VESPR
Meet Edd Siu, the owner and creative mind behind Vespr Craft Coffee & Allures. He is continuing the tradition of a social gathering place around ethically obtained, sustainable coffees and teas. All coffees and teas served at Vespr are Fair Trade, so farmers are guaranteed a minimum price directly from importers for their product. The Fair Trade system nurtures economic balance and sustainability that helps farmers out of poverty.1
COFFEE
Any Single Origin Coffee can either be brewed using a Trifecta press — think a super-automated French press — or a Japanese Hario coffee brewing siphon. The coffees vary from a Bolivian Finca Senda Salvaje, with honey and tart notes, to a fruitier, higher altitiude (over 6,000+ feet) bean from Finca Santa Maria in Colombia.
Aside from imparting the full body and flavor of a coffee into each cup, the Hario siphon is just plain fun to watch. Heated water is pushed up through a tube by expanding water vapor, meets the freshly ground coffee, and both are stirred throughout the brewing process. When the coffee is done brewing, the burner is removed from the bottom of the siphon. The vapor inside the siphon contracts and vacuum pressure pulls the liquid coffee down and away from the coffee grounds.2 Voila! Fabulous coffee.
Hold the sugar, hold the cream. Taste where that coffee was grown in the first few sips. The first sip will be charged, and the second sip will open your palate to more of those naturally tangy, fruity, or chocolate notes. Then, add some Dakin Dairy (from Myakka, Florida), GMO-free soy or almond milk, and other usual coffee mix-ins.
ALL-NATURAL TEAS
Every coffee, tea, or other house specialty involves a fascinating process to create. All ingredients and factors are measured — everything from the water temperature used to brew each coffee to the amount of bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup used in the Barrel Smoked Sweet Iced Tea.
Specialties like the Barrel Aged Sweet Iced Tea are only served in-house and this is why: all ingredients are measured to order and served side-by-side for one tremendously memorable iced tea. The tea begins with a cold-brewed black iced tea, and then the barista ignites virgin oak wood chips with mint essential oil in the hand-held smoker.
The smoke is piped directly into a mason jar filled with hand-chipped ice cubes. The mason jar is quickly sealed as the smoke swirls around the ice cubes, which infuses the tea with a smokey flavor. The final touch is a Vermont 15 to 18 year bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup. The end result trapped me between wanting to gulp down the entire jar in one sitting and taking an hour just to savor every drop of tea.
No sugar for you? The iced teas are also an all-natural, special treat. No added sugar, just cold-brewed Fair Trade tea. The favors already have a natural sweetness from their components at first sip. I was invited to taste the Lime Blossom, Blueberry Cream, Berry Cocktail (Schizandra Berry, Hibiscus Blend), and Blood Orange Peel — all are perfect for the sweltering Florida heat. Agave, honey, and raw cane sugar are available if you need an extra sweet kick.
MORE ALLURES
Latte fans rejoice! The lattes are infused with essential oils, so that Bourbon Latte will probably be one of the boldest bourbon lattes you have ever sipped. Elderflower Champagne — a virgin beverage — is spritzed with elderflower essential oil forms fabulously delicate floral note in every sip.
Iced Bakery provides all the baked goodies available at the front counter. Vespr can serve a Magic Bar (Dulce de Leche, Brown Sugar, and Bacon), Red Velvet Brownies, or Pumpkin Cookies just to name a few. Small cakes and truffles are also a part of Iced Bakery’s repitoire.
COFFEE-CUPPING EVENT
Visit Vespr this Friday, September 6 to for a special coffee-cupping event open to everyone. Taste 8 single origin coffees sourced from places like Ethiopia, Bolivia, and Panama. Edd will be there to answer questions about Third Wave Coffee, which focuses on high quality and environmental conservatism. Iced Bakery, a local mobile bakery, will provide complimentary artisan treats.
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Disclosure: The food mentioned in this post was provided by Vespr Craft Coffee & Allures, although the views and opinions expressed in this post are purely my own. This post was not reviewed by Vespr Craft Coffee & Allures in any way.
References
- “Coffee.” Fair Trade USA, n. d. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.
- Prince, Mark. “Using a Siphon Coffee Maker.” CoffeeGeek, 21 May 2008. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.
