Third Floor Espresso

€7 for a coffee?! Are you nuts?

Yes it's pricey but if you really like your coffee and are up for exploring new flavours and also getting a tutorial on how to recognise and taste the flavours then honestly it's great value to me.

I hasten to add that not all the coffee in there is that price! It's called Esmeralda and as the lads in there told me it starts off light in taste but as it cools it gets more complex. If you find coffee heavy then this is a great coffee to try, also they are sold out of yesterday in the take-away bags of the stuff.

Can't wait to get another fix today - I was flying all day!

Nooooo..... I am terribly upset....

I have been to Third Floor Expresso on a number of occasions and seriously this place had the best coffee I had ever tasted in Ireland. When I have had coffee in Paris, Rome and Madrid on trips away I have always come back home suffering from depression at the lowly Irish coffee standards.

It had been probably about a month since I had been to 3FE for my fix of actual good coffee and was up that direction on my lunch break earlier this week and decided to go for a good oul flat white to take away.

Just to double check I asked how many shots there was as standard.

"2"

"marvellous, do you have non or low fat milk?"

"no, just organic whole milk. There's not much difference"

There is actually, a big difference. Not a fan of cream or full fat milk in coffee. But I will put up with whole milk for a good flat white. But alas it was a BAD flat white. It was weak, weak, weak..... Insomnia's coffee actually outdid 3FE's on this occasion......

I am really hoping this was a freak once off that the coffee was sh1t! I will deffo be going back to give it another chance as my good experiences have outweighed the bad. But as a result of this inconsistency I will be averagely scoring these guys on this review.

On a side note to the coffee they have started to do sambos etc. They look amazeballs. Will be deffo giving it a go next time I is in!!

Filter coffee powered by the force of gravity FTW!

€3. I think it was Kenyan. I know it was delicious.

BEST COFFEE IN DUBLIN

Firstly upon arrival the smell of caffe aroumas engulf your senses and you float in with ease to a relaxed, laid back style of coffee making, and experience which is refreshing. the boots here are always filled with groups of people from chatting to friends to business meetings. The setting is cool and allows for an informal style of meeting!
The music is low but its very indie, however it deviates which is a great thing, so you really wouldnt know what the next song will be, its low enough to just set a good atmosphere.

The dudes and dudettes who work here... TALENTED!!!!!
They make thee best coffee I have pretty much ever tasted. Im not normally a sugar taker...and many people who i have brought here are.. and they didnt use sugar here and BOOM done deal! Brian, a member of staff that needs to me commended is a legend, he gets to know every regular and non regular customer to the place, sits down with them, really get to know everyone there. His attitude and commitment to the place make me want to stand up and give and applause! LEGEND!!!!!!! ill be in later for a free coffee hahaha joking!

The coffee is unreal, they usually have one of 2 types and will offer it to you, also telling you about the background of the coffee, give you a much more intimate feeling towards the coffee. Its roughly 2-3€ for a coffee, I am a Machhiatto drinker generally a double shot, which cost i think €2.50. The way the present it varies but its really ingenious, i love it, on a wooden board. Also the way the green tea, and other teas(all organic not bagged) are presented becomes a conversational piece for everyone who you are with and between yourself and the staff

What is great about Third Floor Espresso is the coffee, staff, free wifi and cool setting! it ticks all my boxes for the perfect coffee shop!

While sitting in or an espresso shot on Thursday, head baristo Colin Hammon's second in command got out the chemex brewer (think of a large beaker with a giant sleeve) to put a few cups of filtered goodness together.
Himself wandered over to watch the man work, and ended up getting a full walk-through of the process -one which he has been repeating three times daily ever since. I love the fact that they're not just enjoying the daily brews over at 3FE, but they're sharing the love and the knowledge too!

Sure, you drink a lot of coffee; Some of your acquaintances may even claim you have a dependency on the fluid (you know they're wrong. You can quit any time you like -- but who would want to quit and live a life devoid of this beautiful nectar of the Gods?) Your inner coffee snob prides itself on the fact that it has been years since your last taste of instant coffee.

Even so, when you hear of a place such as this, you feel a little flutter of nervousness and trepidation.

