Kiduk Reus - Bonanza Coffee

When a friend took me to Bonanza Coffee on Berlin's buzzing
Oderberger Strasse back in 2006, I felt disturbed and suspicious
about the whole thing. This had nothing to do with my beloved
old-fashioned Italian-style espresso places where I'd usually have
a cup of the dark, bitter drink. It took me years to understand
this new kind of coffee, to taste, to smell, and appreciate the
whole complex flavor and aroma profile; to accept that an old
tradition was taken in the hands of a bunch of young people to
experiment and to create something different with the good old
coffee bean that's been a part of our culinary heritage since at
least the 15th century. Young Kiduk Reus, one of the founders of
Bonanza, was one of those kids - curious, brave, and fearless, and
ready for a new chapter in his life. After studying design at the
Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and at the Rietveld Academy
of Arts in Amsterdam, after successfully working in the advertising
industry, he felt that Berlin was calling his name in 2004. He
packed his bags, the vague idea of starting a speciality coffee
shop at the back of his mind. That was the beginning of a time that
would later become known as the worldwide Third Wave Coffee
Movement. Born in Seoul, South Korea, adopted at the age of 4 by an
American mother and a Dutch father, Kiduk grew up in the
Netherlands in a town famous for cheese, in Gouda. Food played an
important role. He remembers being a picky child knowing exactly
what he wanted to eat and what he didn't. His palate was already
refined, a skill that would come in handy later in his life. In the
following years, Kiduk learned what would become a mantra in his
life: I need this, it needs to be better, I improve it. And then,
miraculously (or not), other people pick up on it. Understanding
that he has to be the motor to bring movement to his ideas, he
always had the soul of an entrepreneur. Not waiting for others to
come up with something great or to improve something existing, he
jumped in first to create what he needed to move on and fulfill his
mission. So when he started the first Bonanza coffee shop together
with his partner he knew he wanted to roast his own beans as soon
as possible to simply reach and keep the quality that he had in
mind. Coincidentally, Kiduk noticed that some old cast-iron
equipment - stored in an old airplane hangar by a friend of his and
that he had access to - was the best possible equipment for
roasting coffee beans. So he jumped on the occasion and
spontaneously started a business that would in the end finance
Bonanza for a long time. He bought the old parts and machines,
added new parts to make them work even better, and became the
Berlin man to supply roasting machines to all the big names in the
speciality coffee roasting business worldwide. Blue Bottle, Seven
Seeds, and about another 250 coffee roasters went to Kiduk Reus'
workshop and got their vintage equipment, customized by Kiduk
himself and his growing team of mechanics. Kiduk says he listens to
his mind more than to his feeling. His intuition is definitely
absolutely reliable. Many of his decisions seem random at first but
then turn into something great. For this podcast episode, Kiduk
teaches me how to make the perfect hand-brewed coffee. You can find
all the blog posts about the podcast episodes including my guests'
recipes on meikepeters.com under 'Meet in Your Kitchen'. INSTAGRAM:
https://www.instagram.com/meetinmykitchenpodcast GUEST:
https://www.instagram.com/bonanzacoffee RECIPE:
https://www.meikepeters.com/meet-in-your-kitchen-kiduk-reus-bonanza-the-perfect-coffee
MUSIC: Martin Stumpf FRÜHSCHOPPEN: Ferrari Trento SOUND MIX: Kraatz
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