Category: Blog

Regular customers of the Wholesale Coffee Company may have noticed that we’re proud of the quality of our coffee, which uses high quality, high graded beans. What exactly are the coffee grades, though, and why do they make sure a difference? Here’s our handy guide.

Coffee beans fall into one of five grades from 1 to 5. As you might expect, grade 1 is the highest and must contain no primary defects, be of a certain size and, in official words, ‘exhibit a distinct attribute in one or more of the following areas: taste, acidity, body, or aroma.’ The grades gradually decrease in quality until you get to grade 5, which is very low quality and usually discarded.

Size is an important factor, as larger beans take longer to ripen on the bush and are considered to have a fuller flavour. The first test the beans undergo is being passed through a sieve with holes of varying sizes to sort them into initial grades. Then, the beans will be visually scanned for defects. Finally, grading staff will roast and taste a sample of the beans to evaluate the quality.

‘Defects’ could mean anything from poor colour and shape to a sour taste, usually caused by poor storage. The presence of parts of the berry husk, sticks or stones in the sample will also count as a defect. Another no-no is the presence of ‘quakers’, unripened beans. These are extremely difficult to pick out visually until after roasting when they become obvious. A 300g sample of beans that contains any quakers at all will not be accepted as a grade 1 sample.

When you consider how stringent coffee grading is, it’s a wonder that anything makes it through! You can be sure, though, that what goes into our branded bags has been checked, checked and checked again to bring you a delicious flavour at a great value wholesale price. To find out more, visit our coffee beans page.

You must have heard the expression ‘buying cheap is a false economy’, and nowhere is that phrase more relevant than in the world of coffee.

Cheap coffee is made from low quality beans, and processing often doesn’t follow the meticulous process which is required to produce good coffee. For a good result, beans need to be checked, then carefully and consistently roasted for even flavour. Once roasted, the beans should be properly stored before being correctly blended to produce a balance of flavours. Cheap coffee often shortcuts this process, and has a high proportion of Robusta beans, which are more resistant to disease and therefore easier to grow. These beans have a less nuanced, complex flavour than the other bean variety, Arabica, and are cheaper to produce. The growing, harvesting and production that go into cheap coffee are often not carried out under the best conditions, either. The result is a coffee that is bitter and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste.

Of course, coffee can vary enormously in price and buying the most expensive blend doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got the best value for money. We specialise in the very best quality coffee, but at wholesale prices – so that you get a great taste at a great price. Our coffee is ethically sourced and very carefully produced so that it’s bursting with fresh flavours. It’s also expertly blended, using the correct proportions of Robusta and Arabica for a result that’s full bodied with a rich, complex flavour.
We have a full range of options available to suit every taste, including everyday, budget, strong, premium and single origin coffee. To take a look at our full range, which includes everything you need for your commercial coffee business or just to enjoy at home, take a look at our Coffee Beans page.

Although our expertise is very much more about drinking coffee than eating it, we were interested to hear about some new Australian research by biomedical scientists. Apparently, eating used coffee grounds could be the latest weapon in the battle against obesity.
Scientists at the University of Southern Queensland have spent seven years researching the properties of used coffee grounds to see if and how they can benefit us.

The leading professor, Lindsay Brown, conducted a trial in which male rats were given a diet high in fats and carbohydrates over a four-month period. For the last two months of the trial, they were also given used coffee grounds. The rats gained weight from their diet, but after eating the coffee for eight weeks showed an interesting range of reactions. Blood pressure dropped, blood sugar returned to normal and fatty liver deposits reduced.

Although the findings have been initially promising, the team have yet to progress to a human trial. Professor Brown, though, has such faith in his research that he has been eating the coffee grounds himself as an experiment. After his morning cup of coffee, he has been drying the used grounds in the oven then adding it to recipes such as cakes and bread. He says that results are unlikely to be rapid, but that eating coffee is “likely to decrease obesity and improve your blood pressure over time.” He also points out the benefit from decreased food waste and reduced landfill.

He does say, though, that the trial is still in its early days and consumers should wait for more research and clinical tests before starting to eat coffee themselves.

While we’d be really interested in seeing more research done in this area, we think we’ll stick to drinking coffee for now! If that’s your preferred method of consumption too, then take a look at our main website. We’ve got top quality coffee beans, ground coffee and coffee accessories, all available to buy online at great wholesale prices.

Mmmm. Hot chocolate. It’s synonymous with comfort, conjuring up images of warmth and cosiness. We’re not the first people to think so, though. In fact, chocolate as a drink massively predates coffee, which only became popular around the 15th century. Chocolate, on the other hand, was being drunk as far back as 500BC by the Mayans in Mexico. They used ground up cocoa seeds, thickened with cornflour and flavoured with chilli. They preferred to drink it cold rather than hot though (probably more suitable for the Mexican climate!)

When the explorer Cortez conquered the Aztecs and claimed Mexico on behalf of Spain in the 16th century, he also brought cocoa beans and chocolate-making equipment back to Europe. The Spanish began to sweeten the chocolate, leaving out the chilli and drinking it hot. It didn’t become popular England until the 18th century but then it began to flourish, and specialist chocolate drinking houses began to spring up. We Brits also put our own special twist on it by adding milk to make it more palatable.

Liquid hot chocolate was around long before the edible stuff was invented. It may surprise you to know that the invention of cocoa powder actually pre-dates solid chocolate! Far more practical to transport and prepare, cocoa powder made the drink even more popular. The Dutch had pretty much a monopoly on the cocoa trade, and were involved with many of the major advances in the industry. Dutch chemist Coenraad van Houten was responsible for several advances in the early 19th century, adding alkaline salts to reduce the natural bitterness of the cocoa beans. In 1847, Joseph Fry learned to mould chocolate by adding melted cocoa butter, creating the solid bar. Milk chocolate was invented in 1875, using a new type of powdered milk developed by Henri Nestle. Towards the end of the 19th century, Rodolphe Lindt invented a mixing machine which gave chocolate the familiar melting texture we know today.

All these names are still famously associated with the chocolate industry today, and here at the Wholesale Coffee Company one of the premium brands of hot chocolate we sell is Van Houten.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re currently concentrating very hard on the day job which is dispatching great quality coffee to our customers. At a time like this, you really don’t want to run out of coffee which is why you can order our products online for home delivery, all at great wholesale prices. We’ve got coffee beans, coffee whiteners, flavoured coffee syrups, hot chocolate and more, all available to buy online from our main website, www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk. We’ve even got a sample pack of our top sellers, if you fancy trying something a little different. We’re working as normal, so just order from our online shop as usual. If you need a little pick-me-up in the meantime, we’ve put together our favourite coffee jokes and puns to make you laugh (or at least groan aloud!) Here we go!

1. Q: Why did the coffee go to the police? A: Because it was mugged.
2. Q: What’s our favourite Beatles song? A: Latte Be
3. Q: Why did the hipster burn his tongue? A: He drank his coffee before it was properly cool.
4. Q: What’s the most important thing about making good coffee? A: Learning how to espresso yourself.
5. Q: What’s the name for the feeling you get when you walk into a café and you’re sure you’ve been there before? A: Deja brew.
6. Q: What did the Ethiopian coffee say to the Indonesian coffee? A: “What’s Sumatra with you?”
7. Someone stole my coffee cup today. I’m just odd down to the police station to look at some mug shots.
8. I’m looking forward to 11am, when I’m going to have a dangerous cup of coffee. Safe tea first, though.
9. What’s at the bottom of a coffee factory? The ground floor.
10. A man walks into a café and orders a coffee to go. The coffee gets up and leaves.