16 FOOD AND DRINK
CROSSWORD
ACROSS
1 On the house (6)
4 Eat quickly and greedily
(informal) (5)
7 Little child (6)
8 Professional life history (6)
9 Small eel (4)
10 Type of digital memory
storage(4-4)
12 Just deserts (11)
17 Intensify (8)
19 Trouble (informal) (2-2)
20 Expat (6)
21 Bird house (6)
22 Shorthand typist (abbr) (5)
23 One who eats no meat or fish
(abbr) (6)DOWN
1 Non-specific (7)
2 Mixed result? (7)
3 Break into (9)4 Be upright on one’s two feet (5)
5 Of the seven seas (7)
6 Ventures (6)
11 Addition to — PPE agenda
(anag) (9)
13 An open space? (7)
14 A trifle (7)
15 Back (7)
16 1982-93 Boston-based TV
sitcom (6)
18 Arthur Marx, d. 1964 (5)SOLUTIONS
UNION BREW LAB on South
College Street proves that specialty
coffee has gone mainstream.
While many specialty coffee places
are small, Brew Lab is a ‘high volume’
place, often using up to 35 kilos of
coffee beans a week. Opened in 2012,
it quickly became Scotland’s largest
specialty coffee shop and with its
exposed brick and stone and industrial
vibe it typifies the now ubiquitous
specialty coffee aesthetic.
This ‘mainstreaming’ is also
represented by Union, the coffee
roasters which teamed up with Brew
Lab in 2019. Started in 2001 by two
American scientists who wanted to
inject San Francisco coffee culture into
the UK, Union was founded on the
principle of ‘marrying high quality
specialty coffee with responsible
sourcing’. In short, a focus on high
quality and ethical business ideals that
is central to the specialty scene. While
many specialty coffee roasters sell in
relatively small quantities, Union
Coffee itself is a roaster which has
gone ‘mainstream’, with their coffee
available in some supermarkets, such
as Waitrose.Union Brew Lab opens at 8am
and doesn’t stay quiet for long.
Customers enjoy the variety of seating
available: from snug little concealed
corners to comfortable armchairs next
to the street.
Fraser Ballantyne runs the shop.
He has over a decade of experience in
the field, as a barista, trainer and
advisor. As well as overseeing the
baristas at Union Brew Lab, he runs
regular training courses. The ‘Espresso
Masterclass’ is ideal for those wanting
to get the best from a home espresso
machine - or a first step for those
wanting to work in a café introducing
vital aspects of espresso, including
types of machine, puck preparation
and the key variables involved. These
are dose (the amount of ground
coffee), yield (how much liquid is
produced) and time (how long it takes
for the espresso to run). The course
makes clear that pulling a good shot
requires expertise and precision.
It therefore demonstrates why the
quality of what you get in many cafés
is extremely inconsistent.
It’s crucial to find the right ‘recipe’
for a particular bean, and then rigidlystick to these ratios (between the
quantity of ground coffee and water).
It’s then the ‘dialling in’ of the coffee
every morning which is crucial to
maintaining standards. As Fraser puts
it, ensuring that every espresso made
hits the “servable window”, rather than
perfection, is the aim. To achieve this
involves getting the right grind for a
particular bean. This can take up to 20
minutes, even for experienced baristas.
The real test is that this can all be
affected by temperature and humidity,
so that adjustments may have to be
made during the day. In addition,
attention to detail is vital. For instance,
regularly purging the system, to ensure
that used coffee grinds don’t pollute
the coffee.
Union Brew Lab shows the extent
to which specialty coffee has become a
common feature in Edinburgh, while
its training courses demonstrate, by
revealing the precision required, why
the number of truly excellent places in
the city still remains limited.http://www.brewlabcoffee.co.uk
Union Brew Lab, 6-8 South College
Street, EH8 9AAEdinburgh coffee shop is now the largest in the country
Brewing nicely
CAFÉ REVIEW: Union Brew Lab By Charlie Ellis
Come sit at the Kitchen Table
A NEW DAYTIME dining space is
open brought to you by the
founders of a much loved
bakery, Emily Cuddeford and
Rachel Morgan.
Kitchen Table by Twelve
Triangles is on Easter Road, with
a regularly changing menu to
celebrate the best of seasonal
produce from independent
suppliers, as well as fermentation
and a low-waste ethos. Dishes
being served right now include
green lentil dhal with roast
squash and crispy kale andPittormie honey madeleines with
honey and fennel seed sugar,
damson jam and cultured cream.
Coffee comes from Obadiah
and is served alongside daily
drink specials.There will be one
off supper clubs of which more
details will be released soon.
Kitchen Table by Twelve
Triangles is open seven days a
week from 8.30am to 4.30pm for
walk-ins only (no reservations,
last orders for food at 3pm).
Kitchen Table by Twelve Triangles,
22-24 Easter Road, EH7 5RG