Timon is a bartender by design! Starting his career at a bar school, he then went to learn all about hotel management and to get even more bartending practice in bars in Germany and abroad.
But only when combining coffee and cocktails, both worlds – Bar and Café – would reach the ultimate level of creativity, he says. A world full of flavors & aromas, ingredients & mixing.
“I want to encourage both, Baristas and Bartenders, to build a connection between both fields and at the same time to support & inspire them in their creative work that they are already doing in their daily jobs…”
To be honest, I don’t really remember, where I met Timon for the first time (personally) anymore… What I do remember, though, are his pretty and at the same time delicious coffee cocktails he’d prepare and serve at Standl 20, specialty café at Elisabethmarkt in Munich.
While working there as a Barista and ‘brewing bartender’, he also won the German ‘Coffee in Good Spirits Championships’ in 2015 held by Specialty Coffee Association.
To attend a Coffee in Good Spirits Championship you have to create several alcohol based coffee drinks.
The rules read as follows:
In the preliminary round competitors have to first create two coffee and alcohol based mixology drinks at the so-called SPIRIT BAR using a randomly selected type of alcohol and/or ingredients provided by sponsors chosen by WCE (World Coffee Events). Secondly for the STAGE PRESENTATION, they have to produce two hot/warm coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks and two cold coffee and alcohol-based designer drinks.
For the finals the six top-scoring competitors are to produce four drinks: two Irish coffees – the king (or queen) among the coffee cocktails – and two hot or cold, coffee and alcohol-based Signature drinks in which the alcohol supplied by WCE sponsor(s) again is used.
Pretty tough, huh? For this blog post, I’m not that picky, though. ;-)
I asked Timon to provide two recipes, one with and one without alcohol! I love them both!
I wanted to know, what fascinates him about combining coffee and cocktails and his reply resonates a lot with me:
I’m a foodie! I love everything around aromas and sensory; good food, good drinks and everything that comes with that.
For the drinks, he’s prepared for us, Razzpresso, the non-alcoholic drink, as well as Supernova, the alcoholic drink – so excited to share that recipe here! – Timon uses Espresso as the base, THE coffee beverage prepared and perfected by Baristas around the world.
Timon learned everything about coffee brewing & preparation through Johannes Bayer and at Standl 20.
“I met Johannes in 2013, when he was providing his coffees (JB) to Bar Gamsei, one of the first bars in Munich offering specialty coffee. Back then I told Johannes, whenever he’d open a café, I wanted to work for him and learn more about coffee… You know how the story continues…,” told me Timon with a wink.
If you want to learn how to make these signature drinks or coffee cocktails or even create your own, Timon is offering Workshops, too!
As ‘brewing bartender’ you can book him via his website.
I personally love his approach – learning from each other – of teaching bartenders all about coffee, especially how it’s prepared and brewed and how it can be implemented in bars effectively. Cafes on the other hand can be shown possibilities and techniques that come from bartending.
„For Baristas as well as bartenders it’s often hard to break out of their daily routine and patterns and to think outside of the box. I’d like to open the doors to both worlds to build a bridge and exchanging ideas that Baristas and bartenders alike can benefit from. In Italy Barista also stands for bartender, which is also true for me.“
Here are the recipes by brewing bartender Timon:
1. Signature drink: Razzpresso
4-5 cl Arabica Espresso with less acidity, e.g. Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala,…
2 cl fresh lemon juice
2 cl Vanilla syrup (or more, if needed)
2-3 raspberries (puree or frozen is ok)
Shake very well and double-strain on ice in a tumbler. Serve with a garnish of fresh raspberries and a slice of lemon or orange zest.
2. Coffee Cocktail: Supernova
10 cl Champagne Coffee*
4 cl white Vermouth, preferably Ferdinands Saar White Vermouth
2 cl Applejack
Pour over ice and serve with an orange zest finish.
*Champagne Coffee:
300 ml Americano / Long Black (origin: Whatever you prefer)
30 ml acacia honey or simple syrup
0,5 g wine yeast
Let the coffee cool down to about 30 degrees Celsius and put all ingredients in a PET bottle (1/2 liter). Release the air by squeezing the bottle and close the cap. Store at a warm place for about 24 hours for the yeast to ferment. The bottle will be bulging because of the pressure, so be careful when opening it. There will be a lot of foam. Change the amount of honey/sugar depending on the coffee and as you like.
Note: The longer the yeast is fermented, the less sweetness, but the more alcohol and carbonic acid you’ll get. Store cold; if you don’t want the yeast bacteria continue doing their job. Use/drink quickly, the yeast bacteria are also active in your fridge.
To make the Champagne Coffee you can use a glass bottle also, but it’s way more dangerous, if you don’t want the bottle to explode.
© Photo Credits „Fuchsografie“ by Florian Konrad.
Wanna read more about coffee cocktails and try even more recipes? Head over here!