Award-winning cafe opens new store in Vinohrady, Prague
Nestled in the heart of Vinohrady, Prague, the newly opened May Cafe is making a name for itself as a cozy retreat for coffee enthusiasts and casual sippers alike. Opened by the award-winning Mazelab Roastery in Dejvice, the cafe attracts customers for world-class coffee but also a welcoming atmosphere where customers can escape the hustle of the city center. I interviewed the owner of May Cafe, Jackie, to uncover the inspiration behind this new shop.
Let’s start with your background and a little bit about why you opened up this coffee shop specifically.
“I started seven years ago, a couple of minutes from here, with my first coffee shop. It’s called Cafefin. It’s a Vietnamese specialty coffee shop with brunch.
“After I opened my first shop, I realized that Vietnamese coffee is not only about the style. I could also serve more specialty coffee, not only Robusta. You know about Vietnamese coffee right? With condensed milk?”
A little bit, yes.
“For me it’s more like desert, rather than a cup of coffee. So, I fell in love with specialty coffee. I wanted to have a space where I can serve really special coffees, like Geisha.”
Explain for listeners, what is Geisha coffee?
“Geisha are a variety. You have Arabica, Robusta. And from Arabica, you have a lot of different sub-varieties, including Geisha.”
So, Arabica and Robusta are the two main coffee beans. And Arabica is the more popular coffee bean, where you serve Geisha beans. Is that right?
“That is the most expensive variety from Arabica. Basically I wanted a place where I can play around with coffee, like in a playground. So, I found a place in Prague 6. I opened my second shop, which is called Mazelab.
“Mazelab stands for Maze and labyrinth. Many people think it stands for laboratory, but it’s not. That’s because when we first opened it, there were a lot of doors which were closed.”
And you’re also roasting at Mazelab?
“In the beginning, we started as a multi-roasting coffee shop, so we imported a lot of beans from already famous and well-known roasteries around the world, like Momos, La Cabra, Imperial, and more.
“And then we opened another shop in the same year, four months after, an espresso bar, a very small one.
“That’s because we felt that Mazelab is too strict with all the rules we have there. We didn’t serve any americos, we didn’t have any sugars.”
What was the reasoning there, with no americanos?
“Because as a barista when you prepare espresso, it will take you a while to get that right recipe, to get the best out of it. And it looks like such a shame to just pour more water, when you already have that correct recipe.”
Is the espresso aligned for milk-based drinks as well?
“Latte is a totally different story. So, you have the right recipe for the espresso. For milk beverages, espresso is the base. So, you put different amounts of milk so you get the specific beverage. So, for example, if you get one shot of espresso and you put in more milk you get a latte. If you put in less milk, you get a cappuccino. Even less, it’s a macchiato.
“But if you have a double shot, and you put the same amount as a cappuccino, you get a flat white. It depends on how much milk you want.
“But we recently also changed how we serve milk beverages at Mazelab.
“But, anyway, after Mazelab we wanted a really small espresso bar, in Letná district, something that is more connected with people. There was a very cute empty space and we thought that we could do that. It is a really small space. And we opened the next one.
“It was during Covid, so it was very difficult. We actually opened Mazelab one month prior to Covid.”
So, somewhere around February 2020?
“Yeah, around February. After a couple years we realized that maybe we should roast ourselves. When you have three or four shops with prepared roasted beans, it gets really expensive.”
So, until then you weren’t roasting?
“No, it took us six years to finish the roastery. We opened our own roastery just one year ago.”
Because I imagine roasting is such a delicate thing. So, did you have to bring in roasters? Or is that something you were learning at a certain point?
“At the beginning I wanted to know how to roast. I wanted to know what the little steps are. So, I went to visit my, let’s say, teacher, who introduced me to the specialty coffee world. He opened his own roastery very close to Prague.
“So, I went to his place and he showed me how to roast. I started there about one year before I opened my own roastery. I tried so many roasts. I ruined so many roasts. But that’s how we learn. We fail and that’s how we learn for the next step.”
So, how many years are roasting in total then?
“About two years.”
You were talking about your motivation to open Format. What about the motivation to open May Cafe?
“We are actually working on another project, ‘Central.’ We found that space in Liben. It’s a little bigger than May Cafe. And during that process I thought that we had another spot for Format. Because the idea was to open something like Format close to this area would be nice. We found this space and I told my partner that maybe we should open something similar to Format here. I know that we are working on Central already, but it’s not that big.
“She at first didn’t want to do that. And I totally understood because Central was the main project. And it’s a lot of stress, money of course. And we have the roastery, which is the most important thing right now. And to get another space and finish it. Totally crazy, right?
“But I convinced her.
“Every time when we open something, we need a new concept. So, I had to come up with another idea to convince my partner, Thu. We wanted to have something else, so how about bringing the homey feel. When you come here, you feel like you are coming into your friends’ house or apartment.”
That’s true, you walk in and it feels like a kitchen. It’s playful, you have colors like yellow and purple. So, that was a motivation, you wanted something to persuade your partner, according to her liking? She influenced it?
“The thing is when we started with Central, I told her that it was going to be something like Format and Mazelab at once. So, how about this space Cafefin and Format together? Because Cafefin is her most favorite coffee shop out of all our shops.”
Do you have a timeframe for when that new store would open?
“Sometime in the beginning of next year. There are so many plans that we have to finish, but we will do our best to finish it before the summer of next year.”
