A Cup of Long Black at The Stepping Stone - The Best Hangout Spot In The Middle of Medan City

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Hello everyone
how are you today ? I hope and pray that all of us are always given health and happiness in living this life. This time, I'm back again participating in Cinnamon Cup Coffee Community to share my story about my journey to visit interesting coffee shops in my city. I have created The Coffee Explorer and to date, there have been four interesting coffee shops that I discuss in this community.

This time, I want to share a story about my experience and impression, when I visited The Stepping Stone, a coffee shop that has a unique concept and interesting coffee taste for us to discuss.

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The Stepping Stone

This coffee shop is located at Tobacco Deli Street no. 1 Medan Barat District – Medan City. The Stepping Stone is located in the center of Medan City and very close to various vital objects in my city such as five-star hotels, super malls, government offices as well, post offices, and various bank offices and other corporate offices. In fact, The Stepping Stone uses the lower part of The Reiz Suites Artotel, one of the five-star hotels in my city, making its location even more strategic.

I don't know if The Stepping Stone is in the same management as The Reiz Suites Artotel but I think The Stepping Stone is very special for us to discuss. The Stepping Stone combines the concept of a restaurant, café, coffee shop, wine and bar in one place. The Stepping Stone is open 24 hours, what a "bold" timing. I came to this place around 11am, I had a plan to meet my friend at this place during lunch. I came first, for an authentic coffee experience at The Stepping Stone.

The Stepping Stone is made with a very charming, beautiful and unique interior design. The Stepping Stone made the interior with the concept of “bali beach club” which makes us feel at home to sit and hangout spending time with friends or alone here.

The indoor area is a favorite spot for visitors to The Stepping Stone, there are lots of selfie spots with aesthetic and beautiful backgrounds that we can take with our cellphone cameras. The indoor decoration of this place uses a lot of rattan elements. We can see it from the table, chairs, and lamp displays that look very authentic, and classy. The distance between tables and chairs is also in a normal position not too close so we will feel comfortable here. Before I ordered any food or drink, I already felt happy from the ambience of The Stepping Stone.

The Stepping Stone also has an outdoor area that is not too wide but is made with concepts and furniture that is very comfortable for visitors. The atmosphere is also cozy, comfortable and smokers can carry out their activities in this outdoor space. From the info I got, The Stepping Stone during the day and night has a different concept. During the day The Stepping Stone uses the concept of a coffee shop and restaurant that offers a calm and comfortable vibe. At night, The Stepping Stoner changes and becomes like a night club.

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A Cup of Coffee from The Stepping Stone

I saw the drink menu list from this coffee shop. I see the price offered is also still not too expensive for a hangout experience in the middle of Medan City. The service offered me to order a coffee menu, because there was a 30% discount for each cup of long black for this dine order. I just ordered that and paid for it directly with my e-money.

My order came to my table very quickly. It only took five minutes after I made the payment. Yup, making long black shouldn't take long, let alone using a modern espresso machine will certainly produce a consistent coffee taste.

I love the cup used to serve this coffee. One large 250 ml ceramic cup which is red in color is perfect for this coffee. This coffee has a very strong aroma, from the aroma it seems to use Arabica coffee beans which are known to have a stronger aroma compared to other types of coffee such as robusta or liberica.

Long black and Americano are indeed one type of black coffee that is almost similar. Both types of coffee have the same composition, warm water and espresso with a ratio of 3:1 for one cup of coffee. The difference between this coffee dish lies in the timing of the espresso and hot water. For long black, we have to prepare the hot water first and then the espresso, so that the crema of this espresso can still be seen from a cup of coffee, like in my coffee cup.

Meanwhile, to brew Americano, espresso is prepared first in a cup and then brewed with hot water so that there is no crema residue and the color of the coffee is clearer and shiny. Long black is believed to have originated from the coffee habits of Australia and New Zealand and the Americano of course followed the American way. However, the point is that these two coffee dishes, both Americano and Long Black, are adaptations to being able to enjoy a cup of espresso that feels too thick and strong.

I enjoyed my moments at The Stapping Stone. At noon today, a warm cup of long black in this place I feel more chill, only lack of jazz music I will definitely make the ambience even more different. Hopefully my post can provide information and inspiration for all of my friends. See you on my trip to visit another coffee shop next time. Happy weekend, and don't forget your coffee today.

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