✓ Unique Monthly Coffee Boxes

✓ Global Tracked Delivery

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✓ Unique Monthly Coffee Boxes

✓ Global Tracked Delivery

✓ Chosen By Experts

The Coffeeviner Chronicles: Rafael Conde

The Coffeeviner Chronicles: Rafael Conde

Our first Portuguese subscriber tells us about his 'taste bud' opening experience in Lisbon, his guilty pleasure during winter time and why he loves us so

Rafael Conde is one of our earliest subscribers and the first person from Portugal to sign up for our monthly coffee delivery. Over the years, we got to know Rafa a fair bit, even getting the opportunity to hang out with him while on a short city-break to his adopted hometown Porto last year.

In many ways, he perfectly represents modern Portugal, a beautiful country on the fringes of Western Europe whose economy was battered by the financial crisis but that has since managed to reinvent itself.

This transformation was partially fuelled by a highly educated population that, unlike its Spanish neighbours, speaks excellent English, is bringing back Portugal’s famed craftsmanship, is helping to build an enviable tech-community in Lisbon and is looking towards the future is great optimism.

Rafael Conde
Rafael Conde

Rafa is a young techie himself, who travels the world for work and is always on the hunt for a great cup of coffee. That was probably how ended up finding us. We’re excited that he’s the first Coffeeviner whose profile we’re sharing with you today as part of our new ‘The Coffeeviner Chronicles’ series through which we intend to shed some more light on our wonderful customers and their coffee-drinking habits.


The Coffeevine: Rafa, how long ago did you have your last cup of coffee and what was it?

Rafael Conde: I’m having one right now actually, from this month’s box — a light Kenya from Stow Coffee Roasters, brewed in a Chemex.

TCV: What would you describe yourself as:

a) Total noob

b) Coffee curious

c) Pretty fly coffee guy

d) Total semi-professional

e) Coffee academic

RC: I would go with option C: Pretty Fly Coffee Guy,

I am way more into coffee than all of my friends are, but there’s still so much that I don’t know and things that I know I could improve that I shy away from calling myself a semi-professional of some sorts.

TCV: What do you do for a living when you’re not making coffee?

RC: I’m a designer at Netlify (netlify.com), a tech company from San Francisco, where I build and design interfaces for web developers. When I’m not designing or making coffee, I’m recording a podcast called Layout (layout.fm) with my friend Kevin Clark talking about tech and design.

Rafael-Conde-Coffeeviner-Chronicles-2

TCV: What’s your coffee making routine (include which brew method and equipment you employ. Bare hands doesn’t count!)

RC: I start every single day with a fresh cup of coffee. It’s literally the first thing I do in the morning. Usually a V60 in the morning, because of its simplicity.

TCV: Where did you have the best coffee you ever drank and what was it?

RC: This is hard… Way back in the day when I was still just getting started with specialty coffee and at a time and place that it was really hard to find good beans in my country (Portugal), I spent an afternoon with the awesome girls at Copenhagen Coffee Lab in Lisbon that had just opened, trying out different roasts and origins and it was an eye openi… sorry, taste bud opening experience that really made me realise how wide the spectrum of flavours that one could get from coffee really was.

If I had that same experience today, it probably wouldn’t be as impressive, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget that afternoon.

(I also drank way too much coffee that day and got jittery for hours).

TCV: What’s been your most frustrating coffee moment? 

RC: You know when you’re brewing with an Aeropress, inverted method, and then think you can pull the plunger up *just a little bit* with coffee and hot water inside? Yeah, it wasn’t pretty.

Rafael-Conde-Coffeeviner-Chronicles

TCV: Do you have any guilty pleasures you want to confess?

RC: I don’t know if the coffee gods allow for this blasphemy, but in the winter, especially in the holiday season, I add a pinch of cinnamon to my coffee grounds. I Love it!

TCV: Last but not least, how did you find out about The Coffeevine and what do you love about it?

RC: I kept hearing about coffee subscription services in the US, things like Tonx (RIP Tonx), and was really interested in finding something similar for me here in Europe. Especially because it was at a time when it was almost impossible to find good local beans.

Fortunately, this has changed in recent years and there are a lot of good local roasters, but The Coffeevine will always get my monthly support because it’s amazing to get three new and different coffees from around the world, with the impressive quality that I’ve come to expect from Alex and the team.

It’s a great day when my Coffeevine box gets delivered.

TCV: You’re a legend. Thank you!

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