coffee drinks: at left the Bumble (as in bee), which is a house-made caramel, espresso and orange juice (it turned out to be Raul’s favorite!). On the right, an espresso and coconut concoction. It was so yummy.

Gleb said they don’t cold brew (Toddy or slow drip), but rather make regular espresso over ice. But what is really popular at Coffee Mania in the summer are the specialty cold beverages that Coffee Mania creates.

Raul gave the watermelon fruit drink from Coffee Mania the thumbs up.

To make his point, Gleb asked the baristas to create some of the most popular drinks, and we tried them all. Holy moly, are they doing things right. So fresh and natural, these were some of the best cold coffee drinks, and also fruit drinks, I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying in a long time.

Thank you, Coffee Mania!

After a tremendously enjoyable morning at Coffee Mania, some of the group was a little sleepy and headed back to the hotel for a bit of rest. Monika, Asli, Daniel, Drago, and I headed to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a famous church in Moscow, to see the building and walk through the pleasant parks and across the bridge nearby.

In front of the Cathedral, Drago, Monika, Daniel, and Asli.

The sun was out, our sweaters were off, sunglasses on, and we just had the best time walking and talking through the city.

Enormous monument to Peter the Great.
Statue of Dostoyevsky in front of the National Library. Yes, there is a pigeon perched on Dostoyevsky’s head.

We walked all the way back to the hotel, talking and laughing and even talking Russian politics.

Translates to “Free”, as in Free Pussy Riot! Posed with Monika, Asli and my shoes.

Monika and I went in for a quick power nap, and before we knew it, it was time to head to Red Square for this evening’s installment of the Specialty Coffee Show Starring Barista Champions!

As soon as we walked in, Drago pulled Monika to a dance.

We heard the music before we even got close to the tent ”Drago, Asli and Regina were dancing, the place was pumping, and we hadn’t even started yet!

Alejandro and Francesco shake their groove thangs before the festival begins.

And surprise, Giovanni and Svetlana from Nuova Simonelli joined us today! This is such a treat. I had a wonderful time catching up with Giovanni about Barista Magazine Publisher Ken’s recent trip to Italy to visit the Nuova Simonelli factory (look for his article about it in the October/November issue of Barista Magazine!).

Daniel and Asli rock it out!

It seems the numbers of wonderful coffee people here in Moscow just continues to increase! Tomorrow, Christos and Stefanos from Greece, Ricardo from Costa Rica, Coen from the Netherlands, and Javier from Spain arrive. We are so excited!

You know how I love the ponies...

We are ALWAYS so excited in Moscow!

Francesco came out from behind the espresso station to dance with the crowd.
About Sarah 929 Articles
Sarah Allen (she/her) is co-founder and editor of Barista Magazine, the international trade magazine for coffee professionals. A passionate advocate for baristas, quality, and the coffee community, Sarah has traveled widely to research stories, interact with readers, and present on a variety of topics affecting specialty coffee. She also loves animals, swimming, ice cream, and living in Portland, Oregon.

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