www.3fe.com
Third Floor Espresso Menu Printed 29/05/2013 · Yours to keep
Drinking Our menu board will have a list of coffees available.
Pick a coffee from
Tell us how you’d
All you need to do is pick one and tell us how you’d
the menu board.
like it to be made:
like it made. You can choose to have your coffee as
Let us know if we
Espresso / Steamed
espresso, with steamed milk, or as a filter.
can help!
Milk / Filter.
Enjoy!
Coffee Tasting
5
Filter Tasting Two different coffees
4
served side by side If you’d like to indulge in a bit more of a coffee
Espresso Tasting Two single espressos of two different coffees.
as filter.
experience we also have a short tasting menu. We’ve always believed that comparative tasting is the best way to learn about coffee, and it’s a lot of fun too!
6
Trio The same coffee served
3+
Espresso Set Pick an espresso from
three ways; neat, filter
the board to be served
and with steamed milk.
two ways; neat and with steamed milk.
Retail
We sell all the coffees we serve in 250g bags for you to take home. There is always a wide choice of coffees at all different prices and usually something to suit every taste. Our baristas will be happy to talk you through which coffees will best suit your palate and brew method. All the bags are wholebean on the shelf but we can grind them for you to suit your needs so that the freshness is retained for longer. See over to learn more about why our coffee is different and check out our buying guide!
How to Buy Coffee
What makes our coffee different? At 3FE, we change our coffee offering weekly depend-
Third Floor Espresso
ing on what’s in season. We will always have at least three coffees on bar at any one time and a variety of ways that they can be brewed. We’re happy to choose for you or talk you through your options. It’s our aim to have something safe, something risky and something in-between so let us know if you’re feeling up to something different. Our coffees range in price depending on what we’ve paid for them ourselves. We buy most of our coffees directly from farmers and try to build relation-
We always have a wide choice of coffees available that change with seasons. This means that if you find something you love it will probably be gone the next time you come back. This may seem strange at first, but the very reason we love these coffees in the first place is because they are small high-quality lots and ‘in-season’, so they are in short supply by their very nature. The first thing to do is to let us know if you’ve ever bought coffee from us before. If not we can start you off on something safe and tasty. If you have been before, letting us know what you’ve liked in the past is a great way to help us recommend you something similar. The important thing is to ask for help, we’re always happy to oblige.
Coffee Buying Checklist: • Check the Roast Date • Avoid dark roasts • Pick coffees that are in-season • Opt for freshly ground/wholebean • Get a resealable bag • Go for Farm/Variety Specific if you can
The story of 3FE begins as my story, and along the
at the time). I had the machine installed in my
Scandinavia trying to learn as much as I could about
way some really wonderful people came on board.
spare bedroom complete with custom made tables,
coffee and specifically, how it was served. I received a
I was working as a trustee officer for professional
replicas of those they use on WBC stage. I knew that
few job offers on my travels but my ambition to open
investment funds in Dublin’s Financial district
becoming familiar with the competition stage was
a shop in Dublin never changed.
when I slowly began to realise that I had chosen
essential, so having a replica at home would give
the wrong path. A four year degree in Business and
me a huge advantage on the day.
ships that are mutually beneficial and always ensure the coffee is the best we can get our hands on. The coffees we buy are often small-lot produce, so they don’t last very long. If you don’t see the coffee you liked last time we can always recommend something similar. It’s sad to see great coffees go but there’s always something fresh and excellent to replace it. The most important thing for us though is that you leave with a coffee you’ll enjoy so please make sure you ask as many questions as you like. Coffee is a very subjective thing so there’s no such thing as a stupid question.
The Story So Far Colin Harmon
Legal Studies had led me to a very lucrative career
I also decided to contact Steve Leighton at
In late 2009, I was testing some coffees in my third floor apartment when a friend popped by and introduced me to his friend Trevor O’Shea who owned
in finance and although I worked with amazing
Hasbean Coffee and ask him if he’d be interested in
two venues, The Bernard Shaw and The Twisted
people, they and I both knew that it wasn’t for me.
roasting coffee for me for the competition. I’d been
Pepper. Trev was fascinated by the lengths I had gone
buying his coffees online for some time at this stage
to in pursuit of the perfect cup and I told him about my
just from researching online, I’d gotten to a place
and was hugely impressed with his offering. Steve’s
plan to open a shop in Dublin. I explained the problems
where I could make a better coffee at home than I
coffees were amongst the best in the world and it only
I was having raising finance and the costs associated
could buy on the high street. I had a small espresso
took one visit to see him for me to be convinced that
with ensuring a quality product was delivered.
machine in my kitchen, a list of coffee forums on the
he was the guy to help me.
