Growing your own coffee part 3

Posted on June 30, 2014 by Sara Walker

In the first and second parts of our series on growing coffee, we discussed getting started and how to plant both coffee cherries and green beans, and how to raise them to seedlings.

Once you’ve got your plants in pots and starting to flourish, you can sit back and watch them being to grow, although you could have a long wait!. Feed them with orchid food during the growing season and water them carefully, making sure they’re neither too dry nor too wet.

Coffee plants mature slowly, and a commercial plant takes three to four years before it’s fruiting properly. Unfortunately, with a plant grown in the UK, while it may possibly flower it’s unlikely ever to fruit properly as the plant prefers high altitude and other growing conditions that aren’t easily available here. Coffee plants can be grown successfully in the UK though, with the Royal Botanical Gardens having several healthy examples.

To try and encourage your plant to flower, wait until the beginning of winter and reduce watering significantly over the cold period for two or three months. Once the warmer weather starts in spring, start watering the plant well and continue to do so throughout the summer. If you choose an Arabica variety of coffee, the plant is self-fertilising so there’s no need to think about pollination,

Don’t forget that while it’s not possible to grow coffee commercially in the UK, you can certainly order it easily in the UK, and get the best quality beans from global suppliers. Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of blends and beans from green beans to espresso, all at great wholesale prices. In addition, we stock coffee ingredients such as flavoured syrups and accessories like cups, lids and stirrers. To find out more, visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Growing your own coffee part 2

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Sara Walker

In the first part of our series on growing your own coffee, we discussed starting with a fresh coffee berry. As this isn’t commonly available to UK gardeners, it’s probably more practical to start with green coffee beans, but this must be as fresh as possible for the best chance of success. It’s not possible to grow coffee commercially in the UK, but coffee plants make a great talking point and are an attractive plant to grow as a novelty.

Plant the green beans as outlined in part one, soaking them first beforehand for 24 hours, and wait for them to germinate, which could take anything up to six months. Take care to keep the soil just damp with light but regular watering.

Once the seedlings are large enough to handle, repot them into individual pots. Fill each pot with around a third sand then topped with potting compost with a high nitrogen content. If you like, you can feed the seedlings with orchid food which has a low pH value.

Coffee plants will not grow outside in the British climate as it’s too volatile, so keep the pots in a greenhouse or conservatory. Once the plants start to grow, water them sparingly twice a week, once with a little orchid food added and once with plain water. Keep pots away from draughts, and never leave them exposed to frost or very cold temperatures.

Don’t forget that while it’s not possible to grow coffee commercially in the UK, you can order it in the UK. Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of blends and beans from green beans to espresso, all at great wholesale prices. In addition, we stock coffee ingredients such as flavoured syrups and accessories like cups, lids and stirrers. To find out more, visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Growing your own coffee part 1

Posted on June 28, 2014 by Sara Walker

Coffee needs a very specific climate to grow, and for the most part the UK is too cold and damp, so growing your own coffee beans for consumption isn’t really practical. It may be possible to grow your own coffee tree in a greenhouse or conservatory as a novelty, though.

For the best results, you should start by planting a freshly picked coffee cherry, which for most UK gardeners isn’t a very practical option.

If you do manage to get your hands on a coffee cherry, make sure it looks bright and healthy with no diseased areas. Wash it, and put it, still damp, into a small container. Leave it for a few days or even weeks, until the fibrous outer coating starts to deteriorate and open. Rub the cherry in your hands until the husk comes away, then remove and wash the coffee beans, which will be pale green in colour. Put them in a bowl of clean water, and discard any beans that float.

Soak the beans in water for 24 hours, then plant them in a container of potting compost, watered until it’s just damp. Make a small hole, put the bean in flat side down and cover it with a light layer of soil. The germination period is normally around three months, but could be as long as six months. Water the seeds daily, but be careful not to over-water as coffee dislikes a wet environment.

The history of coffee: Coffee spreads throughout the world

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Sara Walker

As coffee became increasingly popular, the fact that it was only cultivated in Arabia began to prove a bottleneck. Arabia was keen to continue controlling the global supply, and guarded the plants jealously, but in the late 17th century the Dutch finally succeeded in getting their hands on some seedlings which they tried to plant in India. This initial attempt failed, but they managed to cultivate the plants in Batavia, on the island of Java in what is now Indonesia. The coffee plants thrived, and soon production spread to nearby islands.

In the early 18th century, the Mayor of Amsterdam gave a young coffee plant as a gift to the French king, Louis XIV, who ordered it planted in the Royal Botanical Garden in Paris. A few years later, Gabriel de Clieu, a young French naval officer, managed to take a seedling from this plant and smuggle it to Martinique where it was duly planted and thrived. That single plant is credited with being the parent of the 18 million coffee bushes that were to cover the island over the next few decades, and which also became the foundation of many of the Caribbean and South and Central American bushes.

