McKenna’s Guides

Good coff ee roasters tell you on the tin what you can expect when you sip from the cup.

So, when you grind up some @javathehut_coffee_roasters Spezial, organic microlot beans sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, roaster Marc Hynes tells you to expect that the coffee will be ‘tangy with grapefruit, apple, lemon and melon.’

And it’s all there: the clean apple note; the tartness of the lemon; the sweetness of the melon; then the dry, slightly sour grapefruit note to finish. Spezial is special, indeed.

Hynes and his team roast in The Beat Centre, in Balbriggan, which sounds like the sort of place where you might bump into Jack Kerouac or Allan Ginsberg. More importantly, for ordinary decent commuters, is the fact that Marc and his wife, Emer, also run the coffee shop at Balbriggan Train Station.

Given that one of the perils of pubic transport in Ireland is the less-than-stellar quality of the coffee and the sandwiches, to be able to source such high-end, hand-roasted coffee is a Godsend. The journey from Balbriggan to Connolly Station will fly by in a buzz of caffeinated delight.

Marc and Emer need to be allowed to establish a Java The Hut at every train station. It’s the least Irish rail can do for all of us who love to travel by rail.