A fresh and exciting addition to Cork's coffee scene

SOME caffeine wizardry has been brewing on a quiet corner in Cork city since December, 2020, and it’s by the hands of Café Moly, on Douglas Street.

The expertise and passion that’s going into their coffee production is remarkable. Each singular kilo of coffee is roasted in-house and this attention to detail is evident in every cup made.

Daniel Garrett first started experimenting with roasting raw coffee beans in a skillet from his home kitchen many years ago. If anyone was destined to open a café, it was probably Daniel. With very little construction experience, together with his wife, Sunmi Kim, they built out their interior and opened their door.

Their tightly squeezed café runs smoothly, they bake fresh treats daily with delicious aromatics filling the ambience, they roast all their own coffee within arm’s reach from their coffee bar, and they run barista courses by night – all from their little corner building!

Café Moly is an impressive operation and a fresh and exciting addition to the Cork coffee scene. I met with Daniel for some insight into the business...

What’s the meaning behind your name, ‘Café Moly’?

Moly is a mythical herb given by Hermes to Ulysses, to break a spell he was under. In short, it’s a plant that makes you feel like yourself again. Sound familiar?

Where did the inspiration for the café aesthetic come from?

The café aesthetic stems from our espresso machine. I fell in love with the white and wood the moment I saw it, and because of that, everything in the cafe falls into that white and wood scheme!

What espresso machine do you use?

We use a Café Racer from Sanremo. It’s a beautiful looking machine, based off the wee motorcycles you’d see zipping around Milan or Rome!

When did you fall in love with coffee?

I think it was more of a gradual progression. I grew up on Maxwell House and then learned about coffee origins and history and fell more in love with it every day.

The fact that coffee can unite people from all over the world in a single cup was a major draw for me.

A customer ordering a cup of coffee in our café might see it pass from a producer in the foothills of Burundi, to an exporter in Tanzania, an importer in the Netherlands before it comes to us in the roastery. This multiculturalism was definitely a huge attraction for me.

What are the most important factors for serving quality coffee?

The best barista in the world can only do so much with sub-par coffee, so to serve a quality coffee you need to make sure you’re working with quality coffee beans.

How do you choose your espresso blend?

We have two espresso blends. The Jazz is a blend of washed Colombian and natural Ethiopian, and we designed it for lovers of juicy, big bodied, high acidity coffees.

The Velvet is a blend of natural Brazilian and fine Robusta Indian, and it was designed for those who aren’t mad about acidity in their coffee, but prefer those big, chocolatey, nutty notes.

What are your three bestselling drinks?

Depends on the season! One day during the heatwave we sold more iced drinks than hot – that’s never happened before! However, looking at the annual figures, it goes like this; 1. Cappuccino 2. Americano 3. Flat White.

What’s the favoured drink amongst your team of baristas?

It’s pretty high-paced in the café, so usually we’ll have something small like a flat white or short americano, to keep the energy levels up!

What’s an ideal barista to you?

One who always wants to learn and will always be adding to their coffee knowledge, be that through magazines, podcasts, scientific journals, etc.

Almost equal to that is customer service, knowing what a customer needs (and doesn’t need; just as important!) and being able to give it to them, be that a smile and friendly chat, advice choosing beans or equipment, or even a bit of space to order their coffee and drink it in peace.

What’s your ideal morning café playlist to get the blood flowing and the punters happy?

I actually spent years curating our café playlist before we’d even known where our café was going to be. I believe funk music to be the ultimate expression of joy and good feeling, and if there was a song on there that gets everyone in a fantastic mood it’s probably Cory Wong’s, J.A.M. or James Brown’s, People Get Up.

How would you describe the spirit of your café?

While the door is open and the music’s on, we try to have as much fun as we can, and we like to think that our customers can tell that we love our work!

A final word to your customers?

It’s been such an honour to become part of our customers’ lives. We promise to always do our best to keep you satisfied, and we are very much looking forward to what the years ahead will bring for us both!

You can find Café Moly at 99, Douglas Street, Cork city.