In a little over a century, coffee was firmly established as a valuable commercial crop. Travellers and traders began to carry the seeds around the world, and new bushes were planted across the globe in different environments. By the end of the 18th century, coffee was well on its way to becoming the global crop it is today.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re keeping up with the proud history of coffee by supplying top quality coffee and coffee accessories at great wholesale prices. For more information, please visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Decorate a mug for Father’s Day

Posted on June 14, 2014 by Sara Walker

If your father’s a coffee addict, one present that would really be appreciated this Father’s Day is a personalised coffee mug. Whether you choose a humorous design, something nostalgic or just his name to stop anyone else using his mug at work, it’s a unique present that useful too.

To decorate your own mug, you’ll need:

A white or plain-coloured thick pottery mug
An oil-based paint pen, or ceramic paints and brushes (available from hobbycraft, Amazon, Staples and other leading retailers)
Paper and pen
Tracing paper, sticky tape, pencil and family photos (optional)
Whiteboard marker (optional)

Start by working out your design. If you’re not entirely confident in your creative ability, it’s best to choose something very simple, such as a name, the word ‘DAD’ or a simple handwritten slogan.
Simple designs or patterns can be drawn directly onto the mug. Practice first with a whiteboard marker, then draw the design over the top with the special pen or paints. Some brands of paint require that the mug is ‘fired’ in the oven to set the design, and this normally involves putting it in a cold oven, then turning the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and waiting for 30 minutes. Check your paint instructions to see if you need to do this, and how. Any residue from the whiteboard marker can be wiped off after firing.
For more complicated designs, practice them on paper first. Line drawings taken from photos work well. Select a photo, and put some tracing paper over the top. Draw round the outline of the figure in the photo using a soft pencil, then tape the tracing paper to the side of the mug with the right (pencil) side innermost. Scribble over the design with a pencil, then remove the tracing paper. A faint image should remain, and you can go over this with the special paint or pens to make it permanent.

Why not finish off your gift with a presentation pack of coffee beans? At the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of coffee beans including sample selections, all at great wholesale prices. To find out more, visit our coffee beans page.

Coffee and tea quiz

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Sara Walker

Think you know your Arabica from your Robusta? Your Assam from your Darjeeling? Take our coffee and tea quiz to see how much you really know about the world’s favourite hot drinks. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the answers.

What is a barista?
In which city was the first “Starbucks” opened in 1971?
What innovation was introduced in the UK by Tetleys in 1953?
What does the PG in “PG tips” stand for?
Where does the term cappuccino come from?
How did the popular global chain of coffee shops Starbucks get its name?
Which country is the world’s largest producer of tea?
Which British Prime Minister has a variety of tea named after him?
In which year did The Boston Tea Party take place ?
By what name is the small cup used to serve espresso known?
Which part of the tea plant is used for tea making?
Which aromatic oil flavours Earl Grey tea?
Which French philosopher allegedly drank more than 50 cups of coffee a day?
According to legend, in which African country did coffee originate?

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we love all things coffee and stock a wide range of coffee beans, hot chocolate, powdered milk, sugar sachets and accessories such as cups, lids and stirrers, all at great wholesale prices. For more information, please visit our website www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Answers:

The word is Italian for bar tender, and means someone trained to operate a commercial espresso machine
Seattle
The teabag
Pre Gest – it was originally marketed as an aid to digestion
Cappuccino coffee is named for its foamy topping, thought to ressemble the habit of the monks of the Capuchin order
It was named after the first mate of Captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick
China
The second Earl Grey, Prime Minister from 1830 to 1834
1773
a demitasse (half cup)
Leaves
Bergamot oil
Voltaire
Ethiopia

Breaking news: black coffee could help keep your teeth clean

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Sara Walker

If you’re a true coffee aficionado and take your coffee as seriously as we do, chances are you like your favourite drink black, strong and sugarless, and in addition to tasting great new research has shown that drinking your coffee like this could actually be helping to clean your teeth.

Research by Rio de Janeiro’s Federal University and reported by the Telegraph newspaper on the 11th June 2014 has found that coffee with high caffeine content, such as espresso blends or blends high in robusta coffee beans, can destroy bacteria which cause dental plaque. According to the study, the process only works if you drink your coffee black and unsweetened as milk and sugar will be counterproductive and destroy the helpful effects.

Andrea Antonio, lead researcher at the university, said: “Dental plaque is a classic complex biofilm and it’s the main culprit in tooth decay and gum disease. We are always looking for natural compounds – food and drink, even – that can have a positive impact on dental health.”

The robusta coffee beans contain polyphenols, a chemical which destroys bacteria on teeth using the process of lysis, which disintegrates the structure of the bacteria cells.

Scientists now hope to isolate and extract the polyphenols and add them to new oral hygiene products such as toothpaste and mouthwash to make them more efficient. This would mean that children and non-coffee drinkers would be able to benefit as well.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re delighted that our favourite drink is being proved useful as well as delicious. We sell a wide range of coffee beans, instant coffee, powdered milk, hot chocolate and other accessories such as cups and stirrers, all at great wholesale prices, for your business, office or cafe. To find out more, please visit our website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Ultimate chocolate cake recipe

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Sara Walker

Drinking chocolate powder isn’t just for making hot chocolate with – it’s also a great baking ingredient. Don’t just use it to replace cocoa powder in recipes, though, as it’s sweeter and bulkier so you’ll also need to the flour and sugar proportions. Here’s our recipe for a delicious, moist chocolate cake made using drinking chocolate.

