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September 2nd – Cultural Café #2: Should I report this?

After a Summer break and loads of iced coffees in the sun, Lost in a Cup is back in town and so are the Cultural Cafés!

Following the success of our first digital event in July, we decided to keep it going and hold more events in the coming months with different themes and topics to focus on to get the debates going and bring people together in our borderless cultural cafe.

The theme this time is going to allow us to debate a situation of doubt we have all experienced at some point or other in our lives. When we see someone breaking the law should we: report it, try to sort it out ourselves or just walk past and totally ignore it?

Whether it directly affects you or it doesn’t, should you report what you’ve witnessed? To what extent should we tolerate wrong doings? Or take our own direct action? When instead should we delegate it to the authorities?

We look forward to gather together once again, with people from different countries and backgrounds, to discuss the topic and challenge our thoughts with inspiration from academic research. Prepare your coffee-cup and get ready for the second Cultural Café!

Still not sure what our Cultural Café events are all about?! Click here and find out!

Cultural Café #2: Should I report this?

WHEN? 2nd September 2020

WHERE? Online! Via the Zoom platform (meeting link available 48 hours before)

TIME? 19:00 – 20:30 Stockholm & Central European Time

LANGUAGE? English

HOW? Sign up via the form. Click here (it will open in a new tab).

HASHTAGS: #ShouldIReport #EspressøYourself

Don’t forget to tell friends who could be interested, as we are holding the event digitally we don’t have to worry about running out of chairs ! > Click here to invite your friends to the Facebook event

Find out about all the upcoming Cultural Cafe events in the following months.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

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Cultural Café #1: Are historical ‘sins’ ever to be forgiven?

History teaches us of the many great things mankind has achieved but can also show us the big mistakes made over and over again in time.

Depending on how you were taught it in school you most likely either love it or hate it and that has a lot to do with how it was presented and what way you engage with the past. This video by ‘The School of Life‘ gives a good intro to ‘History’ as a subject and the problems in the way it is taught.

Through time many things change including consensus over certain topics and behaviours which brought us to discussing if moral behaviours committed by people in the past should be judged by today’s standards. We listened to some extracts of BBC Radio 4’s programme ‘The Philosopher’s Arms’, originally aired in 2013 and available online via BBC Sound.

During the discussions, the participants shared a lot of interesting suggestions on things to read about connected to the topic. We listed some of them here:

Books:

  • “Enlightenment Now” by Steven Pinker
  • “Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral.” by Bertolt Brecht
  • ”Årstafruns dagbok” a dairy by Mrs Märta  Helena Renstierna 
  • “The World of Yesterday” by Stefan Zweig

Originally the event was scheduled to last approximately an hour but ended up lasting almost two hours. We sent out a survey to all the participants to get their feedback and see what can be done to improve the format before our next event which we expect will take place towards the end of July / beginning of August. More info coming soon!

Our first digital cultural café was presented by Alexander Maxia and Tove Ljung from Base10 startup hub in Uppsala. It took place on Thursday, July 2nd and people joined from four different countries. More events will follow, keep following us on social media and sign up to our mailing list here!

Big thanks to Jason Dainter, CEO of Base10 for kindly lending us the space to broadcast; Joakim Fichtel from Almi Uppsala for the support and advice leading up to the event and James Maxia for additional research into the topic presented.

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60 Years of Cultural Institute – PopUp Café

Text: Alexander Maxia – Photos: Marcus Sätherström

Last November ‘Italienskkulturinstitutet‘ or the ‘Italian Cultural institute in Stockholm’ celebrated their 60th birthday. On this occasion ‘Lost in a Cup‘ was there with our Pop-up Café to contribute by bringing quality Italian coffee to the party.

PopUp Café at the Italian Cultural Institute in Stockholm

The participants to the event included many Italian expats who have made Sweden their home but also many locals that for one reason or another fell in love with Italian culture and took any opportunity to practice their Italian.

Over a hundred guests attended the celebrations

We designed the stand so that the coffee machines were facing the public and not the baristas. Our idea was to teach people to make Italian espresso themselves – for each other! After all, our hashtag is #EspressøYourself so what better way to promote the company ethos than by encouraging people to get a hands-on experience in espresso making and interact with others around them?

Luckily Ismaele Rombi, La Tazza d’Oro’s coffee expert, was on hand to supervise the many amateur baristas who were keen on learning how to make good coffee like in an ‘Italian Bar’. Italian espresso nowadays can be enjoyed across the world as long as the ingredients are of good quality and you have the right tools to make it. For the occasion we collaborated with the Italian household brand ‘DeLonghi’ who lent us their grinder and espresso machines that together with our own ‘Adesso Espresso’ capsule machine delivered fantastic espressos to the many enthusiasts.

Ismaele Rombi (left) sharing his knowledge on good espresso making

A few hours and 200 coffees later, the party ended. It was a great evening and the team at the Institute really did a phenomenal job in organising such a popular event. Driving back to Uppsala we reflected on the many interesting conversations we engaged in, the many stories of people who love ‘il Bel Paese’, the feedback and encouragement many gave us. We felt a sense of satisfaction. On a cold and dark winter evening we brought the taste and atmosphere of a ‘bar della piazza‘ to a location so very far from Italy, yet so strongly connected to it.

The team: Edwin Oldfield, Ismaele Rombi and Alexander Maxia

Thanks to the team at the Italian Cultural Institute, Ismaele Rombi and DeLonghi Nordics for making this PopUp Café such a success. See you next time?

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Event: ‘Espresso Yourself’ – Uppsala

Ever wondered what’s the secret behind a great tasting Italian coffee? Love the barista made cappuccino but at home the froth never comes out right?

This is your chance to find out what makes a good Italian coffee and gain tips from a professional on how to become your own barista.

Join Lost in a Cup and La Tazza d’oro for an evening where all will be revealed about espresso coffees, latte art, Italian coffee tradition and much more.

You will get the chance to see Italian coffee expert and barista trainer Ismaele Rombi working his magic. He came especially from Italy to showcase great coffee so make the most of his tips! Feel free to ask him for advice and find out what it takes to make great tasting coffee, even at home or in the office.

 

There will also be the opportunity of tasting La Tazza d’oro coffee which is roasted in Cagliari, following 80 years of Italian espresso tradition. Discover one of the most renowned coffee brands in Sardinia that is now available on the Swedish market.

The event will be hosted in the beautiful Hamnpaviljongen Restaurant in the centre of Uppsala, just by the river.

Entry is Free of charge but you need to fill in the form and let us know how many will attend. If you no longer can make it, please let us know asap! The number of spots at the event is limited.

Click here to be re-directed to the RSVP form

More Info:

Facebook event

Hamnpaviljongen Restaurant website