Tag: coffee beans

Chocolate and Coffee Pairing

Posted on by Sara Walker

Everyone knows that a good glass of wine can be paired excellently with many types of food, but do you also know that you can pair different kinds of fresh roasted coffee beans with food? There are many different types of beans and roasts and different foods will bring out different flavours in the coffee, just as different beans will bring out different flavours in the food. There is one particular food that goes great with coffee and that’s chocolate.

Many people believe chocolate and coffee are a great pair because the caffeine, theobromine, and other feel good substances come together to make you feel great. However, there are instances when a good cup of fresh roasted coffee and a great piece of chocolate also enhance each other flavour wise.

When it comes to determining what kind of coffee goes with what kind of chocolate it is sometimes difficult to give recommendations because where you are they may not have the same beans and chocolates available as where we are and hence the advice ends up generalized. Some people argue that the lighter tasting blends work well with milk chocolates as the notes of honey ad vanilla resonate, others use milk chocolate with strong beans so that the tastes won’t become to strong. One thing is for sure though: your experience will greatly depend on how good the coffee and chocolate you use are.

If you read this blog chances are you are one of our clients, you may even own your own coffee shop and work for one. As you know we sell fresh roasted coffee beans. This means that if you buy it and grind it yourself, or just open a bag of our ground coffees, you will have one ingredient right: the coffee. The best way then to pair our coffee is to get hold of some really high quality chocolate, preferably from two different companies so that you can check how different kinds of cacao beans can bring out different tones of the coffee. Buy milk chocolate, dark chocolate and two kinds of pralines, or white chocolate, from each company. Try to get the same kinds of chocolate from the different companies so that for example you get a 35% milk chocolate from each company and 75% dark chocolate from each.

As for the coffee: get two or three different kinds of beans, potentially a light, medium and dark roast and brew some regular coffee. Make sure, as mentioned previously, that it’s fresh roasted coffee beans that you are using.

The best way to go about a tasting is to break the chocolate into small pieces and putting them in one small bowl each. Keep the pralines in one piece or divide them in half. Serve the different coffee in different cups, or keep the coffee in different coffee pots if you want to use just the one cup per person. Make sure to have pen and paper at hand. Then simply smell a bowl of chocolate, take a small piece and taste it – let it cover your tongue and then have a sip of coffee and note how the taste changes. Use the same kind of chocolate from the other company and do the same. Afterwards sip just the coffee and notice the difference in taste. As you go along keep taking notes

This is a great thing to do with a bunch of people to find out how different taste buds experience different things and, of course, to find your own perfect chocolate and coffee pairing! Enjoy!

chocolate_and_coffee_wallpaper_fce8c

What Milk to Use for Your Coffee, Tea, or Hot Chocolate? Part II

Posted on by Sara Walker

In the previous blog we discussed using dairy milk versus soy milk and in this part we will continue to discuss those, but also move onto other milks. We recommend you read the previous blog first!

Rice milk is an alternative to dairy milk that’s becoming more and more popular. It has very little protein and unfortunately a lot of sugar, but like soy milk it is usually fortified with various vitamins and minerals. The texture is quite watery, but the taste is pleasant enough when making hot chocolates and lattes if you like the sweetness.

Almond milk is very popular in the US, but is still catching on in other parts of the world and gaining quite a lot of popularity in the UK. The great thing with almond milk is that the texture varies from brand to brand, meaning you can find a thick variety for that creamy hot chocolate and a much lighter one for your latte. It doesn’t contain that much protein, but nor is it very sugary and almonds themselves contain various vitamins and minerals that have great health benefits.

Other milk alternatives include hazelnut milk, hemp milk and oat milk. Oat milk is probably the most popular of those three and has the added benefit of reducing cholesterol and various other health benefits. It’s not good for those who suffer gluten sensitivity, nor is it very thick and creamy (unless some brand has invented a new variety we haven’t tried), but rather watery. Hazelnut milk is usually very flavorful and it appears some brands have gone full out and made it taste like marzipan! Not so great if you want to make a traditional latte, but fabulous if you want the hazelnut flavor. Hemp milk is good if you seek to get extra omega-3s in your diet and many report a great texture, but it really depends, just like almond milk, what brand you get hold of.

