Category: Blog

We’ve had civet cat coffee. We’ve had elephant dung coffee. We’ve had coffee flavoured with everything from mushrooms to salted butter, and served in everything from hollowed out avocado shells to ice cream cones. Now, there’s a new trend on the market – and it could even overtake Kopi Luwak (civet cat coffee) as the most expensive out there.

The story starts in Itasy in central Madagascar, home to a rare specialty Arabica bourbon pointu coffee. This coffee is already in demand, but now consumers are even keener for the beans – particularly the ones that have been nibbled by bats! Apparently, bat spit adds an extra layer of smoothness to the flavour and has sent prices soaring, commanding a premium over the ‘uncontaminated’ beans.

Wild bats come to nibble on the ripe coffee cherries, and the resulting spit reacts with the outside air to remove acidity and add a smoother flavour. Agricultural entrepreneur Jacques Ramarlah was responsible for bringing the bourbon pointu beans back to the area, and was also the one to notice the bats’ unusual feeding habits and make the connection with the improved flavour. He now works with around 90 farmers to produce the top-quality brew, although ‘bat spit’ coffee remains a relatively small percentage of the overall crop – we imagine because of the difficulties in getting the bats to do their part! We’re not sure what the bats are getting out of it, but perhaps they like caffeine as much as we do.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we can’t promise you bat spit coffee – but we can promise you top quality beans, responsibly sourced and roasted in our own facility and available at great wholesale prices for your coffee business. Take a look at our main website to find out more, and view our full range of coffee beans, accessories and supplies.

If, like us, you’re always chasing perfection in your brew then you’ll be interested to hear that US scientists have revealed what they believe to be the formula for making the ideal espresso.

Conventional wisdom states that a finer grind will give a stronger, more reliable brew, as each coffee particle has more surface area from which to extract the flavour. A team of mathematicians and physicists, including members from the UK, Ireland, Australia and Switzerland, are now challenging this contention. They’ve discovered that actually, the reverse is true – you need fewer coffee beans, more coarsely ground, to give a result that’s more consistent and just as strong.

Although the ‘perfect espresso’ is a fairly subjective term, researchers were aiming to get the same result every time with as little variation as possible. They put together a mathematical model with several variables, such as the amounts of coffee and water, the fineness or otherwise of the grounds and the water pressure, and modelled the predicted results. They discovered that grinding the beans very finely could actually be counterproductive, as grounds became clogged and the water couldn’t reach some of them at all, giving a result that varied in strength.

After much experimentation, the team produced a formula to maximise the amount of flavour extracted from the beans which would yield consistent results from cup to cup. This involves using a coarser grind, and less water.

One of the co-authors of the report, Jamie Foster, a mathematician at the University of Portsmouth, says that the results are important not only for the consumer but also for the coffee industry as a whole.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’ve got everything you need to make your own version of the perfect espresso. To find out more, take a look at our main website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Obesity in the UK has now reached such proportions (no pun intended!) that scientists have coined a word for a diet likely to lead to such severe weight gain – obesogenic. This refers to a diet containing too much fat and sugar, and therefore likely to make the consumer pile on the pounds.

A new study has found, though, that drinking strong coffee could go some way towards combatting the risks of such a diet. The study has so far only been applied to rats, often used for such testing as their behaviour can mimic that of humans. The study looked at effects of adding various substances to the rats’ diet, including caffeine extracted from mate tea, synthetic caffeine, caffeine extracted from coffee and decaffeinated tea.

The study, carried out by scientists at the University of Illinois, discovered that the animals who consumed the caffeine derived from mate tea gained on average 16% less weight than those who were given decaffeinated tea. They also put on 22% less body fat. Scientists got the same results when they repeated the tests using first synthetic caffeine then natural caffeine from coffee. The caffeine content of mate tea, a herbal stimulant drunk in certain Latin American countries, ranges from 65 to 130 milligrams compared with 30 to 300 milligrams in the same amount of coffee.

The test rats were given a carefully calibrated diet consisting of 45% carbohydrate, 40% fat and 15% protein. They were also given caffeine in amounts roughly equivalent to a human drinking four cups of coffee a day. At the end of a month, the rats were showing significantly different results in terms of their percentage of lean body mass. The scientists have concluded that caffeine can be considered as an anti-obesity agent, and are hoping to scale the experiment up to help understand what role caffeine could play in combatting human obesity.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’ve got everything you need to keep your commercial catering business, café or office running smoothly. Take a look at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk to browse our range of coffee beans, coffee supplies and coffee accessories, all available at great wholesale prices.

