Category: Blog

Barista Training Courses Worldwide

Posted on by Sara Walker

Fresh roasted coffee beans, maybe even some green coffee beans to roast yourself, great espresso and coffee machines, secret coffee ingredients…these are things that can make some people swoon and if this is you, it’s probably time to pack your bags and head to a barista school if you haven’t already. After all, if you love coffee so much you want to be able to make yourself the best coffee, don’t you? Know which the best coffee beans are and how to treat them for ultimate satisfaction when it comes to the end result.

Last week we talked about doing a barista vacation to the US, this week we talk about…the rest of the world. Of course we can’t cover all schools on here, so it makes sense if you want to go to first decide your budget and what area you want to go to.

London. Yep, if you like red double-decker buses, black taxis, the British accent, and rain, then you will be happy to know that you can also learn about coffee in London. In fact, the London School of Coffee (sounds just like Hogwarts to us) offers four different level barista trainings and various workshops around coffee, like how to set up your own coffee shop.

Like the UK, but would prefer a Scottish accent, or more mountains and less traffic? The Scottish Barista School will be your perfect match in that case. They offer a variety of courses and proper barista training.

Want something a bit more…exotic? Palm trees and all? Then there’s the Dormans Barista and Coffee Training Center in Kenya. They are the only Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) certified Barista training centre in Africa. There you can learn how best to brew your coffee, do various levels of barista training and do things like sip coffee from Kilimanjaro.

If you’d prefer Asia to Africa, then you could go to the Philippine Barista & Coffee Academy. They offer a range of barista course, business training for coffee shop owners, or to be coffee shop owners as well as short courses i everything from holiday drinks, to how to pair different teas with food.

Want to browse the rest of the world? A good place to start is the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe. You can find out more about the courses their trainers hold around the world here. Also, if you want to partake in a great barista competition that’s the site to explore! On Barista Guide you can find a few more.

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What’s changed in the world of coffee?

Posted on by Sara Walker

largeIf you’d walked into a coffee bar in the 1950s, what could you expect? Well, coffee bars as we know them today only started in 1952, when an Italian named Pino Riservato, who owned the British concession for the then brand-new Gaggia espresso machine, opened a bar called The Moka in Soho. The Moka was only supposed to be a short term venture, designed to show potential customers what the espresso machine could do in a commercial environment. However, it caught the mood of a generation, and by 1960 there were an estimated 500 coffee bars in the Greater London area alone, with the phenomenon spreading all over the country.

The majority of the bars were independent, and as they didn’t need an alcohol licence, they were able to stay open late serving food and coffee. They became a socially acceptable place for young people to gather, and often had jukeboxes. Many were run by amateurs with no catering experience, as the post-war economic crisis meant rents were low and outlay minimal, with the espresso machine being one of the most expensive investments at £150 – £400.

The coffee itself was of good quality, but monotonous by modern standards, as customers had the choice of espressos or Americanos. All the coffee bars also served food to some extent, as they relied on this to make a profit.

Fast forward to today, and what’s changed? Although coffee shops and bars are as popular as they ever were, they now serve a different need. The majority of UK bars are part of a chain rather than independent, but the variety of coffee drinks available has soared, from one to two to dozens. Now that both businesses and consumers can buy coffee beans online, the choice and quality of what’s available has never been greater.

To browse our full range of coffee beans, please visit our website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Homemade chocolate syrup for coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

1024px-Chocolate_syrup_topping_on_ice_creamIf you love speciality coffees such as mocha and cappuccino, you might have considered making your own chocolate syrup to keep handy for adding to drinks. Chocolate syrup is a really useful addition to the kitchen – not only is it great for adding punch to coffee, you can also use it for making a quick chocolate milkshake, adding to baking recipes or pouring over ice cream for an easy pudding.

Home made chocolate syrup recipe

170g light brown sugar (Demerara)

170g granulated sugar

125g unsweetened cocoa powder

240ml cold water

Optional – one tablespoon flavouring extract, such as vanilla, orange or almond
Place the sugars and cold water in a heavy saucepan, and stir with a wooden spoon until fully mixed. Add the water, and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Turn the heat onto low, and stir until the sugars melt and the liquid is fully combined. Turn the heat to medium, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to make sure the liquid doesn’t stick to the pan and burn. Once boiled, turn the heat back down to low and allow to simmer, until the liquid has reduced and the mixture has thickened to a syrupy, pouring consistency. Remove from heat, and stir in the flavouring extract if using. Pour into a clean, sterilised bottle and allow to cool completely before sealing and placing in the refrigerator. The syrup should keep for four – six weeks if stored in the refrigerator.

