Knockbox Coffee Company 上環

Knockbox Coffee Company 評價 相片

踏入四月，一連數日的復活節假期又再展開，也是一眾港人離港度假的時機。

而小弟呢？也特意抽出一天假期來讓自己休息，而今天的目標地段既不是商場地標卻是寧靜的上環。

最近不少特色小店或Select Shop已分別進駐這裡，而咖啡小店的數目也又有所增設。

對小弟來說，休息當然是離不開咖啡，故偷啡之旅也來到了有單品咖啡提供的knockbox！啡店就在小巷內，店內外均提座位，而店內更放置了一部炒豆機，給人蠻專業的感覺。

從餐牌上已能看見達十種的單品咖啡可供飲用，故也不留力來了兩杯手沖單品咖啡。

衣索比亞 illubabor：相信啡友們對於“衣索比亞 ”這地方絕不感到陌生，當中常接觸到的耶加雪夫更是源出於此，那今天小弟要喝的當然不是它而是來至illubabor產區的咖啡。

經研磨的咖啡粉帶有煙絲味，而沖出來的咖啡果酸明顯較尖銳，帶微弱的甜味，不論溫度下降其整體味道仍然強烈，久了份個人喜愛的柔和感。

此杯顯然不對我的味兒，當然衣索比亞仍有西達莫、哈拉與咖法等不同風味的咖啡豆，大家可尋找合適的。

危地馬拉 finca rosma：談到危地馬拉這地方，咖啡出產也毫不失色，有傳統的安提瓜外，也有新興的皇室瑪莉亞。

是日此杯咖啡入口相比剛才那杯來得舒服，更有著濃郁的煙絲味，那活潑的果酸也蠻怡人，隨溫度降低咖啡果酸也有明顯增加，酸味過後帶出甘甜。

如咖啡中前段是平穩的表現，那後段的表現就比較像上一杯咖啡。

是日初到此啡店，店內已聚集了不少客人，不少也再跟咖啡師談論著咖啡。

雖今次所嚐的手沖咖啡未盡合意，但在這寧靜的環境中與友人閒談實屬相當寶貴的時刻，也讓自己好好放鬆一番。

i'm not a coffee aficionado, but i like my good shot of espresso; i'm not a coffee expert, but i'm intrigued enough to want to learn more.On a friend's recommendation, i decided to pay a visit to this little coffee place, not aware that i'd stumbled upon their friday tasting night.Knockbox was a box alright, half of the space was taken up by the bar/work bench area which looked remarkably like a science lab with fancy and rather good looking apparatus.The remaining half was occupied by a coffee roaster, a table and a bookshelf.Jonathan, one of the baristas, introduced the working of a tasting nite to us and started our education right away by passing some freshly grounded beans for us to smell.This was followed by a small shot of handdripped coffee made with those beans.Even though we arrived 2/3 into the event, we still managed to taste 56 different beans, I can't imagine staying for the entire event, I'd be so caffeinedrunk!!Some of these beans were roasted by famous roasters overseas and yet that was not a guarantee that it would be better than the same beans roasted locally.Sometimes it really pays to look homeward.The discussion that ensued was very much a dialogue where everyone's opinion was valued, novice or expert.Afterall, coffee is a beverage and is meant to be a pleasure to drink, regardless of the myriads of nuances and levels of complexity.Having been an espresso drinker all along, it was a bit of a shock to the system to be introduced to coffee that was "watery", almost tealike, but once the dominating oil is filtered, the underlying floral could truly blossom.The experience opened up an entire new coffee world to this nursery grade coffee drinker.While people all have different preference and tastes, in the context of learning, the lesson to take home is to keep an open mind.Who would have thought watery is not (always) "bad", acidic is (sometimes) a treasured feature?I certainly didn't.I have learnt a lot last night, and there's a lot more to learn.This is what makes life so fascinating.

