Coffee production, a flugelhorn and the pink rabbit

Contrary to popular belief, we don’t have brunch at Tre Små Rum every weekend. Sadly, we have to miss a few because of sickness and other commitments. Which is why I grabbed the day with both hands this morning, and suggested we go for brunch today.

On a Sunday morning, the place is usually packed but, today being Saturday, it was not. There was a small group outside taking advantage of the unlikely warmth but no-one inside. We easily claimed our usual table and Mirinda ordered at the counter, watched by a mysterious pink rabbit.

We found it very difficult to not have the scrambled eggs so we decided not to resist. Obviously, we also had coffee which caused a bit of a conversation with the owner, regarding the current issue in Brazil. As it does.

Frost is a coffee killer. The new shoots on the coffee bushes do not like the frost one little bit. Normally, there is a bit of loss but last year, the frost was horrendous. This awful weather meant a massively bad harvest. Some small farms went completely out of business.

And it’s not like they can easily start again. It takes three to four years for a coffee bush to produce anything useful.

While the frost was bad, particularly hot on the heels of the bad one in 2022, there is a drought, something that is also affecting Vietnam, another big coffee producing country. I love coffee but, given climate change, it may become a past luxury I can only talk about.

And, it has nothing to do with tariffs, so it’s not like some dumpty can just remove one and all will be well. No, this could be a permanent thing.

Leaving that miserable prospect aside, this afternoon we attended a concert at the Skärborgarnas Hus. It was a French jazz group called the Matthieu Chazarenc Quartet and was superb. It was like we were suddenly back at the Duc de Lombard in Paris. And it was fantastic.

There was a reasonably sized crowd to listen and watch the amazing skills of Matthieu on drums, Christophe Wallemme on big double bass, Sylvain Gontard on flugelhorn and Laurent Derache on accordion.

It’s their first trip to Sweden and, according to Matthieu, they are having a ball.

The next time we’re in Paris, if they’re performing, we’ll be there.