At the time I knew very little about coffee but
internet, and a desire to learn as much as I could. I got my first coffee job as a barista at Coffee
The day I flew in to see him, he had told me
The next week Trev brought me to see the Twisted Pepper on Middle Abbey Street and pretty
that he’d ‘swing by’ the airport to pick me up. I only
much offered me the space. It wasn’t being used
Angel in the IFSC financial district, located in the
realised after that it was a 90-minute journey but for
during the day so Trev told me to take it, turn it into
shadow of my former office building. It was freezing
Steve it was no hassle at all. His generosity, drive,
a cafe, and if it started to make money I could start
cold hard physical work and involved a 4.50am start,
and knowledge were clear from the moment I met
paying rent. If it failed, I would only have lost a couple
but Karl Purdy who ran the business was a former
him and we pretty much hit it off from day one.
of grand and a bit of pride. I knew it would be hard but
Irish Barista Champion and gave me an excellent schooling in coffee quality and service. Six months later, I entered and won the Irish
We chose the coffee and set about training for the competition and I put a huge amount of hours into
it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I wanted to keep the ethos that I employed in
my preparation. Going to the World Championships
my training room and apply that to a retail setting.
Barista Championships in the RDS in what was as
was like going to the World Cup for me, but where
I knew that dropping quality and trying to focus
much as a shock to me as it was to everyone else.
everyone else had football idols I had barista idols, and
on volume too quickly would put me on the same
I had created my own blend and worked tirelessly
I’d be competing against them. Coffee luminaries like
playing field as the major chains and that was a fight
over the cold winter in an inner-city lockup to perfect
New Zealand’s Carl Sara, Canada’s Sammy Piccolo,
I was never going to win. On the 5th December 2009,
my routine. Although I came to the competition as
UK’s Gwilym Davies and Mike Philips of the USA were
I opened 3FE (Third Floor Espresso) in the lobby of
a complete outsider, I reaped the rewards of all that
all lined up as favourites and to me it was a dream
the Twisted Pepper nightclub and set about seeing if
effort on the day.
come true to compete on the same stage as them.
Dublin was ready for specialty coffee.
The national champions of each country
I again managed to cause quite an upset that
The first day coincided with a music fair so I
are invited on to the World Championships, so the
year by placing 4th at the World Championships
took in about €250, which equated to about 150 drinks.
very next day we began preparations for the 2009
in Atlanta. The top six competitors that year made
The Monday after I was hit with a reality check when
World Barista Championships (WBC) in Atlanta. The
finals and when they called out my name all the Irish
I sold a grand total of 16 coffees and 10 of them
previous year the WBC had been won by the London-
contingent there went crazy. It was like our Italia ’90,
were to my friends. I wasn’t disheartened though,
based Irish champion Stephen Morrissey, so I knew
beyond all our wildest expectations.
because I made sure every drink was tasty and that I
all eyes would be on me at the competition. I knew I needed to raise my game, so I took
After the dust had settled from Atlanta I knew I needed a new set of goals, so I left Coffee Angel and
made everyone feel welcome. I knew that was reason enough for them to come back.
some pretty drastic action. I sold my car and built
began working for myself as a trainer and consultant.
a replica of the competition stage in my third floor
Most of the work I managed to get was outside of
business up cup by cup and trying to grow whilst
The next 12 months were spent building the
apartment with a competition-spec machine to
Ireland as specialty coffee hadn’t really taken off yet.
still maintaining quality. Soon enough, I was starting
practise on (the only one of its kind in the country
I spent a year travelling to Europe, Japan, USA and
to do larger volumes and Pete, Jordan and Ger were
Events
We’ve built our reputation on coffee so people are
This is Coffee
3FE Quarterly
often surprised to find that we’re a little obsessed
We do many different types of training and events
Every few months we run an event designed for
with our food too. Everything is made from scratch on
but our most popular class has come to be known
those who are really getting into their coffee. Steve
the premises—soups, salads, brownies, sandwiches,
as ‘This is Coffee’. The idea is that we sit you in a room
comes over from Stafford and joins Colin in showing
and even the marshmallows are made by 3FE for 3FE.
with a small group of people and start at the beginning.
photos, videos and coffee samples in a presentation
The only thing we don’t make ourselves is the bread.