If you’d like to keep a bottle of chocolate syrup on stand by in your kitchen but don’t have time to make it yourself, then browse our range of top quality readymade syrups on the Coffee Ingredients page of our website. A one litre bottle of syrup is only £7.29, and we have a range of flavours to choose from including chocolate.

A Barista Vacation to the USA

Posted on by Sara Walker

Are you one of the millions who absolutely love coffee? Do you wake up for the sake of smelling the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans? Do you order your own green coffee beans so you can toast them to perfection? Do you experiment to make different patterns with the foam of the coffee, or coffee art as it is known as? Maybe, just maybe it’s time for a barista vacation? In other words – it’s time to take a vacation to indulge in your passion for the little bean known as coffee.

There are many different barista schools worldwide that offers day, week and month long courses and in this article we will look at some in the States and in the next article some barista schools in other countries.

Portland and Seattle are known as the coffee capitals of America, so not surprisingly you find one of the best schools in Portland. It’s the American Barista & Coffee School The school boasts of having had clients from over 40 countries. Portland might not be your city of call if you want sunshine, but if you want a very eco-friendly town, with tons of hipsters and incredible cafes, you will be very pleased.

If, on the other hand, it is the beaches you want, what better than sunny California? They may have earthquakes, but on the upside you can drive to the desert (and even Vegas if you go out of state), mountains (for skiing), nature reserves for hiking, wine farms for well, wine and the big city, usually within an hour or two of where you are, if you are in Southern California. SoCal is also where the Ivy League Barista Academy is. It’s actually in picturesque San Diego, which offers a nice small town vibe. They offer consulting as well as hands-on barista training…and 247 days of sunshine a year.

If you want lakes instead of beaches Holland in Michigan is another alternative, as it is home of the Midwest Barista School. The school offers clients both hands-on coffee classes and courses to help entrepreneurs start or improve their cafe business. In summer you will want to bring your bathing suit and enjoy the fabulous lakes and in winter ice skates and really, really warm clothing! It might be a nice summer holiday, cozy autumn break, or beautiful summer vacation!

If you are looking for a vacation in a city that never sleeps and where the latest trends mingle with the fresh arts, the sophisticated views of centuries gone past and the craze of new entrepreneurs and old school economics, then New York will probably be your best bet. After all, there’s something for everyone in that town, including the Kitten Coffee Barista School in Brooklyn, who offers Espresso 100 and Advanced Espresso classes.

We hope this might have given you some ideas and inspiration, and as mentioned in our next blog we will cover barista schools worldwide. For now though, sit back and smell the smell of those fresh roasted coffee beans…

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Impress your clients with Suprema coffee beans

Posted on by Sara Walker

CAF_VE~1Every company these days is looking for ways to cut their expenditure without compromising on quality. While some cost savings are easy to find and implement, it’s worth investing some money and effort in a welcoming reception area, as this is often clients’ first impression of your company. Likewise, offering customers a hot drink on arrival is a worthwhile gesture, as it helps them feel more relaxed and welcome while waiting.

If you’re offering coffee, it can be a false economy to use poor quality coffee beans as it won’t create a good impression with your customers – you don’t want them to remember you for all the wrong reasons. If you’ve taken the plunge and installed a commercial coffee machine in your reception area, customers will already have access to a great cup of coffee, but it is possible to make some savings on ingredients without any impact on the quality of the drinks.

Most coffee drinks made in a machine start with an espresso base, which is then customised to become a cappuccino or Americano, so using good quality espresso beans is a must. For a long time, the market leading brand has been Lavazza, but now there’s another option. Suprema is a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans, and yields a rich, aromatic full-bodied espresso. A unique blend with distinctive characteristics, Suprema is well balanced and produces an excellent crema. With a very full body, high acidity, a floral aroma and chocolate flavour, Suprema is a top quality blend that retails at around two thirds of the price of Lavazza, starting at only £7.95 for a one kilo sample bag.

