Coffee and bikes. Two wonderful things that go
together very well. Is it a fashion fad or is it a tradition? If it was only a
trendy thing it would have been gone by now, I suppose. But when you stroll in
the city of Gent, (or any other town in Europe) you can’t ignore the amount of
new coffee bars and thousends of bicycles in the streets. And still more bike
shops and coffee cafés or combination of the two open their doors. No wonder so
many coffee related brands use cycling as billboard. Few months ago I listed on
this blog some of the biggest sponsors in that line of business. Coffee bars
open their doors with annex a place where you can clean or even repair your
bike. Some sell cycling equipment or clothing! The bar I talk about below uses
one of the famous coffee machines that sponsored two of our Belgian number one cycling
icons!
KOFFEINE
Two weeks ago I enjoyed a brew in the “Wander” coffee bar, after the Ghent 6
days track cycling race, and saw
opposite the road another place. But it was closed. I went back this week and
found the door open! Koffeine is the name of the small bar. The first
impression was an untidy set-up. After
all this is only because the place is very small and you have to put your
things somewhere. Yes you can see some empty beer crates in a corner. The
solution for the small room is that they build a handy mezzanine. But no matter
how the place looks like, we always try the hot drinks. A friendly guy (Zoran,
with Macedonian background (Skopje)) took our orders and the brews were
perfect, rich taste and right temperature. A perfect cappuccino and a strong
espresso macchiato. For the hungry (breakfast, lunch) there is not a big
variation, this could be better. The conclusion, a good place to escape from
the tourists with great brews, but maybe a varied food menu would be an extra.
I will certainly visit again soon however it is hard to find the opening hours
on social media.
9000 Gent
http://hipsteadresjes.gent/nieuw/koffeine/
FAEMA, stands for Fabbrica Apparecchiature Elettromeccaniche e Affini, founded by Carlo Ernesto Valente, Milano. It doesn't surprise anybody this is 100% Italian.
Since 1945 one of the best coffee machines on the market.
But also since 1955 Faema has a long history of sponsoring professional cycling teams, acted as main or co-sponsor.
When I was talking above about two Belgian cycling icons I meant not only Eddy Merckx, but also Rik Van Looy. Both riders rode many years in the red/white colors, Rik, 7 years and Eddy, 3 years.
Faema was main sponsor in:
1955 FAEMA - GUERRA (with Koblet, Poblet and ...)
1956 FAEMA - GUERRA - VAN HAUWAERT (with Van Looy, Bahamontes, Gaul, Schotte and...)
1957 FAEMA - GUERRA - GRANOLLERS (with Van Looy, Gaul, Koblet and....)
1958 FAEMA - GUERRA - CLEMENT (with Van Looy, Bahamontes, Gaul and....)
1959 FAEMA - GUERRA (with Van Looy, Impanis, Sorgeloos and....)
1960 FAEMA (with Van Looy, Bahamontes, Impanis, Sorgeloos and....)
1961 FAEMA (with Van Looy, Gomez Del Moral, Impanis, Post and.....)
1962 FAEMA (with Gomez Del Moral, Jimenez and.....)
1963 FAEMA - FLANDRIA (with Foré, Gomez Del Moral, Jimenez, Planckaert, Stevens and....)
1964 FAEMA (only two Spanish riders had Faema as private sponsor)
1968 FAEMA (with Merckx, Adorni, Reybrouck, Sercu, Swerts and .....)
1969 FAEMA (with Merckx, Reybrouck, Sercu, Stevens, Swerts and....)
1970 FAEMINO - FAEMA (with Merckx, Huysmans, Stevens, Swerts, Zilioli and....)
they also were co sponsor in following teams
1961 EMI - FAEMA (only in Giro d'Italia)
1962 FLANDRIA - FAEMA - CLEMENT (with Van Looy, Foré, Planckaert, Post, Stevens and ...)
1978 BIANCHI - FAEMA (with Gimondi, De Muynck, Van Linden and....)
Faema was main sponsor in:
1955 FAEMA - GUERRA (with Koblet, Poblet and ...)
1956 FAEMA - GUERRA - VAN HAUWAERT (with Van Looy, Bahamontes, Gaul, Schotte and...)
1957 FAEMA - GUERRA - GRANOLLERS (with Van Looy, Gaul, Koblet and....)
1958 FAEMA - GUERRA - CLEMENT (with Van Looy, Bahamontes, Gaul and....)
1959 FAEMA - GUERRA (with Van Looy, Impanis, Sorgeloos and....)
1960 FAEMA (with Van Looy, Bahamontes, Impanis, Sorgeloos and....)
1961 FAEMA (with Van Looy, Gomez Del Moral, Impanis, Post and.....)
1962 FAEMA (with Gomez Del Moral, Jimenez and.....)
1963 FAEMA - FLANDRIA (with Foré, Gomez Del Moral, Jimenez, Planckaert, Stevens and....)
1964 FAEMA (only two Spanish riders had Faema as private sponsor)
1968 FAEMA (with Merckx, Adorni, Reybrouck, Sercu, Swerts and .....)
1969 FAEMA (with Merckx, Reybrouck, Sercu, Stevens, Swerts and....)
1970 FAEMINO - FAEMA (with Merckx, Huysmans, Stevens, Swerts, Zilioli and....)
they also were co sponsor in following teams
1961 EMI - FAEMA (only in Giro d'Italia)
1962 FLANDRIA - FAEMA - CLEMENT (with Van Looy, Foré, Planckaert, Post, Stevens and ...)
1978 BIANCHI - FAEMA (with Gimondi, De Muynck, Van Linden and....)
1979 BIANCHI - FAEMA (with Gimondi, De Muynck, Van Linden and....)