Water Tasting

10th December 2015 Water tasting:

Wells for Zoe making news in West Australia.
This could make you laugh or cry or both.
Are we becoming the stupid Irish again?
For coffee people this is a steal, but the idea caused a social media outrage
and where else can you buy fun for 5 Euro?  Brilliant idea, love it
 
Irish coffee shop offers $5 water-tasting menu





The owner of an Irish coffee shop has defended his decision to charge €3.50 ($5.15) for a water-tasting menu despite a social media backlash.


Colin Harmon, owner of 3fe on Dublin’s Grand Canal Street, was the subject of much criticism last week after his decision to price a water-tasting experience at €3.50, the independent.ie news site reported.


“Our goal was to draw attention to the massive impact water has on brewing coffee and when it came to pricing I naively priced the menu at €3.50. I just put the first number down that popped into my head but with hindsight I now greatly regret that decision,” he wrote in a blog posted on 3fe’s website
His cafe, in Dublin’s redeveloped Grand Canal docks area, was listed 15th in a “25 coffee shops you need to see before you die” list published on Buzzfeed last year. It is located close to Google’s European headquarters on Barrow Street.


Mr Harmon had insisted that the new offering was aimed solely at getting coffee lovers to think about how water quality affected their coffee brew.


“If you’ve a cup of coffee in most places around the city, what you’re drinking is 85pc water. And water has a huge impact on how coffee is extracted, and how it tastes,” he told the independent.ie


“When you grind coffee and mix it with water, lots of different things in the water – calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate – have a huge influence on how the coffee is extracted.”
“Sometimes people will buy a bag of coffee from us to make at home and they’ll come back and say it brews really, really badly, and they might blame us. But they might not realise it’s the water.”


Mr Harmon, who gave up a career in merchant banking to become a coffee entrepreneur, said more than 30 people have bought the water-tasting experience since it was added to the menu three weeks ago.


“The vast majority of people who have tried it have been impressed by it and its been a really nice conversation piece for the people who visit the shop,” he wrote.



The coffee shop is located in Dublin’s redeveloped Grand Canal Docks area.



Although Mr Harmon said he believed the experience was “interesting and relevant” he had decided to donate all further proceeds from the water-tasting menu to charity on foot of the viral outrage.


“All proceeds from the water tasting including those already sold will be donated in full to Wells for Zoe, an Irish charity enabling people in Africa to access clean water. We'll also match that total with our own donation. At the end of the year we'll re-assess the situation,” he wrote.
The coffee entrepreneur admitted that the experience was one of the least pleasant he’s had throughout his time in business.
“What started out as a bit of fun has turned into what is probably the least pleasant experience I've had in the six years I've been running 3fe,” he said.

YIPPEE for WATER