Tørnqvist Coffee: Pop Up 04/11/16 – 28/02/17

Tørnqvist is more than just a pop up. It might be in St. Pauli for only a few months, but Linus, whilst not settled in a permanent location, has been known to brew up some of the world’s finest coffees in his beige VW bus. He dedicated Tørnqvist to his Finnish grandmother Marianne Tørnqvist. After she passed away the decision was clear: you only have one life to live and share your passions. If it’s the art of coffee, then why only give two days a week to this craft? Linus now makes it seven.

Tørnqvist has popped up where many might expect to find Luicella’s (an ice cream shop in St. Pauli, that is taking a winter break).  Looking inside, you will probably find Linus preparing some coffee or chatting with friends and customers. On your left hand wall is the three item coffee menu (Flat White, Handbrew, Shot). The rest of summer-time Luicella’s now has beautiful lamps and people chilling and sipping Flat White or live red Hand-brew. On the right hand side is, well a cool poster about the Schanze, but I mean the presentation of his chosen coffee roasts to take home.

Tørnqvist’s two priorities are for people to have a good time, feel at home, relax, take a break and drink excellent coffee.  That’s the Scandanavian way: calm, enjoying the simple things in life and high quality coffee. Thus, Linus collaborates with these four roasteries, rotating weekly through their various roasts.

Drop Coffee º Stockholm, Sweden – leading coffee of Sweden for 4 years
La Cabra º Aarhus, Denmark – best roastery of Denmark
Koppi Roasters º Helsingborg, Sweden
Tom Wendelboe º Oslo, Norway – today’s Godfather of Coffee

Espresso, Shot
Drop Coffee is the espresso for his Flat White and Shot. That’s all that the espresso roast is used for here. No lattes, cappuccinos or cortados? That’s Linus. Think of it – every drink is crafted by the artisan: Gin & Tonic will have so much Gin and so much Tonic, that’s up to the bar tender, not the customer. But coffee? Suddenly the customers, of which many aren’t connoisseurs, get to decide how much steamed milk, foamed milk, shots, sugar and so on get mingled. Hereby the barista is just a skill worker, maybe giving suggestions – but not a master of taste. Except at Tørnqvist, where the barista decides the perfect ratio. A Flat White lets the milk and espresso both come to taste without one dominating. Besides, Flat Whites, are the original canvas for latte art. Cappuccinos traditionally have been topped with a little hill of airy foam and cacao powder.

Hand-brew
The latter three roasts are hand brewed with the help of the Japanese coffee scale (acacia). The outcome is something that might not even taste like black coffee to some of us. Because it’s not black. “Coffee is a bean, a complex fruit with twice as many aromas as wine”, I learned. The red oils of the coffee bean can only be prominent if the bean was processed gently, whereby the tastes aren’t killed and no sharp or bitter aromas form. In this way it looks different, but the flavors differ ever more. This brew is sweet on its own, maybe smooth and fruity or herby and delicate – full of different flavors. Filter Coffee is an art to itself that I didn’t even know existed.

Other “Brews”
Besides the three item coffee menu, Linus offers stellar hot chocolate (see pict above). The powder is by a single strain of cacao from an Ecuadorian farm and roasted by a friend in Hamburg. I could really notice how sharp and clear the chocolate tasted without being too sweet. Lastly you can also get Chari Tea, Nice Tea (a special tea from the coffee cherry) and craft beer.

Organic Bites to Eat
There’s a “klein aber fein” choice of snacks as well. Cheesecake, Scandinavian Kanelbullar (twisted cinnamon roll), croissants and Stullen (sourdough sandwiches with Demeter Bergkäse (a strong organic cheese) or the Samba hazelnut-chocolate spread).

Tørnqvist will reside in St. Pauli for a few more months, after that we can hopefully visit Linus and his friends at the B-Lage in Sternschanze. If you’re a craftsman or not, I think it’s worth getting to know one who has skills to show us when it comes to coffee.


Until February 28, 2017 (my sister’s 20th birthday, yay!):

Where? Detlev-Bremer-Str. 46, St. Pauli (just off Reeperbahn)

When? Mo-Fr: 9-19, Sa & Su: 10-19

Selective Eater? you’ll have the choice of the best organic cow and oat milk

Contact
tornqvistcoffee.com
hello@tornqvistcoffee.com

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