3FE Grand Canal Street

The 3FE logo, simply the letters 3fE in cursive script, with the 3 a mirror image of the E3FE, short for Third Floor Espresso, is, disappointingly, on the ground floor of its building on Dublin’s Grand Canal Street. However, that’s pretty much the only disappointing thing about it. 3FE was the one place that everyone said I should visit in Dublin, its fame having spread even to Philadelphia, where barista Willa, who works in Menagerie Coffee/Elixr, recommended it!

3FE is both roaster and coffee shop, the roastery being down by the ferry terminal. 3FE roasts for its own use, as well as supplying other shops in Dublin and beyond. Like many small-batch roasters, 3FE regularly rotates what it’s roasting and serves whatever it has roasted/in stock at the moment. In an innovative move, 3FE only serves single-origin beans, offering a choice of three, which can be had as espresso or filter.

This makes for a refreshing coffee menu, since it only lists the beans, not the brew methods, thus shifting the focus back onto what’s important, the coffee itself. That’s not to say 3FE isn’t as obsessed as the next coffee geek about brew methods, with a new Mahlkönig EK-43 grinder and one of the first Victoria Arduino Black Eagle espresso machines, installed the day before my visit!

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

  • 3FE on Grand Canal Street, as seen when looking towards the city centre.
  • If you're heading towards town, there's this door right on the end of the building.
  • There's plenty of outside seating: these four tables to the right of the main door...
  • ... and these two to the left. Bit wet for sitting outside though...
  • Let's go inside: there are these two tables in the window to the left of the door...
  • ... and these four to the right. You can also see the other door at the far end.
  • The view from the other door.
  • Two of the three tables against the far wall.
  • Nice mural...
  • ... and one of two shelves holding all the barista championship trophies 3FE has won!
  • The two high tables in the middle of the room.
  • One of the many stools. No chairs though.
  • The counter as seen from the main door.
  • Lots of lovely-looking cake. I failed to sample any though :-(
  • There's this set of shelves to the left of the counter, full of beans and coffee kit.
  • 3FE's innovative coffee menu: describe the beans, not the brew method/size.
  • 3FE has a new Victoria Arduino Black Eagle, installed the day before my visit!
  • Another view of the Black Eagle, along with the Mahlkönig EK-43 grinder.
  • A behind-the-scenes view of the Black Eagle, with a Nuova Simonelli grinder to the right.
  • The EK-43 in close-up. It grinds the 2nd & 3rd espresso beans and everything for filter.
  • The standard filter offering is the Aeropress. Talking of which... I arrived in Dublin a day late for the Irish Aeropress championships and missed the Scottish ones while I was out there!
  • The other piece of kit: a fancy water-boiler/pourer, complete with built-in scales.
  • Here an Aeropress is being pre-warmed.
  • Next the EK-43 grinds the beans. It has a bespoke dial so the grind is spot on each time.
  • 3FE uses the inverted method...
  • ... although the Aeropress is turned the right way up to brew.
  • And the outcome: Copacabana (left) and Burka Block LL (right)
  • ... and here in the cup. The coffee is beautifully presented.
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Occupying a corner plot, 3FE is wedged-shaped, the long side running along Grand Canal Street. The main door is here, two-thirds of the way up, while there’s another at the bottom of the shop (wide end of the wedge). The counter runs parallel to the street at the top, but takes a 30° turn to the left opposite the door, running parallel to the back wall the rest of the way. This makes more space available for seating in the bottom end of the shop, but, for me at least, it’s a rather disconcerting layout.

3FE has a rather plain interior with low ceiling, grey floor and whitewashed walls. Three large windows on the long wall provide plenty of light (or would have if it hadn’t been miserable and raining outside). However, plenty of lights inside held off the gloom.

As you come in, you’re met by the counter, till ahead of you, cake to your left. Here, it’s relatively uncluttered: just a pair of tables in the window behind you to your left and, on the wall beside the counter, shelves with beans and coffee-making equipment for sale.

Beyond the kink in the counter are the grinders, espresso machine and filter station. Here, where 3FE widens out, it feels quite crowded. A pair of tall, six-person wooden tables with high stools are squeezed between counter and windows, while there’s a row of four two-person tables in the windows and three more against the end wall. The tables are quite close together, so if you lean back, you can usually rest against the person sitting at the next table…

All the furniture, tables, stools and benches, is of the same design: scaffolding frames with wooden tops. Note that there are no chairs. There is a generous supply of power outlets throughout.

So, to the coffee. All three beans are available as filter (Aeropress, although Chemex is available if you ask) or espresso, with options such as the trio (same bean as espresso, espresso with milk and filter) and the filter tasting (two different beans as filter), as well as the more normal espresso tasting set (espresso, espresso with milk).

My friend Sarah had the last of the Bolivian Copacabana (immediately replaced on the menu by a Columbia La Pradera) while I had the Tanzanian Burka Block LL, both through the Aeropress. The third was a Columbian El Meridiano, which could also be had decaf.

Our coffee came beautifully presented in two small carafes on a wooden tray with small, handless white cups.  Sarah’s was described as fruity, while mine had a “vanilla sweetness”. Of course, such nuanced flavours were lost on me (I could, at least, tell that they were different) but Sarah, who has a better palate, pronounced the Copacabana as the fruiter of the two, while mine was the brighter. However, they were both very fine cups of coffee.

I ended my visit with a long chat with the very friendly staff, Jack (who’d just started), Jamie, who gave me a quick tour, and baristas Susie and Frida. I had a sample of the La Pradera, a lovely, very rich, full-bodied coffee. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to fully sample the range of beans through espresso and Aeropress. That, I fear, will take several visits!


October 2019: 3FE now has three coffee shops. You can see what I made of 3FE’s second location on Sussex Terrace when I visited on my third trip to Dublin.

32 GRAND CANAL STREET LOWER • DUBLIN 2 • IRELAND
https://3fe.com +353 1 661 9329
Monday 08:30 – 17:30 Roaster 3FE (espresso + filter)
Tuesday 08:30 – 17:30 Seating Benches, Stools, Tables, Tables outside
Wednesday 08:30 – 17:30 Food Sandwiches, Soup, Cake
Thursday 08:30 – 17:30 Service Order at Counter
Friday 08:30 – 17:30 Payment Cards + Cash
Saturday 09:00 – 18:00 WiFi Free (with code)
Sunday 09:00 – 18:00 Power Yes
Chain No Visits 10th May 2014

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21 thoughts on “3FE Grand Canal Street

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