 Have you ever heard someone in front of you ordering a coffee with a Ristretto shot? If you’re anything like me, you stop and think "wait, what is that?!" Well good thing you’re reading this because I’d like to explain it to you! Ristretto in Italian means ‘resitricted’. Essentially, this shot is pulled shorter than your normal espresso shot. The process of creating ristretto is the same as a normal single or double shot, but instead of letting the shot pull for the full length of time, it is pulled much shorter. Because of this, the amount of coffee that you are getting is much less, but hat doesn’t mean that there is less caffeine content. “Since a ristretto is an overall shorter pull than an espresso, the final drink is a slightly sweeter, more concentrated flavor that plays out without any bitterness.” Every cafe is different, but in our cafe it works something like this: a normal shot will pull on average for about 30 seconds and a ristretto shot will pull for about 15 seconds! I hope that you find this helpful and feel excited about ordering your next coffee with a ristretto shot just to try it out!!
(information in quotations taken from https://perfectdailygrind.com/2015/06/extraction-wars-espresso-vs-ristretto/ )
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 This week we'd like to explore a few unique cafés from around the world!
Sorry Coffee Co (Canada) “What's truly different about the Sorry Coffee Co is its unique branding. The Sorry cafe logo that appears on signage and cups is drawn by a local designer and before anyone has a chance to get bored of it, it changes. Every three months, the cafe logo is replaced by a brand new one. Sorry also provides pencils to customers, encouraging them to create art on their cups and come up with their own cafe logo designs.” (https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/cafe-logo) Little Man Cafe (Australia) “The Little Man Cafe is a quaint suburban cafe in Melbourne, Australia that was recently born out of a massive transformation of an old Post Office building. The minimalist all-white space is now a homey outpost for coffee lovers and those in need of a snack in a friendly environment. The cafe is designed in a way that makes it resemble a pristine home kitchen..” The idea of this cafe is that you feel like you are just hanging out in your kitchen having breakfast and sipping your coffee! (https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/former-post-office-building) (https://www.littlemancafe.com) Cafe 27 (Beijing) “Located in Beijing, Cafe 27 is a charming new greenhouse cafe that was designed by Shanghai-based Four O Nine. Boasting a creative organic menu and a stunning supply of natural lighting, Cafe 27 is situated within a glass building that former housed a greenhouse.” “Cafe 27 is a charming and aesthetically pleasing example of green architecture and of spaces designed to stimulate one's senses.” (https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/greenhouse-cafe) Foghound (South Africa) “..is an innovative repurposed shipping container. Despite its industrial and rugged facade, its interior is a sleek and modern cafe and showroom… The contemporary retail space combines a permanent glass-covered structure, with shipping containers acting as an ancillary element in the overall design” (https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/repurposed-shipping-container) (https://www.foghound.co.za) This is just a glimpse into the endless creative realm of cafes around the world! Let us know of any really incredible cafes that you have visited on your travels!  Dear Readers, have you ever been randomly complimented by a stranger? Perhaps they said they liked your outfit or complimented your smile? Well I know for sure that when this has happened to me, it has made my day! With that being said, I have been thinking a lot about random acts of kindness and how sometimes we as people get so busy and caught up in our busy days, that we forget to be kind to others! We never know the full story of our neighbor unless we ask, we never know the reason someone is sad unless we ask, but we can be the reason someone smiles because of something nice that we do! This week I have compiled a list of ten things that we can do to show others around us that we love and appreciate them. I would like to challenge all of us to do ten things in ten days and I will list below some ideas and prompts that could be helpful to you! So, let’s get right into it!