To find out more about Suprema, order a sample bag or browse our range of coffee beans, please visit the coffee beans page of our website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Going of Coffee Vacation? Why Not?!

Posted on by Sara Walker

Buying coffee online might be one of the latest fads in the coffee industry (after all you have the whole world within reach – just Google whatever coffee you want to buy), but there is something about exploring coffee in person as well. Recently we caught a show on Discovery Channel, or similar, where a man went to Ethiopia in search of a new coffee bean he could export. There’s a reason this made for adventure TV – he was driving through the wilderness trying good and bad coffee in far off villages and plantations you probably couldn’t find with a map. That’s an extreme coffee adventure. Some would probably prefer to order their fresh roasted coffee beans from all over the world with a click of a button. However, if you want to go explore there are alternatives.

If you are looking for a coffee vacation to taste new varieties of coffee, or simply go see where your favourite coffee is grown, Google will once again be your best friend. You see all over the world coffee plantations are opening their doors for overnight guests. Many tours where you stay at a regular hotel but take trips to coffee plantations are also available. We have heard that Costa Rica and Kona Island (Hawaii, where the famous Kona coffee is grown) are particularly good destinations. We think the idea of beaches and palm trees sound fabulous, so why not? Also, why not make a trip to Jamaica to try some of the famous Blue Mountain coffee on location? If you fancy Africa, Ethiopia is the obvious answer, but you can visit coffee farms even in South Africa, if you prefer a more westernized trip. Peru where you can find the Tunki coffee (which we sell!) is another popular destination, not least because the coffee won an award for best tasting coffee in the world!

In short: there are coffee plantations all over the world, the questions you need to ask yourself is: 1) What coffee am I the most interested in? 2) What places would I most like to visit? 3) What am I prepared to pay for my trip?

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Swedish Cinnamon Rolls or “Kanelbullar”

Posted on by Sara Walker

Kanelbullar which directly translates to cinnamonbuns are a Swedish delicacy that you eat with…you guessed it: a good cup of coffee! (The Swedes are in the top five coffee drinking nations in the world, with Finland topping the list…maybe because it’s dark in winter the Nordic countries love some coffee to keep them going?) In Sweden the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans gingerly mingles with the smell of freshly made cinnamon rolls and once you get used to that smell you might want more…

We decided to share two different recipes with you – one is a bit unusual using pumpkin in it, but you could exchange that for applesauce (potentially sweetened). These delicious rolls will be the perfect companion to the coffee beans you buy from us. By buying coffee online you save yourself the trip to the shop, so why not use that time to bake instead?

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Cinnamon Rolls, original recipe can be found here.

DOugh

  • 3 dl yoghurt (300g)
  • 25 g fresh yeast
  • Just about 7 dl wheatflour (400g)
  • 1/2 dl honey (60g)
  • 1/2-1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt

FILLing

  • 100 g marzipan (or almond paste – it contains sugar and almond)
  • 1 dl almonds, whole (NOT blanched) (ca.50g)
  • 1 dl raisins (ca.50g)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 dl applesauce
  • 1 egg for glazing

Instructions:

Ca. 24 buns

Crumble the yeast and add yoghurt at room temperature.

Add the flour whilst kneading, make sure you don’t get too much flour! Add honey, cardamom, oil and salt. Knead till you have a smooth dough.

Knead for about 10 min with a bread maker, or by hand. Let the dough rise to about double the size in a bowl covered by a clean towel in a room with no draft.

Take out the dough and roll with a rolling pin to an even square ca. 40×40 cm.

Grate the marzipan/almond paste. Chop or blend the almonds roughly, save 2 tablespoons for decoration. Mix marzipan, chopped almonds, raisins, cinnamon and applesauce.

Spread the filling over the dough, but save one thin line at one edge. Whisk the egg and brush the edge with no filling with it.

Roll the dough with the filling in it – roll so that you save the edge with the egg on it for last, using that to make the roll stick together properly.

Measure and cut the dough roll into 24 pieces for medium size cinnamon rolls. Cut it as soon as you’ve made the roll as if you wait it will be more difficult to cut as the dough will continue to rise. Use a sharp knife, preferably a bread knife.

