Gastronomy

Marks: specialty coffee in Fort Pienc

Specialty coffee is a different product from commercial coffee. Commercial coffee normally comes from a variety called Robusta, with less flavor. It must be roasted a lot because otherwise, it would have woody flavors; it must be burned quite a bit to make it bitter. The Robusta variety grows in many more places, much wilder. In contrast, Arabica, which is used to make specialty coffees, is a species native to Ethiopia, although it can grow in other countries located between 500 and 2,400 meters of altitude. This variety represents 56% of world production and has a caffeine concentration of 1.7% at most. As a result, Arabica coffee creates a more aromatic and smooth drink on the palate, and it is also more digestible

october 05, 2018 - 11:49
[dropcap letter="B"] Barcelona continues to be in luck, and coffee lovers, even more so. Specialty coffee establishments continue to take root in the city and one of the latest to be born is Marks, located on Ausiàs March street number 151, corner of Marina. Coincidentally, the 3 owners share a name and have opened their first premises on a street that also bears their name. Marc Aguyé, whom I met when he worked at Nømad, tells us about it: "The truth is that it's part of chance, the three of us have the same name, I'm Marc and they are Marco, they are both Italian and we ended up on Ausiàs March street. It's incredible. Nothing was sought. Doing a bit of market research, we saw that the area didn't have any specialty coffee shop and we dove headfirst into the Fort Pienc neighborhood." Marc has always captivated me with his proximity, his kindness, and above all, his contagious energy. He has been one of the reasons I got hooked on specialty coffees, and not only because of the quality of his product, but also because of the treatment I received from the very first moment. But where does all this boldness come from for this graduate in Business Administration and also in Advertising and Public Relations? "I love dealing with people. This was one of the reasons why I decided not to dedicate myself to one of the two careers I studied. The other, the economic crisis, made me go to work in Australia. There I started to get fond of specialty coffees, which have a lot of tradition there. When I returned to Barcelona, my friend Jordi Mestre, owner of Nømad, had a vacancy and offered me a job and I didn't think twice. I wasn't willing to spend all day in front of a computer. I was looking for something more fun and creative, and I found it." Now, after 3 years working in one of Barcelona's most prestigious specialty coffee shops, he has decided to open his own place, with these two partners with whom he shares a name. These coffees, specialty ones, have an essential requirement: the Arabica variety is scored from 1 to 100 points, and to be a specialty, it must reach 85. That of these establishments is always above said barrier. "Specialty coffee is a different product from commercial coffee; we are often put in the same bag, but we have little to do with each other; they are different plant varieties. Commercial coffee normally comes from a variety called Robusta, with less flavor. It must be roasted a lot because otherwise, it would have woody flavors; it must be burned quite a bit to make it bitter. The Robusta variety grows in many more places, much wilder. In contrast, Arabica, which is what we work with, only grows around the equator".
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The smell, the taste, the shades that these coffees acquire are incredible. Try it, it's simple. Any morning you make your usual coffee, and in the afternoon you have a specialty one, there's no comparison. You'll surely see it at first glance, and if not, with your sense of smell you'll notice that you are before a unique, special product. "In the end, it's like making a paella for 6 or for 100 people: for 6 it will be more controlled, for 100 it's impossible to have that much control." But Marc goes further: "in the end, a bond of proximity is also created with customers, and with coffee producers. You get to know the people who plant it, who grow it for you, sometimes it's the same growers who visit us, but most of the time it's us who travel. Now I have a friend who is exploring the Mexico area to find new coffee growers". In all this reasoning, the consumer's pocket also comes into play, as they are used to paying 1 euro and 20 cents for a coffee and not 2 euros for a specialty coffee espresso. "Arabica variety coffee is worth 10 times more than commercial coffee. But what ends up being expensive is commercial coffee, it doesn't provide anything healthy, it can cause acidity and a long etcetera, it provides you with the chute of caffeine, nothing more. I would ask people to overcome prejudices, whether it is more hipster or less hipster. The price sometimes creates barriers that make us move away from a product that we would very probably like; and if you like coffee, you will love ours". Also, you're sure to find your favorite coffee: Espressos, Flat White, Batch brew, Cold Brew, Iced latte, Nitro... are just some of the many types of coffee they serve at Marks and which we will detail more thoroughly soon, as they all have their peculiarities. But Marks will be much more than coffee. "We want to accompany coffee with sweet things, savory things, muesli, but always very carefully. We will work with Miquel Coulibaly, a master chocolatier who makes cakes that leave no one indifferent. We will also have sandwiches, beer from Garage, but with food we will go little by little, we don't want to rush either". The Nømad quarry begins to fly on its own and this is great news for lovers of this drink, because we will have more spaces where we can taste a good specialty coffee and share some time with some lovers of the subject. Marc is clear about the path: "We would like to be able to maintain the level of Nømad, because that is what we have learned". Knowing the characters, they will achieve it, I have no doubt.

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Dani Balaguer
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