During my last trip to Dublin, I kept hearing about this newly opened specialty coffee place that wasn’t like any other around, so, of course, I needed to check it out. Luckily, I managed to sit down with owner, Juljano Kapllani while he told me Unfiltered’s origin story.
It all started in Albania when a young thirteen year old Juljano discovered he was really good at making Turkish coffee for his family.
Later, after moving to Ireland, he met and worked alongside Wojciech (Tysler, Irish Barista Champion ’19) and got really drawn to the latte art scene despite his not-so-typical background in Pharmaceutical Studies, with a MA in Drug Development under his belt.
But working in the science field he decided to pursue a carreer that offered him more human interaction and a less isolating environment, so he went and got a job at Legit Coffee Co.
After working there for nearly four years, Juljano decided to take a leap of faith and open his own little corner of happiness. This is how on the 1st of June, 2019, his specialty coffee shop opened its doors for the very first time.
“Why Unfiltered ?”, I asked to check another question off my list; “because of my big fat mouth. Can’t control it!”, he answered jokingly, “and it ties itself to the coffee as well, because all espressos are unfiltered. Two birds, one stone kind-of-thing”.
But let’s talk shop! For this café and its very picky owner, consistency is key. That’s why you’ll find a pretty great coffee selection from Full Circle Coffee Roasters, 8th Corner Coffee and Imbibe Coffee Roasters. If this is too much, you can also ask for an El Cipres decaf from Costa Rica. I ended up trying a lovely V60 Kayon Mountain Ethiopian that had a cup score of 90points from 8th Corner Coffee, followed by a Nicaraguan oatmilk flattie from Full Circle, but you can also wash some of that coffee down with one of their specialty teas.
Unfortunately, this location isn’t very central, but as Juljano told me that gives them the perfect excuse to continue to work on their craft and experiment with coffee.
Their last experiment involved a honey-coated V60 pour over that didn’t send them over the moon, but made them want to continue running tests. Like mad scientist usually do.
Although their main focus is on the magic elixir itself, they do serve a few delicious vegan treats and a couple of sandwich options if you want to stop by for lunch.
I was told they strive towards being coffee oriented only, but also want to offer only the best to their customers so they keep coming back for more.
Their setup of choice? A Mythos and an EK43T grinder for their two daily espresso offers that pairs nicely with the classic LaMarzocco Linea. For the Brew Bar their favourite method of brewing is the Kalita wave, but you can always try the V60 or the batch brew.
I enjoyed visiting this café that kind of looks like a diy photo studio with one black wall and another plain, white one, and after a consultation with my barista, ended up drinking all the coffee and trying most of their food as well.
Don’t judge me.
I dare you to go and see if you have better self control than me.
Article by Ronița Dragomir