You’ll need:

For the cake –

200g butter or margarine, softened
180g caster sugar
150g self raising flour
75g hot chocolate (drinking chocolate) powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large freerange eggs
3 tablespoons milk

For the icing –

225g good quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
125ml double cream
150g butter, cut into pieces
225g icing sugar
1 heaped teaspoon instant coffee powder

What to do:

Grease and baseline a 20cm deep round cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Beat the butter and sugar together, then whisk in the eggs and milk. Add the dry ingredients (flour, chocolate, baking powder) a little at a time, and beat until fully combined.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin, smooth off the top with a spoon, and bake for around 45 minutes until well-risen. The surface should feel spongy when you touch it with a finger – to check if it’s done, insert a clean skewer into the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out with no uncooked cake mixture sticking to it, the cake’s ready. Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the icing. Put the chocolate and cream in a heavy bottomed saucepan, and heat over a low heat, stirring continuously, until the chocolate is fully melted. Add in the butter, and stir until combined. Stir in the icing sugar until smooth, then remove from the heat and allow to coo and thicken.
When the cake is completely cool, cut it in half horizontally with a large breadknife, and spread half the icing over the middle of the cake. Sandwich together and top with the remaining icing.
Serve with a large mug of your favourite coffee.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re coffee experts – but we also sell all manner of related items such as powdered milk, sugar, and hot chocolate powder. To view our range, please visit our website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.com.

Coffee chocolate meringues recipe

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Sara Walker

If you fancy ending your next dinner party with something a bit different, these coffee chocolate meringues fit the bill perfectly. They’re easy to make, and can be ‘dressed up’ with chocolate sauce and cream into a really attractive display, or you could make miniature versions, leave off the sauce and cream and serve them with the coffee as an after-dinner treat.

To serve 6 to 8, you’ll need:

For the meringues.

3 freerange egg whites
150g caster sugar
2 teaspoons cocoa
50g good quality plain chocolate

For the sauce:

2 tsp instant coffee
3 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp caster sugar
3 tbsp water

To serve:

100ml double or whipping cream

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Celsius, and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Put the egg whites in a large bowl, and whisk until they stand up in soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar until the mixture looks thick and glossy and stands up in stiff peaks.
Grate the plain chocolate into the mixture, then sieve in the cocoa. Fold into the meringue until completely combined.
Using two tablespoons, spoon dollops of meringue onto the trays, leaving plenty of space between each one. Put each tray in the oven as soon as it’s ready, and leave to cook for around 35 – 40 minutes.
Remove trays from the oven, and slide the whole paper off onto a cooling rack, with out removing the meringues. Allow to cool for five minutes, then remove from the paper and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. Put all the ingredients into a heavy bottomed saucepan, and heat over a low heat until fully combined.
Whip the cream until stiff, then use to sandwich together two meringues. Place on a plate and spoon the sauce around the edges.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’ve got a wide range of instant coffee granules all at great wholesale prices. For more information, please visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Coffee comes to Europe

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Sara Walker

Nowadays, coffee is such a big part of our social culture that it’s hard to imagine a time without it. It came to the UK in the 17th century, well after sugar first made its appearance here but before tea reached our shores.

European travellers to the Near East (an area roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East) discovered coffee, and brought back travellers’ tales of the energising drink.

When coffee first arrived in Europe, it caused some controversy. Its opponents called it the ‘bitter invention of Satan’, and tried to get it outlawed. The story goes that when coffee was first brought to Venice in the early 17th century, local clergy tried to persuade parishioners not to partake. The conflict raged so hard that eventually Pope Clement VIII was asked to make a final ruling on whether or not coffee was acceptable to drink. Before making a decision, he tasted a cup himself and enjoyed it so much that coffee got the full Papal seal of approval, and it quickly became an Italian staple.

Elsewhere in Europe, coffee houses were quickly springing up as meeting places and information exchanges, with the first recorded one being in 1645. England’s first coffee house opened in Oxford in 1652, and another famous Oxford landmark, the Queen’s Lane Coffee House, was established in 1654 and is still serving coffee today. In England the coffee shops came to be called ‘penny universities’, as a penny bought you a seat at a table and a cup of coffee, and meant you could join in the lively discussions taking place on every side.

Only a few decades after coffee first appeared in the UK, there were more than 3,000 coffee houses in London, some of which started to operate like early prototypes of gentlemen’s clubs, attracting patrons with shared interests. In 1698, Jonathan’s Coffee House was frequented by bankers and stockbrokers and eventually evolved into the London Stock Exchange.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re keeping up with the proud tradition of coffee in Britain by supplying top quality coffee and coffee accessories at great wholesale prices. For more information, please visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.