"What if I can't tell the difference? What if I don't like it?" These questions race through your mind as you hesitate a visit. Your taste buds are mere amateurs compared to all the other pros who must naturally frequent this place. You know that if you fail to appreciate this coffee, you'll be knocked down a peg and your pride will take a major hit. It's a risk you're going to have to take.

Fast-forward to early on Sunday morning. You pick a novel from your bookshelf and dress up extra nice for mass in the Church of Tasty-Coffee.

The only other people here are three staff. They're brewing, sampling and discussing various coffees in unison; This is the good life. You feel pangs of jealousy.

A few named beans are written on a blackboard. Names you don't recognise in a matrix of styles. You decide which bean is the easiest to pronounce and order it as an espresso. You're told about its character, flavour, texture and aftertaste -- they're mostly qualities you'd never consciously consider, nor would you have been able to provide a similar description. As far as you're concerned, this is regular coffee.

You sit back and relax for a bit, taking in the atmosphere, contemplating what to do next. How can you learn to appreciate this as much as the staff? Time passes; You decide to get a tasting tray.

* The first tasting tray -- experimentation

It arrives as a cappuccino, espresso and a regular filter coffee. Drinking coffee with milk is a bit unusual but these guys are the experts; Again, a description of the bean and how its qualities are manifest in each of the styles. Still, they mean almost nothing to you.

Halfway through the triple of coffees, you realize you're not as laid back as you once were and are fidgeting a bit more than usual. You finish reading the novel. Gatsby lives this time.

* A second tasting tray -- productivity

It would be a shame not to taste all the coffees; You're just getting warmed up. Anyway, how will you claim to lead a life of excess if you go home after only one?

You start to notice that everyone is moving slower than they were this morning; Fools suffering from lethargy; Don't they realize that coffee is The Answer? You need something to do; Something to keep you occupied. You make a quick dash to the book shop upstairs and pick up the first thing you see. Run downstairs and have another mouthful of coffee. You look up and see yourself coming down the stairs and leaving the shop. You shout after him, but he doesn't respond. He's probably very busy.

Another mouthful of coffee. You look at the book in your hands. It's a French dictionary. Another mouthful of coffee. It's an hour later. You can now speak fluent French. Another mouthful. You borrow a pen from the staff and write your manifesto in the margins of the dictionary. Another mouthful. Coffee supplies are running dangerously low.

* The third tray -- realization

You're now ready to appreciate the coffee. You're acutely aware of your senses so surely this is the best time. Another tray; The bean is the same as the first. Take notes this time. The pen runs out of ink. Where did you even get this pen?

You have to stop. Calm down. You realize you haven't been breathing. How long has this been the case? It's probably not necessary, anyway. Everything is a new tactile sensation; You feel like stretching and going for a run. Though, the alternative of remaining seated and drinking coffee is marginally more attractive.

As you finish the last of the tray, you realize that you can actually see time as if it were an object made physical. You stare time right in the face. It's ten past ten.

* The fourth tray -- nature

You can't stop now; Having only three tastings means you're devoting less time to one of the beans; What if you prefer that one? It's only fair.

A butterfly in Brazil flaps its wings and sets off a chain of events culminating in a warm breeze brushing the face of a monk in Tibet and rustling the leaves of nearby trees. The trees whisper your name, prompting the monk to write you a letter (it arrives several months later but you never open it; You already know the contents).

You are beginning to understand the lingo the baristi were using to describe the coffee.

* The fifth tray -- chaos

The law of fives is in effect.

Cappuccino. You are the beginning and the end.

Filter. You are the sublime, the infinite and the impossible.

Espresso. You are home.

You can breathe again.

I finally got around to trying out Third Floor Espresso yesterday and my review in a word is: wow! I have never had a coffee experience like this before. You know you've found a café that's serious about its coffee when you see the menu board. It's one of those old school felt boards with plastic letters that simply has three options: filter, espresso, milk. They serve coffee, pure and simple. No mochaccinos, machiatos, or frappuccinos here, move along if that's what you're after. There's also more coffee making gadgets in use, and for sale, than you can shake a stick at. They have the requisite espresso machine along with pour-over filters, something called a Chemex, Aeropress, and as the menu states, the first café in Europe to have a Marco Über Boiler - it's something a precise, rule-following German would use to boil water but surprisingly it's Irish-designed (surprising, since Irish coffee is typically the instant variety). This boiler sustains water temperature to the tenth of a degree and incorporates a scale to ensure the precise coffee to water ratio.