This is the type of café I wish I found at the time I started to be seriously interested in good coffee a long while back.Knockbox is the place that really caters to coffee lovers. Unlike almost all cafés in Hong Kong that call for high turnover/more drink served as fast as possible in a limited time span, Knockbox is run more like a friend get together to talk coffee with one another when they have spared time. This is great for those who just started in coffee as one can talk freely and is more likely to find out what one likes, how each coffee/brewing methods contribute, etc.Of course, any customer is more than welcomed there to just sit, relax and enjoy coffee by oneself.I recommend its tasting menu “Coffee Grand Slam” for three cups of coffee, any style.This can be one coffee, three brewing techniques to show the effect of how coffee brewing has on coffee.Or you can check it out how three bean from different origin tastes like by get beans from three major regions in one brewing method.Among various brewing method I had over there, siphon came out top.The clean and clear cup makes it much easier to detect and enjoy nuances in the coffee, particularly if you have fruity and clean cup like those from Central American, my favorite coffee.I tastes inhouse roasted Ethipia Yirghacheffe from Chemex, my first time with this coffee brewing system.The cup is very clean and a winey tone cannot be mistaken though bitter dark chocolate was clear in my mouth, particularly when it further cooled down.While I like my coffee much lighter roast than this level, the good thing is that I didn’t get any ashy tone or anything bad, like dark roasted coffee I had outside even from local Indie’s roasters.From Coava KONE steel filter version two with the same Yirgh, there were lots more sludge in this cup than Chemex but I ended up with much tastier coffee with clearer floral and tea like notes, a character of the steel filter that lets the aromatic coffee oil go through the filter into the cup vs. the paper filter that absorbs most of such nuances on to itself.Despite the lower brew temperature at 81 degree Celsius for KONE vs. 85 degree for Chemex, acidity is quite hard to detect, a character of quite a dark roast itself.Apart from brewing methods above, Knockbox offers a pressure profile modified espresso machines, the “IT” thing to tame the hip and happening single origin espresso these days on top of French press and Eva Solo brewing, the latter my first time in a café setting in Hong Kong. And the barista there knows how to brew and talk coffee as they are also coffee enthusiasts that is more than willing to talk coffee with any customer who has any interest be it those who just curious to coffeegeeks.In all, I haven’t fun visiting cafés for so long and Knockbox’s hospitality and enthusiast makes this one my favorite stop for coffee these days.After the ‘refreshing’ course of various coffee and brewing methods, I’m sure one can easily go back to your favorite café and see things in different light.I highly recommended this place for both newbies and experienced to ‘refresh’ their tasting buds. The no rush/friendly/coffee talk is not to be missed and I can only hope Hong Kong has more of this kind of place. Highly recommended!!!Knockbox's hour is still somewhat restricted; the hour is, for now, Friday night and late morning and afternoon on weekend. However, this works great for me!!!

近來身子抱恙，而且又非常沒時間，周圍試啡的動力真的減少了，不過來到二零一一年的最後一日，誓要以一杯好咖啡來洗去過往一年的衰氣，但真的好衰唔衰，在臨出發前竟被隻黑蜂叮中了，不過最後本人都是決定要去，因為於我而言，咖啡能醫百病。

看過了之前專業咖啡食友Boblam的食評，知道此店的營業時間很特別，本來是想打過電話來看看店家又是否在營業中的，不過最後發現原來其在Openrice的紀錄中，是沒有電話的，不過個人去意已決，在一股試啡的蠻勁所驅使之下，最後本人在這天的四時多，終於來到了，幸而店家是有營業的，而最棒的，更是他們是日剛好人材濟濟。

店主理人Patrick及Frances都剛好在店，而且他們專請回來的Full Time咖啡師Jonathan也在店，所以這也是其他啡友的好消息了，因為這樣此咖啡店就可在周一至周五都營業了。