We talk you through how coffee is grown, processed,
built around a different topic every quarter. We might
We rotate the food offering seasonally and change
shipped and roasted before you buy it. The next part
pick a farm that is doing interesting work with coffee
every few weeks to keep it interesting. The menu is
of the class is a hands-on work shop teaching you how
varieties and processing, or perhaps a variety that
small and simple and we’ll never sell anything we
to make coffee at home as well as an opportunity to try
we’re particularly keen on or maybe even use the
don’t love ourselves. We use the best stuff we can
a number of different brew methods.
event to discuss why we buy the coffees we buy.
get our hands on and do everything in our power to ensure it’s as tasty and fresh as it should be.
This class is suited to both professionals and
The event is built around a coffee tasting, or ‘cupping’,
home users alike, and covers a wide range of coffee
and each participant gets a gift pack to take away
topics. The only requirement is that you like coffee. The
with them. Check the website or ask any of the staff
class is also designed to be fun and interesting and
about the next event. = C 50, see www.3fe.com for bookings
includes lunch and a goody bag for every participant. = C 75, see www.3fe.com for bookings
www.3fe.com
Food
Barista Class
Awards
This Class is aimed at those who are either going down the professional route or just plain obsessed with coffee and everything that comes with it. We
World Barista Championships 4th 2013, 3rd 2012, 4th 2010, 4th 2009
go through the basics of coffee and fundamentals of brewing but go a lot more in depth with measuring extraction and the variables involved therein. We also
Irish Barista Champion 2013, 2012, 2010, 2009
spend a lot of time getting you hands-on with one of our espresso machines pulling shots and steaming milk. = C 175, see www.3fe.com for bookings
Restaurant Association of Ireland Coffee Experience Award 2012 McKennas Guide 2013: Featured
brought on board to help me out. I also realised that
kinds. I’ve been fortunate enough to win the Irish
best quality coffee to the streets of Dublin. We have
Steve Leighton at Hasbean was paying a fortune in
Barista Championships on four separate occasions
a roastery, more shops, events and coffee equipment
shipping to get coffee to me. I wanted a scenario
and have finished 4th, 4th and 3rd in the World
design in the pipeline and many other interesting
where we could both benefit, so I decided to give him
Barista Championships. We’ve also had latte art
projects too. Build it slow, build it steady, build it
half of the business and in return, 3FE became the
champions, a brewers cup champion, and even a
strong. Just like we always have.
exclusive distributor for Hasbean coffee in Ireland.
(two-time) Slovakian barista champion amongst
This meant that we’d have access to the best coffees we could find and he’d get something back too. More than that, it presented an opportunity for
3FE started with an ethos of ‘make nice coffee,
our staff and although these are individual awards,
be nice to people, see them come back’. As we grow,
there’s always a collective effort behind them.
we always look back to this starting point and look
In February of 2013 we also stepped away from
forward with that same intention.
the two of us to work together and create something
the Twisted Pepper shop and handed the reigns over
in Dublin for coffee lovers to appreciate.
to Tom and the crew at Vice Coffee Inc. Tom had been
Colin is the founder of 3FE.
working with us for over a year and the opportunity
Follow him on Twitter
and Byrne, one of Dublin’s busiest and most prestigious
arose to pass the business on to him and gain a new
@dublinbarista
cafes and set about building a wholesale business. The
wholesale customer and everyone has benefitted
and the shop itself @3fe
owners took a huge risk on us becoming their suppliers
since. Today Vice has become one of the destination
as we had no experience and although the coffee was
cafes to visit in Dublin.
In November 2010, we started supplying Fallon
incredible, it was very different to anything they had used before. Fallon and Byrne was a huge success for both
The Next Chapter A Dublin-based Roastery
We continue to forge strong, mutually beneficial relationships with our suppliers, wholesale clients and customers. We’ve worked with everyone
We are currently setting up our own roastery here
us and them and the quality being delivered was
from Jameson to Nuova Simonelli to Dairyland and
in Dublin so that we can supply all of our customers
a real joy for us to see. We’d managed low-volume
everyone in between, but always with a focus on
from an Irish based facility. 3FE is 50% owned by
quality at 3FE, but this was a whole new level. They
promoting the best coffees we can get our hands on.