We love coffee so much it’s only natural to get as much out of it as we can. This delicious chocolate brownie recipe uses spent coffee grounds, so it’s good for the environment and your pocket. Use the best quality chocolate that you can, and aim for 70 per cent cocoa solids – if you go any higher, the result may taste a little bitter.
For variations on the basic recipe, add the freshly-grated zest of one orange, a small handful of walnuts, some toasted hazelnuts or some vanilla essence when you add the dry ingredients.

To make approximately nine large or 12 small pieces, you’ll need:

Two cooking apples, such as Bramleys
80g used coffee grounds
275g dark chocolate
170g self raising flour
400g soft brown sugar
150ml olive or vegetable oil

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, and grease and base line a 20cm square baking tin.

Peel and core the apples and cut them into small pieces. Put them in a small pan with a tablespoon of water and the used coffee grounds. Put the pan on the heat and wait for the water to boil, then stir the contents of the pan until you end up with apple puree. (If you can’t get hold of cooking apples you can also use eating apples, but as they won’t disintegrate to a puree you’ll have to pass them through a blender after cooking them with the coffee.)

Take the pan off the heat. Break the chocolate into small pieces, add them to pan and stir the mixture until the chocolate has melted. Add in the sugar, flour and oil and mix until completely combined. Pour the batter into the prepared tin and tap it to level it off. Bake for around 35 to 40 minutes, until the top looks cooked but there’s still some give in the middle.

Leave in the tin for around ten minutes, then turn out. Allow to cool before cutting into squares or bars. Serve with crème fraiche or pouring cream.

To top up your coffee supplies before making this recipe, take a look at our shop page www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk. You’ll find top quality coffee beans and accessories, all available competitive wholesale prices.

Responsible manufacturers, retailers and caterers are constantly concerned about the amount of disposable coffee cups thrown away each year – an astonishing 2.5 billion annually in the UK alone. Now, Air New Zealand has taken an individual approach to reducing the waste – by trying out coffee cups you can eat.

The cups are actually made of vanilla-flavoured biscuits – biscotti, to be accurate – so shed a new light on ‘coffee and biscuits’. The airline serves over eight million cups of coffee to passengers every year, and is trialling the new initiative in a bid to reduce waste. Apparently, they’ve been a ‘bit hit’ with customers, and are also being used as pudding bowls. They’re capable of holding liquid for several hours without leaking.
Airlines are very much in the firing line when it comes to environmental impact, and prior to trying out the edible cups Air New Zealand had already switched to paper and corn cups which could be composted.

Critics, though, say that although it’s a step in the right direction the airline could be doing more. The cups have also raised concerns among customers with allergies or food intolerances, as they contain gluten and eggs. The original plant-based cups will also be available for customers who prefer a more traditional receptacle! The edible cups are only available on selected routes as the manufacturer, Twiice, is currently unable to produce them in sufficient quantities to service the entire airline, a situation which it hopes will change.

Here at Wholesale Coffee Company, we offer fantastic quality coffee beans at great value prices. Our coffee is ethically sourced and roasted and packaged inhouse, meaning that we can offer the best possible product to our customers. To find out more, visit our main website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk/

Two Scotsmen, Fergus Moore and Scott Kennedy, think they may have discovered a way of replacing the use of palm oil. Palm oil has become a concern for environmentalists, as it’s thought that the massive plantations used to grow the palms now cover over 27 million hectares. This is putting native fauna and flora at risk, as they struggle to thrive due to the lack of biodiversity. The oil is cheap both to grow and produce, and as such is used across a vast range of products including chocolate, lipstick and biofuel. Fergus and Scott worked in coffee bars in Glasgow and were appalled at the amount of waste coffee grounds generated – about 40,000 tonnes in Scotland alone. The grounds are heavy as well, so expensive to dispose of.

The duo have set up a company called Revive Eco, whose slogan is ‘bringing waste to life’, to develop a process to extract oil from used coffee grounds. The resulting oil would have the same components as palm oil, and be safe for the food and cosmetic industries as well as more general usage. It would not only be sustainable and environmentally friendly, but as it uses a waste product it would also directly help reduce waste.
The company has received almost a quarter of a million pounds from the Zero Waste Scotland agency, who work to promote resource efficiency and the circular economy to create a society where resources are valued and nothing is wasted. Now they’ve been picked to represent Scotland and Northern Ireland in the Chivas Venture, an annual competition where entrepreneurs compete for a share a £776,000 pot for their world changing start-ups.

And now they are in the running for a share of a £776,000 funding pot, after it was announced Revive Eco would be representing Scotland and Northern Ireland in the Chivas Venture competition.