甫坐下，見到主理人Patrick在弄Espresso，而我也沒太多留意，先看一看有什麼好喝，是日的Espresso Special是Columbia Supremo，心想也沒所謂，也是老規矩，先來一杯Espresso及一杯奶系咖啡吧，就來杯Caffe Latte吧。

一邊等喝咖啡，就邊看人家怎樣去煮咖啡，原來剛才Patrick在不斷的在弄咖啡機，是因為他們部Expobar不太聽使喚，所以本人杯Espresso，店家最後要沖煮了第三杯，才認為是可以奉客，還記得在香港也試過同類型的體驗，就是在新蒲崗的The Blend of Danes。

本人目睹整個沖煮的過程，基本上由試水、預熱、磨豆、填壓、抹清Basket旁的粉及上Basket，利落而沒瑕疵，加上其沖煮時間大概是廿五秒左右，再看Shot Size及Crema的顏色，整件事情在本人嗅及喝之前，已經是叫人要擊掌了。

不過未飲過又怎可亂說，本人也是先嗅它一嗅，香味濃郁得來有變化，沒有了一般意式深度烘焙的幾近炭烤的超濃香味，反之那個香味，在Espresso而言是來得清幽，之後本人就猛地將它往咀裹一吸，這Crema的感覺很特別，Crema如絲般滑之外，最有趣的是跟咖啡有如混得密不可分，令咖啡的質地很柔潤，而且咖啡的風味也很是特別，除了甜味來得自然，當中的酸味更令人心曠神怡，跟甜味剛好平衡了，然後AfterTaste傳來陣陣果香，盡顯哥倫比亞豆的特色，這一杯Espresso真的好喝。

喝過了美味的Espresso，之後當然就是期待杯Caffe Latte吧，不過見Patrick反覆再試部機，他最後後說要放棄了，因為部機的壓力不太夠，好唔穩定，其實店家用的這部Expobar的Office Leva，都夠力應付小型Café的客量，2000Watt Boiler with Heat Exchanger，但店家看到的原來比我知的更多，原來這是因為這部機是改裝過的，除了個泵不同了，更有實時壓力儀計量Coffee Cake內的壓力，就連咖啡餅內的Pressure Profile也要監控，那你說杯出品又點會差呢？等了又等，寂寞的夜深的我們，當然就是不甘寂寞，就決定先來杯手沖哥斯達黎加來止癮，其實店家也可以用Syphon去煮，不過本人近來喝多了Syphon，又想試試手沖會有什麼風味，一向對哥斯達黎加豆的印象都是甜度較高，味道來得清純，且看看店家是日這杯又如何。

看到Jonathan基本上也做足所有的功夫，除了如之前食友Boblam所言，用具非常清潔之外，預熱杯子及所有用具，豆的研磨度也是較粗的，豆磨好之後的味道也挺香，而且咖啡師倒水也倒得很有耐性很均勻，看來又有好咖啡喝了。

本人拿着這杯咖啡時，第一個疑問就是，為何杯咖啡好像不太熱呢？明明見到咖啡師有預熱了，喝完再問店員，才知道此店Hand Drip用的熱水都是大概八十至八十五度，那我立時問為何不用九十多度的水呢？Patrick說那就倒不如喝Syphon了，因為Syphon的水一定是滾的，加上此店的Syphon壺是用布過瀘膜，所以口感更滑更多油脂。

而店家用這個度數的水去煮Hand Drip，根本就是想客人喝到在不同溫度的水之下，所Extract到同一款豆的咖啡都會是不同的，來到這一點，基本上不是再要去談對與錯的問題，究竟什麼是對，什麼是錯呢？你認為杯咖啡不夠熱不夠油脂滑，不過人家狂想的，可能就是想單一Extract到咖啡粉內某一種物質，或者科學上準確一點說，就是要以特定的溫度，使得某一物質相對其他物質是更易被綷取出來，以突出當中某一特質的個性，這又是錯嗎？所以越喝得多咖啡時，就知道有時候眼光不要那麼窄，說回這杯咖啡，坦然本人對於一杯不太熱的咖啡，是有點不快，不過水溫低一點，同時咖啡豆內油潤的物質就比較難被Extract出來，形成當中酸度較高的個性，所以個人感到這杯咖啡，是沒有了心目中哥斯達黎加豆甜美的個性，不過咖啡酸度跳脫，而且啡身來得非常光淨，有如在喝一杯很清純的果汁，不要以為我吹水，是真的！這是本人以盡量中肯的一個評價，至於大家又是否喜歡或認同，這又是另外一回事了。

