How do you take yours?

COFFEE CULTURE:The landmark kiosk in Ballsbridge has been given a new lease of life, writes BRIAN BOYD

IF YOU PASS through Ballsbridge at any time from 7am to 9am you might wonder why there are long queues of people outside the kiosk on Pembroke Road, across the road from the old Jury’s hotel.

After tasting a sublime freshly roasted Nicaraguan coffee at the Coffee Kiosk Ballsbridge (as it’s now called) I understood these people’s passion and why they are willing to wait patiently for this invigorating elixir. “I’ve turned the Kiosk into a micro-roastery,” says 34-year-old Brian Kenny. To say that Kenny knows a lot about coffee is an understatement. “I have worked in coffee my whole life,” he says. “I am a certified SCAE (Specialty Coffee Association of Europe) barista. For the past 15 years I have trained baristas in every major hotel, coffee chain and restaurant in Ireland. And I’ve also been responsible for installing coffee machines in many places and explaining the importance of the process of making good coffee: the bean, the blend, the roast, the grind.”

Kenny re-opened the Kiosk just six weeks ago. Measuring just 37sq ft it became – proportionally – the most expensive piece of real estate ever sold in Ireland when property developer Phil Monahan paid IR£132,000 for it in 1989. Previously it was a newsagent, before more latterly being a micro O’Brien’s sandwich bar.

“I’m still getting loads of locals coming up and thanking me for reopening the kiosk (it had been closed since O’Brien’s moved out last November) and I’ve learnt a lot about the history of the place. Apparently, it was originally built to store emergency fire ladders before it became a newsagent.” he says.

It’s the micro-roasted coffee which is now drawing people back. “All the coffee served here is roasted on the same day – which is a very rare thing as some places roast their coffee in huge batches and have it sitting in a warehouse for a month.”

The Coffee Snob has now arrived in Ireland. At a time when a large mug of coffee can cost as much as a pint of beer, people now have high demands of their brew and as Kenny attests will grill him on the source of his beans, how fresh is his roast and what make his grinder is in before handing over their money.

“People are being very specific with their coffee order – they’ll ask for a Nicaraguan or a Columbian or a Brazilian, or a certain mix. They’ll want to know about the roast – is it a light/fruity one or a darker one?”

For a certain generation, coffee in Ireland either meant the then impossibly exotic Bewleys, or pouring hot water over instant granules. But trying offering someone instant coffee now and you’ll get the same reaction you would get by producing a bottle of Blue Nun at a dinner party.

If they used to say of Dublin that there was a pub on every street, then now it appears that there is a coffee shop (and sometimes more than one) on every street. There are signs that the pub culture of old is being replaced by an espresso culture – in urban areas at least. And while the Irish are still heroic tea drinkers, we are now almost as fluent in macchiato-speak. But it may be some time before “I’ll put the Espresso machine on” replaces “I’ll put the kettle on”.

The Coffee Kiosk in Ballsbridge is open from 7am to 5pm daily