Put baking paper on a baking tray and place the buns on it. You can also just put them straight on the tray if you butter it first, however, the buns might leave a mess for you to clean up on the tray. The buns will rise a lot, so leave a lot of space around each bun.

Brush the buns with the whisked egg and toss the chopped almond you have left over them for decoration.

Let the buns rise for about 50-60 mins (double in size – if they aren’t yet double in size let them stand for a while longer). Whilst rising cover them with a clean towel and ensure they are in a room with no draft and not in a cold spot either.

Then put the tray(s) in the bottom part of the oven – 225 degrees Celsius for 10-12 minutes. If you use a convection oven, you can keep it at 200 degrees instead. Once ready take them out to cool down on a grid covered by a clean towel once more. Serve warm.

Alternatively you can use butter, sugar, cinnamon and cardamom as filling.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, original recipe here. 

Ingredients:

40 cinnamon rolls

  • 50 g fresh yeast for sweet dough
  • 900 g wheat or spelt flour
  • 1 dl granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
  • 150 g butter
  • 3 dl milk
  • 2 yoghurt
  • 1 egg

Pumpkin filling

  • 100 g margarine, room temperature
  • 100 g  granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 dl pumpkin puree
  • ½ dl pearl sugar (also known as nib or hail sugar)

Instructions:

  • Heat up milk and yoghurt to luke warm (no warmer than 36 degrees C). Crumble the yeast to small pieces with your fingers and add to the fluid once warm. Add cardamom, flour, and soft butter cut into pieces. Knead into a soft, smooth dough. Let it rise in a place with no draft, covered by a clean towel, for 40 mins.
  • Prepare the pumpkin puree by roasting, or boiling the pumpkin and then put it in a blender till it reaches the desired, smooth, consistency.
  • Mix all ingredients for the filling.
  • Using a rolling pin roll the dough into two rectangles about 0.5-1cm thick. Spread the pumpkin filling evenly over the rectangles.
  • Roll the dough (so that you start folding from the longest side, ie you end up witha  roll the length of the rectangle) and cut in 2cm slices. Cover a baking tray with baking paper. Whisk the egg lightly, brush the cinnamon rolls with the egg and toss some pearl sugar atop.
  • Let the cinnamon rolls rise for 20 mins, then put them in an oven for 10-15 mins, 220ºC in a convection oven (ie an oven that blows hot air around inside…).

Coffee Chilli Con Carne

Posted on by Sara Walker
As winter is coming up we believe this coffee chilli con carne will be just what you need for the dinner table – perfect for a night by the fire! Yep, that’s right – you heard us – you can use coffee in your cooking, not just in your desserts! In fact coffee can be used as a meat tenderizer as well, but this recipe simply calls for well, freshly brewed coffee. We always recommend using fresh roasted coffee beans, which you grind and use immediately for the very best flavour. However, as there are many other ingredients in here, even if you don’t have access to fresh roasted coffee beans, you should be fine!
This recipe comes from Great British Chefs.

chilli

  • 800g of diced beef
  • 3 large onions, finely sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • 395g of red kidney beans in chilli sauce
  • 1/2 tsp of chilli flakes
  • 960ml of coffee, can use decaffeinated
  • 2 tsp of cumin seeds, toasted
  • 1 tsp of dried oregano
  • 4 tsp of chilli powder, mild
  • 1 tsp of muscovado sugar
  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 pinch of black pepper
  • 2 tsp of smoked paprika

