Thinking up concepts is second nature to Houben, who for some time had been getting agitated about various things, including the exodus from shopping malls and “stores that apply zero innovation”. Not that there is anything wrong with online buying and selling, he hastens to add. “It's quite right that people should be buying online; as a regular store you simply can't compete with those prices. But as a physical store you can offer added value.”

The key word for Houben is shoptainment. Not in fashion - to mention an obvious sector - but in coffee. “That is more to my taste,” he says laughingly. The concept was quick in the making and, thanks to his wealth of organizational experience, quick to be implemented: since this past weekend Coffee Experiences has been up and running in the former lab owned by Diagnostiek voor U in Eindhoven's city center. “The building will likely be remodeled or demolished in eighteen months' time. It was affordable, and we can do whatever we like with the space.”

Two minutes

Together with Sabine Jongerius, master's student of math at TU/e, he is keen for people to see and experience for themselves how they can make more of their coffee moments at home. Typically, uninspired, routine and efficient coffee moments, as Houben knows. “You press a button and within two minutes you've got coffee. While so much more is possible. Personally, I'm happy to spend five minutes on a delicious cup of coffee.”

Cold and hot methods, ‘cold drip’ coffee “in the VOC way”, hip Martini or mojito versions, techniques for roasting coffee beans, the value of often carelessly discarded coffee grounds, and the right way to use a moka pot so the coffee loses its bitter edge (take note: set the pot on the heat with the bottom half filled with boiling water not cold water, so that the ground coffee doesn't burn) - by the by, the enthusiastic Houben gives your Cursor interviewer and photographer a glimpse of a world that leaves your standard roast trailing far behind.

Read on below the photos.

For the time being, these workshops will be given only at the building mentioned above on the P.C. Hooftlaan, “I like to have everything to hand. We are already getting questions about the possibility of workshops at other locations, but we are holding back on that for now. Our immediate focus is the quality of our workshops here. For example, we have had a couple of teachers pay us a visit and cast their critical eye over the instruction side of things.”

Delicious moments

He himself is still learning and discovering, tells Houben, who incidentally drinks not only coffee. “I've worked a lot in theater and that taught me that sometimes tea is better than coffee when you're in need of hydration; if I am giving a training course, for example. Coffee is chiefly for the ‘delicious’ moments.”

The pinnacle of delicious, for Houben, is an Ethiopian coffee “with a lovely fruit flavor”, he says as he reaches for the packet. “If you brew this with a Chemex (a glass 'slow coffee' maker, ed.) with a thick filter, you'll get a nice transparent, somewhat stronger coffee. That really is a moment for myself.”