life words | Reg Reynolds
GIBRALTAR IN CALIFORNIA Gibraltar Coffee First Steamed In California
A
mistake by one employee and the quick thinking of another led to the invention of a coffee drink named Gibraltar.
Thirteen years ago, James Freeman was about to open his Blue Bottle coffee kiosk in San Francisco when an employee purchased a box of glasses which were deemed too small for the coffees they were planning to sell but Freeman decided they would be useful in sampling. When some prospective customers complained that the espresso was too strong, milk was added. This drink went down a treat and Freeman marketed it. When one client asked what it was called another employee replied, “Oh, that’s our Gibraltar”. This quick-witted barista had noticed that the glasses used came from a box stamped GIBRALTAR in big capital letters. Thus, the ‘Gibraltar’, a ‘cortado’ a kind of ‘baby latte’, was born.
steamed milk, which fits nicely between the macchiato and the cappuccino. The milk is steamed thinly and elegantly and isn’t very hot – it’s a drink built for immediate quaffing. Even customers who are in a rush don’t mind sticking around at the bar to have a quick exchange of pleasantries with the barista and polish it off in less than sixty seconds. It’s in a cute glass too, and people look good holding it. That never hurts.” Other coffee bars added the drink to their menus and soon ‘Gibraltars’ were being sold all over the U.S. and also in Japan and parts of Europe. Freeman writes “I do like to think, however, that we recognized and accelerated the unarticulated desire for a short, concentrated espresso drink that is consumed where it’s made”.
In the book The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee Freeman explains:
Blue Bottle was founded in Oakland by Freeman, a self-described “slightly disaffected freelance musician and coffee lunatic”.
“At Blue Bottle, we serve a drink in a 4.5 oz. (135 ml) rocks glass with an octagonal bevelled base made by the Libbey Glass Company*. The proportion is 1.25 oz (37 ml) of espresso to 2.5 oz. (75 ml) of
The Blue Bottle website relates how Freeman “…weary of the grande eggnog latte and the double skim pumpkin-pie machiatto, decided to open a roaster for people who were clamoring for the actual
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2015
taste of freshly roasted coffee. Using a miniscule six-pound batch roaster he made a historic vow: ‘I will only sell coffee less than 48 hours out of the roaster to my customers, so they may enjoy coffee at its peak of flavour. I will use only the finest, most delicious and responsibly sourced beans’”. Freeman chose the name ‘Blue Bottle’ in honour of Franz Kolshitsky. Kolshitsky, a former prisoner of the Turks, played a heroic role as the Polish defeated the Turks and lifted the siege of Vienna in 1683. Kolshitsky, who spoke Turkish and Arabic, had made his way through enemy lines to get a vital message to the Polish commander. The Mayor of Vienna rewarded him with money which he used to buy up all the coffee beans the Turks had left behind. He then opened up the Blue Bottle, the first coffee house in Central Europe. Today, there are dozens of Blue Bottles in San Francisco, Oakland, New York, Los Angeles and Tokyo. Maybe one day we will have one serving Gibraltar coffee in Gibraltar. *Note: Libbey manufactures a total of 35 types of drinking glasses under the Gibraltar name as well as a soup/deep salad plate, a salad/dessert plate and a sugar package holder. 43