The pair plan to have their process up and running by next summer, and want to quickly roll it out to other coffee-drinking countries such as Italy.
Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re always concerned about environmental issues and consider our products and packaging accordingly. We’re excited about this new initiative, which could be the start of a global change in oil production. To find out more about the Wholesale Coffee Company or browse our range of products, take a look at our website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Move over, avocado coffee, rainbow latte, unicorn mochas and cannabis coffee – there’s a new trend in town. We do love a good coffee trend, and this one is even weirder than usual.

Coffee aficionados can now order a ‘dry cappuccino’ if they’re feeling extra pretentious – and we’re not sure whether it’s like a dry shampoo or a dry white wine. Freeze dried coffee, perhaps, with all the liquid removed? Er…wouldn’t that just be instant coffee?

Apparently, a ‘dry cappuccino’ resembles a regular one in that it’s composed of steamed milk, foamed milk and espresso. A dry cappuccino just has them in different proportions, that’s all. It features the same over all quantities of coffee and milk, but the proportions of foamed milk and steamed milk are different – less steamed milk, and more foamed. Just to confuse you even more, you can also order a ‘wet’ cappuccino (yep, we thought all coffees were wet, too), which is pretty much the opposite – more steamed milk, and just a thin layer of foamed milk. So the adjectives ‘dry’ and ‘wet’ are really just referring to the quantities of steamed milk in the drink, which is less interested than it first sounds. We’re not sure if it would actually make any difference to the taste, either, as you have the same proportions of milk and coffee overall.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, our coffee is so good it doesn’t need to be faddy. We concentrate on selling a top quality product at great wholesale prices, and we’ve got products to suit every type of commercial business from offices to cafes. To find out more or to browse our range of coffee beans, coffee accessories and more, take a look at our main website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Welcome to the unusual coffee trend of the month! We’ve put inverted commas around our headline, as the nail polish in question isn’t actually made of coffee – it just smells like it, according to the manufacturer.

Everyone who uses nail polish will know that it’s not normally the nicest scent in the world – that eye-watering smell of acetate leaves something to be desired and can even give you a headache if you’re feeling a bit delicate. Now, American nail experts LeChat have launched their Dare to Wear MOOD Café collection – a collection of gels and lacquers which not only change colour according to your body temperature, but also apparently feature a ‘long lasting coffee inspired scent’. The six colours in the collection all smell like different types of coffee, including a mocha scent. We can’t comment on how authentic the scents are, but surely they’ve got to be better than the usual chemical smell. We can see that having nail polish that smelt of coffee might be a bit of a double-edged sword though– on one hand (no pun intended!) the smell of coffee is one of our favourites. On the other hand, is it going to make you crave caffeine even more than usual? We reckon it could be worth a try – you can find the unusual concoction online if you want to give it a go and treat your nails to a caffeine fix this autumn.

The easiest and best way to get your daily coffee fix, though, is still to drink it, and that’s where we come in! We’re specialists in supplying top quality coffee beans and coffee accessories, all at competitive wholesale prices, for your café, restaurant or office. To find out more and to take a look at our product range, visit our main website.

You’d think that if there was one group of people who knew their way around a bar, it would be students. Turns out, though, that that’s just a cliché, and apparently today’s students are more likely to be found in a coffee shop than a bar.

Abertay University near Dundee in Scotland has found that demand for alcohol from students has diminished so dramatically that they’ve shut the student union bar due to lack of demand. The bar opened in 2005 and has seen alcohol sales drop by two thirds since 2014, as students prefer coffee to booze.

It’s not just in Scotland, either – today’s young people are educated about the dangers of alcohol and are actively choosing alternatives. To combat the change, Abertay have opened a new café in the student library which is proving popular. The Scottish University is understood to be the first in the UK to have stopped selling alcohol from a student bar onsite, although other similar venues are readily available nearby. The decision follows a study carried out by University College London, where researchers found that the proportion of young people aged between 16 and 24 who don’t drink alcohol has risen to 29 per cent in a ten year period to 2015. A recent survey by the National Union of Students has even revealed that one in five students in the UK are teetotal and don’t drink at all. In a corresponding change, coffee shops have seen an increase in customers among the same demographic with young people increasingly choosing to meet friends and socialise during the day instead of in the evening.

At the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re delighted to see this move towards Britain’s favourite hot drink. We’re coffee experts, and we’re proud to supply the best in coffee beans and coffee accessories to our commercial customers, all at great wholesale prices. To find out more, browse our shop pages.