The coffee beans are freshly roasted by Has Bean in the UK and Colin, the proprietor, informed me their standard is to use the beans within 10 days of roasting. I tried the Brazilian Terramater to take home and it's amazing!

Sorry for the rambling, disjointed review but their is so much to say and love about 3FE that I have to get my first thoughts down before the caffeine wears off. More to come later! Oh yeah, there's an event next Sunday to learn all about the Aeropress coffee maker, see you there!

I heard great reveiws about this place and I am going to give it another go but after ordering my cofee and putting a drop of milk in it, I did not appreciate a condascending remark from the guy who worked there to the tune of

"milk!, mm Shame".

Its no problem to be an officianado about ones coffee and I like farmers markets and pubs with craft beer etc so this sort of thing is up my street, but there is a fine line between being a friendly officianado and a rude snob. As i said i will give it another go and the cofee was lovely but if I am made feel small and unworthy, I will not be darking its door again.

I didn't just have a cup of coffee here, I experienced coffee here. I was looking for a place to enjoy a cup of coffee, a place where the staff was knowledgable and friendly, where I could sit and relax and enjoy myself. Third Floor Espresso gave me what I was looking for and so much more.

I admit I am a coffee nerd, I love coffee in all it's forms. I am not one of those people that can sniff coffee and tell you the region or blend or brew time. With the right group of friends or in the right situation I'm just as happy drinking Maxwell House as I am drinking a limited edition hand picked batch of shade grown fair trade Galapagos brew. That said....

I did get to meet Mr. Colin Hammon, who is the 2010 World Barista Champion, which to me was a thrill. When dealing with someone that has those kinds of credentials I always find it best to let them decide what you are about to experience, sometimes the ride they take you on changes your life.

I sat down at one of the booths and grabbed a paper, (I'm not a critic of cafes or decorations as I have been entranced by the dumpiest places in Seattle and bored to tears and uncomfortable in the fanciest cafes of Paris) a cup of Ethiopian coffee was brought over by one of the Baristas, I thought this was my coffee but it turned out to just be a starter coffee, an appetizer if you will.

Colin himself came over with a small wooden tray, on the tray was small espresso, a small cup of water and a large cup of triple blended espresso with frothed cream, complete with the heart folded in on top. The three coffees I speak of were all separate brews, hand selected and combined by Mr. Hammon himself and were all from (god I hope I get this right) Central America. It was so good. I love giving an artist free reign over his passion, it only makes your experience that much better.

However it didn't stop there... I was brought another cup of coffee but this one was a little different. Actually much different than any other coffee I have ever had. It was a coffee made from the cherry of the coffee bean itself. The shell they husk and discard to get to the bean, well the workers on the coffee plantations have been using this "by-product" for ever to make a coffee that is more like tea than anything else.

Looking back at the experience, I can see the big picture of the coffee experience. Mr. Hammon and all of the baristas at Third Floor Coffee started me off with fairly common Ethiopian coffee, though a great blend, it's still available almost everywhere, who hasn't had Ethiopian coffee by now? Then hit with a triple blend Central American cup of greatness and then finished off with a coffee that was green tea clear and sweet but still coffee.

If you can't tell by now, I am a fan of this place and you will be to if you decide to give it a try.

A quick update to point out this place is now called Vice Coffee Inc, same people, same coffee, different name.

does great coffee. At €3 for a double shot small latté, it's not cheap, but it's very tasty.

A big factor in this are the beans. 4 cafés in Dublin use these beans to make good coffee: Vice, 3fe, Brother Hubbard and Cup.

None of them are as good as the original though. Vice was here 1st, and it's pretty blood good!

As all good coffee should, there's no coffee rush the instant you taste some, just a mild buzz which lasts for much longer.

The reason this coffee is the best is down to their baristas, who do an excellent job!