就在此時，店家部Expobar復活了，不過看來Patrick都不是太滿意部機的表現，但見我們也是想喝杯奶系咖啡，最後也煮出了一杯Caffe Latte來，但跟我們說不要期望過高，但事實是，這一杯咖啡，是本人在今天喝過最好的一杯。

Caffe Latte也傳承了Espresso中展現Columbia Supremo的個性，這一杯Caffe Latte，是用鼻子已經可嗅到那份清新的酸香，奶泡面層雖然有點點細泡，但泡表面非常光滑，呷一口就更是如絲般柔順，天啊！個奶泡打得好正！再者奶跟咖啡的融合，也是如之前那杯Espresso中的Crema跟啡一樣的融合得好，一口細滑的奶泡，原來也有很不錯的咖啡味，而且更要還可感受到那酸果香，酸果香加上奶之後，味道來得更和順，個人而言，這豆在Espresso中展現了其個性，但在奶系咖啡中的表面可說是更勝一籌。

Patrick及Frances都是愛啡之人，所以當然也喜歡跟大家分享咖啡，最後他們更沖煮了一杯Hand Drip的危地馬拉精品豆給在場啡友免費享用，比起之前的哥斯達黎加，這一次的豆就炒得比較深，所以縱使用了同水溫的水，Extract出來的咖啡的顏色是深得多了。

都是先嗅一嗅，可能是炒得深一點的關係，當中的酸漿果味被壓抑了，但就多了分哥斯達黎加沒有的煙絲味，而這也是危地馬拉豆最大的特色，入口甘度高了點，但在濃重的煙絲味之中，Body都算輕而清純，以本人愚見，如果這豆是用來Syphon甚或是煮Espresso，個Body一定會比現時中溫Hand Drip厚得多，所以個人感覺是有點怪，但這也是它的特質，都是那一句話，這能夠分對錯嗎？喝了四杯咖啡，談了很多關於咖啡的事，本來Patrick說只收我們頭兩杯咖啡的錢，解釋說不好意思要我們等杯Caffe Latte那麼久，而我跟唔太不是不喜歡人家的美意，不過我們也明白人家打開門做生意，那樣子是非常的不好意思，所以除了最後那杯的危地馬拉之外，我們也付了三杯咖啡的錢，合共一百零五元，貴嗎？好啡，一點也不貴。

P.S. 本人想了又想為何杯手沖咖啡味道如此薄，其實原來除了溫度不夠之外，另一個可能就是那Filter吧，雖然店家當時應該不是用上Chemex Filter，不過始終也是Paper Filter嘛！再看看這篇文章，本人可就明白了，有望大家有空也來看看吧。

http://www.coffeed.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2656以上那一條並不是本人部落格的連結，而是對於咖啡知識的連結，本人希望Openrice明白本人的意思及尊重本人為了令大家明白咖啡的意願，不好要我刪除這一條連結。

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Knockbox Coffee Company餐廳詳細資料：

• Knockbox Coffee Company地址:
  上環太平山街14號B地下
  Knockbox Coffee Company, Shop B,14 Taipingshanstreet, Sheung Wan
• Knockbox Coffee Company電話:  
• Knockbox Coffee Company價錢: $51-100
• 分類: 西式,咖啡店,
• 座位: 10
• 付款: 現金
• FB專頁: Knockbox Coffee Company Facebook

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