Coffee smells best a second after grinding

October 1st, International Coffee Day. We celebrate by the grinder

There is one sound that starts every morning of ours on Przemysłowa Street. A short, determined whirr of the grinder, and a second later a scent that fills the whole room in an instant. Dense and warm, a little chocolatey, a little nutty, with a hint of something you cannot quite name, yet every coffee lover would recognise it with their eyes closed. That is how coffee smells when it has just been ground. And that is how our place smells every single day, before we properly heat up the oven for the gingerbread.

Thursday, October 1st, is International Coffee Day. For us it is a good excuse to tell you why coffee in a gingerbread bakery is not an add-on to a cookie, but a proper star in its own right.

Why freshly ground?

A coffee bean is a small, tightly sealed treasure box of aromas. As long as it stays whole, it keeps them inside. The moment it is ground, the box opens and a race against time begins, because the volatile scent notes escape into the air faster than you can boil the water. That is why coffee ground right before brewing tastes fuller, sweeter and deeper than coffee that has been waiting in a tin. You do not need to be a barista to notice it. Just lean over the cup once before your first sip.

Livio from the Poznań roastery Maestro Espresso

The beans we grind are the Livio blend from the Maestro Espresso roastery, which means coffee from Poznań, just like us. Seventy percent mild arabica from South America and thirty percent bold robusta from India, roasted medium dark. In the cup it gives you exactly what we started with: notes of chocolate and nuts, and a brew that is full of character yet well balanced. We love that closeness. Coffee roasted in the neighbourhood reaches us fresh, and we know who stands behind every bag. It is a bit like our gingerbread: good ingredients and people who simply care.

Coffee and gingerbread, a pair that just gets each other

Gingerbread and coffee have more in common than you might think. Both are full of warm, deep notes: honey and caramel, dark chocolate, roasted nuts. The spice blend in gingerbread, that is cinnamon, cloves, ginger and cardamom, talks to coffee like an old friend. It is no coincidence that in many corners of the world people add a pinch of cardamom or cinnamon to their coffee.

Here are a few of our favourite pairings:

With strong black coffee

Chocolate and orange gingerbread. Dark chocolate and our homemade candied orange peel bring out the fruity notes of the beans, while the bitterness of the coffee balances the sweetness of the dough.

With coffee and milk

Soft Alpine gingerbread with plum jam, baked with sour cream. Gentle and comforting, made for a lazy morning when nobody is in a hurry.

For those who like it double

Coffee brownie tiramisu, where coffee is everywhere: in the chocolate base as strong espresso, in the soaked sponge fingers and alongside the mascarpone cream. If you prefer a plant-based version, try our vegan coffee cake with coffee cream and chocolate glaze. You can order either cake whole in our online shop and pick it up on Przemysłowa Street, whenever coffee is meant to be the theme of the party.

A little story for a big cup

Legend has it that it all began in Ethiopia with a goat herder named Kaldi, who noticed that his goats could not sit still after eating the red berries of a certain shrub. Whether it really happened, nobody knows, but we love this story, because it shows that coffee has been a discovery full of energy and curiosity from the very start. Today it is enjoyed all over the world, and since 2015 October 1st has been its official day, on the initiative of the International Coffee Organization.

Come over for a coffee

Coffee is best not read about, but drunk. That is why on Thursday, October 1st, we invite you to PiernikoMania at 55 Przemysłowa Street in Poznań. Sit down with a cup, pick something sweet to keep it company, bring your laptop or meet up with someone dear to you. You can also just drop in for a moment to smell coffee that was ground a second ago. That scent stays with you for a long time, we have checked.

We are open Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 15:30, and on Saturdays from 8:30 to 15:00. Here you will find our address and phone number.