Last Monday the Horecabeurs Noord Nederland took place. A kind of New Year's drink for catering entrepreneurs. And that includes good intentions. My New Year's resolutions: learn a little more and laugh (even) more. But because good intentions always fade a bit quickly, I decided to make it right this year. There is always something to do in Groningen, so I was served at my beck and call. This week: Coffee Cupping and PubCabaret!
If you don't know them yet, MASMAS well worth it. Already 2 years ago, founders Brian and Lourens took the Spanish concept to the far north. And with success, just like the DJ careers of the two gentlemen, MASMAS is also going well. Coffee, soft drinks, sandwiches, setting and activities, MASMAS always works out well.
coffee cupping
I don't know anything about coffee myself, and apparently more people from Groningen were bothered by it. Reason enough to have Kenyan Stean, owner of Stean's Beans, host an evening of coffee cupping. For €5 we got coffee, honey, chocolate and fun. Stean had brought five types of beans that he imports himself and supplies to coffee shops. Beans from Colombia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda were ready in bowls. Stean gave us an explanation of what we were going to do. Coffee cupping is meant to taste and analyze coffee. In this way, the trained cupper can immediately smell whether there are diseases on the coffee plantation and, for example, what kind of soil the beans have grown on. You can better look up how it works exactly on YouTube.
Since most of the 25 attendees were probably home, garden and kitchen coffee drinkers, Stean did not go into too much (technical) detail. He had a brief explanation of each step of the tasting process and asked us what flavors we tasted in the coffees he brought with him. Cranberry, tomato soup, earl gray tea and rubber(!) passed in review. In addition to coffee, Stean also brought special German coffee honey. I have to admit that I didn't really taste that coffee in my bowl of warm sugar water, but the idea was nice. Stean had also brought special chocolate with him. The beans for this chocolate are with sailing ship Tres Hombres transported from the Dominican Republic to Amsterdam, where CO2 neutral chocolate bars.
I could go on typing for a while about everything Stean said and which coffee beans were the best, but it's much more fun to experience it yourself. The guys from MASMAS told me that more events like this are coming soon. In addition, barista courses and many more things are planned. Keep an eye on their Facebook, or just pop in!
Pubs Cabaret
After waking up with more coffee than I normally drink in a week it was time for the 2e tonight's stage: it PubsCabaret† On November 8, 9 and 10 it will be Groningen Student Cabaret Festival (GSCF) in the Stadsschouwburg again. Every year the GSCF gets bigger, and since last year there is also a PubCabaret: a few cafes in the city center are transformed into theater for an evening. This year we were able to visit Dinner cafe Soestdijk, Cafe Mulder, Cafe de Keyzer, Café de Wolthoorn & Co and the clockworker.
The GSCF had invited five comedians: Henk van Huisstede, Kachun Cheung, Nadja Schijveschuurder, Nik Goedemans and Patrick van den Kieboom. 4 Dutch and 1 Belgian, 4 men and 1 woman. Each of them had a 15 minute show. After that there was a 15-minute break and the comedians switched bars. So we could just hang out on our barstool and drink beer.
Now I don't go to cabaret very often, and when I go there I usually see well-known comedians. That was different tonight. The GSCF gives upcoming and new comedians the chance to prove and promote themselves. In this way, they have discovered a lot of upcoming talent over the years: Jochem Myjer, Theo Maassen, Mike and Thomas, Johan Goossens, Martijn Koning and Kirsten van Teijn, all of whom have performed in Groningen at some point. Giving new people the opportunity to prove themselves is super fun, but sometimes also very exciting for them. And you notice that. Where the big names do not allow themselves to be dissuaded and wind the public around their finger, it was sometimes a bit uncomfortable at the PubCabaret. Sex (and adultery), racism, insecurity, Tinder and "eh" turned out to be the topics with which almost every comedian stuck his piece together.
But let's face it, stage fright keeps most of us from taking the stage at all. In fact, I'm writing this piece in my attic from behind my screen, nice and safe. Therefore nothing but praise for the comedians! I understood that Henk has only been performing for a year, that Patrick had to come all the way from Antwerp by train and that Kachun is here on a fake visa. It's really cool that all participants came to Groningen and entertained us for an evening. Hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more from them. One was a little funnier than the other, but each performance certainly had potential. I was in Het Uurwerkertje and even the presenter, who on his sick day had promised to make something of it, was having a good time.
In the coming weeks there are still try-outs in Antwerp, Gorinchem and Amsterdam† In addition, in a month's time it will already be time for the real Groninger Studenten Cabaret Festival in our own city. I'll be there anyway, and if you've read all the way here, I definitely recommend it. Tickets are on sale at the website of the GSCF and they go hard.