I challenge you, as the reader, to these ten random acts of kindness! Let’s be people who love people well, and let's have a good time doing this! Ready, set, go..!! As always, love from TMPC Dear readers, I know that none of us were expecting to come into this year and have to learn what social distancing looks like or having to work from home for the first time, and possibly having to frequent your favorite local restaurants and cafe less. Yikes! Who could have known?! But in light of the current circumstances, we as The Meeting Place Cafe staff were reflecting on some of the positive things that have come out of this season for all of us, and we created a few points that we wanted to share with you. Here are the top three things that have challenged us to grow most! 1. Relationships- We all have a group of even a handful of friends that we like to catch up with at a cafe or meet up with for an adventure, but that had to change for a little while which was tough, but also showed us something about our relationships. We found that a space was created for one on one meet ups, forcing us to go deeper in our relationships and really talk and get to know our friends on a much more personal level. This is really beautiful, as we often fall into the habit of ignoring the real "stuff" when we're with our friends and we ignore the sometimes difficult realities and instead we try to focus on having fun and unwinding when we see each other. But we have started to ask questions like "how are you really doing?" There were also a lot less people in the cafes which allowed for customers to get to know staff better! I personally started having regular little chats with the staff of one of my favorite cafes in the area, and am happy to say that we are all on first name basis now! 2. Skillset- We decided that this was a good time to improve our coffee skills and make our drinks better and more consistent! We have been working on our latte art! We were even adding little personalized notes on the cups of our customers! But we also know that it wasn't just us, but plenty of other companies and coffee shops really took advantage of a slower season to make sure everything is up to the best level! Only the best for you! 3. Creativity- We have had to find new ways of reaching out to people and make sure that people still knew we cared about them and had been thinking of them even when we were closed. We recently started a prayer request jar where people can let us know how we can be praying for them! It has been great to take time to talk to our regulars and keep up with their lives! I know there are a lot more positives that have come out of this season, but also am not unaware of the difficult things that we have had to go through. If you are someone who needs some encouragement please don't hesitate to reach out as we would love to hear from you. Many blessings to you, Love TMPC    “This is a passion for us, not just a job, and we believe that makes all the difference in your cafe experience"
To our faithful readers, we would like to take this time to thank you for your dedication to reading our blogs and for staying up to date with us as The Meeting Place Cafe. We felt it would be a nice refresher to go back to the basics and answer the question of “why do you exist and why are you different?” We get this question often, especially when people order and then hear the phrase “the suggested donation is…” If you have come to our cafe, you would know that we are a donations based coffee shop that exists for the purpose of serving quality coffee in an environment that builds community. We are here to bless people and to offer coffee to anyone and everyone who comes through our doors, whether they can pay for it or not. It is our hope and desire that everyone who walks through these doors would feel welcomed and know that this is a place where you as a customer are seen and heard, you are valued, and appreciated, and we care about you and what you have to say. The staff at The Meeting Place cafe are easy to talk to and interested in hearing your stories and keeping up with what’s happening in your life. But why is this the case? We are a group of volunteers who are passionate about God and about making Him known to the world. We believe that the greatest commandment found in the Bible says "Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” The staff at The Meeting Place Cafe are all volunteers who come from all over the world in order to train and practice how to run a coffee shop both as a business and also as a ministry, they are young people who have a heart for missions and for reaching many different kinds of people through their businesses. They come here to learn how it’s all done and how they can go and take this idea into other countries and therefore be a blessing to other communities. This is a passion for us, not just a job, and we believe that makes all the difference in your cafe experience. If you haven’t had a chance to come by and have a coffee, please don’t hesitate any longer and when you do come, let us know that you have been reading our blog! It is an honour and a privilege to be able to serve coffee and spread hope and joy no matter who you are or what you believe. We love and appreciate you and look forward to seeing you come through our doors!  Tamborine Mountain is more than just a place to catch pretty views. Last month, our cafe internship team was able to take a trip to Tamborine Mountain Coffee Plantation to learn more about coffee farming and the bean to cup process. Before going on the plantation tour, we were able to sit at the cafe and enjoy delicious coffee and baked goods. Their Australian-Grown tasting board featured their award-winning coffee beans in 4 forms (flat white, espresso, batch brew, and cascara) each with a smooth taste that delighted us with every sip. The cafe boasts a friendly and engaging staff along with delicious home-baked pastries making this place a must try for anyone looking to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city.
After enjoying our time at the cafe, we joined the plantation tour to learn more about the process of roasting and brewing coffee beans. The tour was informative and entertaining with a walk through the coffee trees and a tour of their roastery. During harvest season, the plantation opens up for volunteers who are willing to spend the day picking coffee beans from the trees for a more hands on experience. The tour ended with a coffee tasting that didn’t disappoint. Overall, we highly recommend this experience for anyone wanting to learn more about what goes into their favorite cuppa. For more information, visit Tamborine Mountain Coffee Plantation Apps exist for so many things these days, but who would've thought that you could improve your home brewing experience with an easy to use app like Filtru Coffee. This is a home brewing app that walks you through the process of using a variety of methods from AeroPress to Moka Pot. You can connect this app to a Bluetooth scale in order to track your brewing data, and Filtru keeps a history of each time you've used a brewing method and the data connected with that attempt. It is a great way to grow your skills at home, improve consistency, and even learn new methods of home brewing. Learn more at Filtru Coffee  Art by Maddie Mae Ready to download the app and upgrade your home brewing experience?
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