Steve Leighton of Hasbean Coffee in Stafford, UK.
soon won the coffee experience award from the
We now have a crew of fourteen people and
Steve is renowned worldwide as one of the most
Restaurant Association of Ireland and new wholesale
growing, each with a passion for great coffee, and
knowledgeable, passionate and skilled coffee roasters
customers quickly began to show interest.
each with their own individual skill set. Designers,
around. When the business was established it was
nutritionists, musicians, bakers, bikers, bankers and
done so with the intention of starting a roastery
in the Dublin region and focus our business entirely
many more professionals have come on board at 3FE
in Dublin, but we knew that building it before we
on quality-minded operations. Cafes such as Brother
and really added to what we can collectively achieve.
had customers would mean we would have to
Hubbard, Roasted Brown, Cup, Cinnamon, Fumbally and
Its always difficult to see staff move on, but we always
compromise on quality and service. Instead we
Base all soon joined us as we began to build a network of
look forward to meeting and working with new staff
decided that Hasbean would roast our coffee for us
quality-focused coffee destinations around the city.
with fresh perspectives.
until we reached the critical mass necessary to get
Today we supply a wide network of businesses
In September 2011, after 3 years of searching
We’ve never had any help from banks,
us going. We managed not only to reach that point,
and saving, we opened our first stand-alone cafe on
enterprise boards, interest groups or investors and
but did so two years sooner than we had anticipated.
Lower Grand Canal Street in Dublin 2. The premises
we often get people wondering how we can succeed
At the time of going to print (May 2013) we have just
is spread over three floors with a basement kitchen,
in such tough times. In truth it is really all down to
gotten the keys to our roasting premises and we’ll
ground floor shop and a first floor office/training room.
building relationships with our customers, staff,
keep you updated as to how we’re getting on.
We run tasting courses, trainings, brew classes and
suppliers and other stakeholders. Its been a tough job
corporate events. We also do coffee consultancy for
getting the business going but we’ve always tried to
machine manufacturers, tastings for corporate groups,
do things honestly and with a smile on our face and
and pretty much anything that involves coffee.
we’ve done pretty well so far.
As well as running the shops, we’ve managed to keep fairly involved in coffee competitions of all
As the shops become busier and our wholesale customer base grows, 3FE is focused on bringing the
We believe that you’re always a decent cup of coffee and a nice meal away from loving or hating a city so this guide will at least get you half way there. Listed below are some of our favourite cafes across Europe and in Dublin. Some we supply, some we just love visiting but either way you should be assured of a great coffee when you visit. Let us know how you get on and tell them we said hi!
Reykjavik
Bergen
Stockholm
Europe Amsterdam—Screaming Beans
Helsingborg
Edinburgh
Moscow
Copenhagen
Antwerp—Caffenation Athens—TAF
Leeds Liverpool
Bath—Collona and Smalls Bergen—Kaffeemisjonen
Manchester Amsterdam London Antwerp Bath
Cardiff
Berlin—The Barn Wadebridge
Cardiff—Waterloo Tea Copenhagen—Coffee Collective
Berlin
21 Paris
Edinburgh—Brew Lab Gothenburg—Da Matteo Helsingborg—Koppi Leeds—Laynes Liverpool—Bold Street London—Prufrock, Fernandez and Wells, Kaffeine, Work Shop Manchester—North Tea Power Athens
Moscow—Coffeemania Oslo—Tim Wendelboe Paris—Telescope Reykjavik—Kaffesmidja Stockholm—Drop Coffee
Dublin Supplied by 3FE: 1. All City Records 2. Base 3. Brother Hubbard
16
4. Cinnamon 5. Clodagh’s Kitchen 6. Cup 7. Diep
O’Co
11
ry St
en
St / H
9. The Fumbally 10. Holland’s
St
Mary
8. Fallon and Byrne
nnell
Cape l St
27
t
11. L. Mulligan Grocer
y St
Abbe
15
12. Little Ass Burrito Bar 13. Roasted Brown
21
14. Tamp and Stitch
River Liffey
14
15. Vice
1
13
29
16. WJ Kavanagh
Dame St
18. Kaph 6
19 25
t
23 17
Georg
e’s S t
8
18
Graft on S
Hig
Thomas St
17. Yogism
28
t hS
Not supplied by 3FE:
12
19. Art of Coffee 20. Brioche 21. Coffee Angel
24 20
22. Coffee Kiosk
Ste ph Gre en’s en
AungierSt
rS
no Ma
3
23. Clement and Pekoe 24. The Humble Bean 7
Kevin St
25. Food Game 26. Sip and Slurp
22
27. Third Space
9
28. Science Gallery 29. Indigo and Cloth 26
2 4
30. Urbun 5
10
30
www.3fe.com
Oslo Gothenburg
Patrick St
Third Floor Espresso
Coffee Guide