Basmati rice

  • 300g of basmati rice
  • 450ml of water

To serve

  • 1 bunch of coriander
  • 150ml of half-fat sour cream
  • 2 limes
  • 2 green chillies, optional
  • 2 tomatoes, diced
1. Soak the dried chilli flakes in a little hot water for 2 minutes, then drain
2. Place a pan over a high heat and add olive oil. Once hot, add the diced beef and sear until nicely coloured. Set aside
3. Clean the pan, place over a medium heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Once hot, add the onions and garlic and cook until just beginning to brown
4. Add the meat back to the pan along with the sugar, chilli powder, paprika, cumin and oregano. Stir to combine
5. Add the coffee and the soaked chilli flakes to the pan, making sure the meat is covered
6. Cover and cook on the lowest heat possible. Simmer until the meat starts to fall apart, approximately 60-90 minutes
7. Meanwhile, add the rice to a small pot, cover in cold water. Rinse by moving the rice around with your hands. Pour off the white milky water and repeat twice more
8. Drain the excess water, leave to stand for 20 minutes. Add the 450ml of water and place the pot over a high heat. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and turn down to the lowest heat possible
9. Cook for 12 minutes, or until the rice is just cooked. Remove from the heat and allow to stand, covered, for 2 minutes before serving
10. Remove the lid and add the beans, allow to cook until thickened and rich in flavour. Add a pinch of salt and pepper
11. Divide the chilli across 4 warmed bowls along with the rice. Garnish with the sour cream, chopped coriander, fresh chilli and diced tomato. Serve immediately with wedges of lime to lighten it up. Sour cream is not absolutely essential but will add a refreshing taste to counter the spice of the chilli

Coffee – an Aphrodisiac?

Posted on by Sara Walker

The stars of the coming Fifty Shades of Grey movie has just been revealed and Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson have the leads. Many swear that the book trilogy, loosely based on Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga but with a sexual theme, has worked as an aphrodisiac for their relationship. It seems so as the author herself is the highest earning author in the world!

Now coffee might not be the next Fifty Shades, in fact, coffee has already sold a lot more than any book in history, but if you want to excite your customers, or your date a little, you can start talking about the aphrodisiac properties of coffee. Yep, you heard us – coffee is an aphrodisiac.

A cup of java might not make you jump out of your seat with excitement and run for the bedroom, but it will enhance your mood, your stamina (athletes use coffee for a better performance and if they over use your muscles it can also help them stop contracting after a strenuous workout) and release pleasurable chemicals into your brain (yes guys, it does come down to the chemicals after all).

Of course too much coffee is like any other drug – you will get addicted and feel low without it. If you have two days off coffee and then have a cup one morning, or normally have one cup and get an extra one for your date night then you will notice the feel good factor of coffee. Also, we all know what happens if you drink too much coffee in one go – the jittery shakes and rattles. No good for the bedroom or anywhere else – have your coffee with a meal and don’t overdo it basically. Enjoy it instead!

Buying coffee online and offline is easy (it’s not exactly a commodity that’s difficult to find) and unlike horny goats weed your date probably won’t feel suspicious about drinking it. We here at the Whole Sale Coffee Company of course recommend buying coffee online – after all we sell coffee online! And we think coffee is sexy, that’s just that. Pour it into the dessert together with some chocolate and chili and you will have an instant aphrodisiac that tastes like heaven.

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Where do the best coffee beans come from?

Posted on by Sara Walker

800px-Coffee-BeansOur UK climate is suitable for growing a range of crops. In Britain, we’re particularly good at growing the hardier fruit and vegetable crops, such as apples, carrots and potatoes. One thing we’re never going to be able to grow very successfully on home soil, though, is coffee.

Coffee bushes grow best in subtropical regions that have distinctly separated wet and dry seasons, rather than a temperature climate such as the UK’s. There are two types of coffee bean, Arabica and Robusta, and each like slightly different growing conditions.

Arabica coffee beans

This variety is believed to have originated in Ethiopia, and grows best at altitudes of between 3,000 and 6,500 feet. For plants that grow in countries such as Mexico, Zimbabwe and Jamaica, where the rainy and dry seasons are separate, there’s one harvest of coffee beans a year. For equatorial counties – for example Columbia, Kenya and Ethiopia, the consistent rainfall allows two harvests a year.

 Robusta coffee beans

Robusta coffee bushes yield more beans than Arabica, and the coffee is considered to be of a lower grade. The beans are often used to make instant coffee, or bulk out lower quality packs. It grows at lower altitudes (under 3,000 feet), and tends to be easier to farm, cheaper to grow and generally more hardy, as Robusta can tolerate warmer climates and is less susceptible to disease.  The bulk of the world’s coffee is grown around the equator, with Robusta varieties being grown closest to the equator due to their greater heat tolerance.

It’s unlikely we’ll ever be able to replicate these growing conditions successfully enough in the UK to make homegrown coffee a commercial possibility, but online ordering has made it easier than every to buy fresh, exciting blends of coffee beans in the UK. To browse our wide range of varieties, please visit our website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.