Let's get out of the home office a bit and enjoy a nice cup of coffee
Greetings from Brazil to my coffee-crazed friends at Hive!
It's been a while since I've been here with a coffee shop review. Actually, I haven't been to many coffee shops in the last months, as I am reducing my caffeine consumption for health reasons.
However, since I work at home office, sometimes I need a change of scenery to be productive. In those moments, nothing better than seeking out a good coffee shop to get the work done.
Last Thursday I arranged with a friend, who is also a freelancer, to go to Deltaexpresso Cafe. It is a Portuguese coffee shop franchise, but it follows the Starbucks business model. The difference between Delta and Starbucks, however, is that they are more concerned with serving good coffee than those coffee milkshakes that Starbucks calls frappuccino.
Besides good coffee, the Delta is very spacious and comfortable. So it is possible to spend a whole afternoon there and cross several items off the to-do list.
Very similar to Starbucks, but with better and real coffee
As I mentioned, Deltaexpresso is a Portuguese coffee shop franchise that has been expanding throughout Brazil. It follows the Starbucks business model, so the idea is not only to sell coffee but also sandwiches and snacks, encouraging the person to consume the whole time he/she is using the structure of the place.
The wi-fi is free and the tables are very comfortable, like those in an office. Besides that, they have a very nice decorations with posters of famous people having coffee. I particularly loved this table with a poster of John Lennon.
I love this decoration
The coffee shop works with beans from different countries and I thought this was really cool. In my city, it is common to find Brazilian coffee, but it is very difficult to have coffee with beans from Colombia, Ecuador, or even Vietnam.
Beans from all over the world
Nice and charming space for enjoy coffee
I could call this "motivation"
My choice was an Americano made from Colombian coffee. I love Brazilian coffee, but it is very acidic and this Colombian coffee was sensational. As I'm reducing my coffee consumption a lot, the few times I allow myself to enjoy a cup of coffee are even more delicious. So, I would give a 10 out of 10 for this coffee, which was perfect.
To go with my coffee, I ordered an iconic Brazilian sweet that I love. Yes, I am talking about brigadeiro. Probably if you ever visit Brazil, you will hardly fail to taste a brigadeiro. It is a sweet made of condensed milk, cocoa, and butter, covered with chocolate shavings. It is served in the form of a small acorn and is super sweet but wonderful. For me, it has a taste of childhood, since brigadeiro is served at children's parties.
For me, the combination of a very bitter coffee and a brigadeiro borders on perfection. They are the kind of "match" that goes very well!
Compared to other coffee shops here in my city, Delta is quite expensive since a drip coffee costs around $4.00. However, I thought it was well worth it, especially since they offer free wi-fi and the whole infrastructure. So it is fair to charge more for the coffee as well.
I don't know how it is outside Brazil, but around here coffee shops that offer free wi-fi and space to work are practically extinct. I believe that with the popularization of remote work, many coffee shop owners have become afraid of turning into a free coworking space.
However, in my opinion, who has been working in the home office since 2013 I think this is quite a mistaken view. I think that most people who work from home, look for a coffee shop to vary their work environment and not to turn it into an office. But, that is my opinion based on my own experience...
Well, what do you think about it? Where do you, are the coffee shops with free wi-fi are becoming extinct?
I hope you enjoyed reading this and see you next time.
Caffeinated hugs,
H.