It’s tricky to advice what milk is the best to use. What appears obvious is to stay away from all non-organic brands of soy milk as even the non-GMO varieties often contain pesticides that are dangerous for you (see part I of this blog for more information). Soy on the whole appears dubious when it comes to your health, but if you want to use it, stick to the organic brands.

Organic is also the obvious choice for dairy milk as you will know the cows (or goats, or sheep) have been treated with respect (there are quite a few horror stories when it comes to how cows are being treated these days) and because they won’t contain any growth hormones, or unnecessary antibiotics. If it’s good for your health seems up for debate – probably as with most things it is alright in moderation. Maybe also try using some goat’s or sheep’s milk (the latter has a distinctive taste that you may or may not enjoy) as well to mix it up to avoid intolerance (and goat’s milk has good instead of bad cholesterol).

Rice milk is probably also alright in moderation, the only note of warning is using it too often as it contains a lot of sugar. All other vegan milks appear fine to use (apart from oat milk if you are sensitive to gluten, or the nut milks if you have nut allergies), so maybe try them all and stick with the one you prefer, or alternate between them to get the various health benefits from each one.

The best alternative to dairy apart from soy when it comes to texture is probably almond milk, if you can find a brand that has the texture you enjoy.

You can make most vegan milks yourself – there are plenty of sources online for recipes if you google one that takes your fancy!

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Maybe now is the time to start exploring different milks if you own a coffee shop as today’s consumers are getting progressively pickier and looking for new alternatives!

Does your cup matter when you drink coffee?

Posted on by Sara Walker

Time for coffee mug

I don’t know about you, but I have different cups, mugs and glasses for different hot drinks and occasions.

When I’m working I only drink from one mug – my bright yellow ‘Time for Coffee’ Banksy mug.

At home, I’ll drink from any large mug with a nice design on it, and a substantial handle. I’m not a fan of thin cups that are heavily stained with handles that hurt when you hold them.

When it comes to drinking coffee, this is what I like – unless I’m getting a takeaway coffee or a drink from a coffee machine, and then I’m happy with a paper cup.

Traditionally, when it comes to coffee, each style of drink comes with its own cup. Experts say that you won’t lose the flavour if you drink your coffee from the wrong cup, but selecting the right one will boost the experience and enhance the drink.

Which cup for which type of coffee?

Latte

The perfect café latte should be served in a tall clear glass cup with frothy milk going right up to the top. However, a non clear glass is also fine.

Drip coffee

The key here is to fill your cup to the top so it stays hot for longer. You might want to serve it in a clear glass if you’ve got a sweet tooth — this way you’ll be able to see if the sugar has mixed in properly.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino cups may vary slightly in size but the shape remains the same — a larger circumference around the top and a smaller base. The shape of the cappuccino cup allows the espresso to mix properly so you don’t get bubbles forming on the top.

Iced coffee

Serve in a tall clear glass with a straw and decorate with cream, strawberries and whatever else takes your fancy.

Turkish coffee

Go for an ornate cup with a matching saucer — the true name for a Turkish coffee cup is finjan. Alternatively, an espresso cup will also be fine, but for the an authentic Turkish coffee experience, pick one with a good design.

Drinking coffee could lower the risk of breast cancer returning in women taking Tamoxifen

Posted on by Sara Walker

Earlier this year, researchers at the Lund University in Sweden discovered that drinking coffee might help to prevent breast cancer returning in patients who had previously been diagnosed with cancer.

In a nutshell, scientists discovered that when patients consumed two or more cups of coffee a day with the drug Tamoxifen, they had a significantly lower chance of the cancer coming back.

The research

Researchers studied over 600 patients with breast cancer in southern Sweden for a period of five years. Half the patients were treated with Tamoxifen – a drug given to patients after breast cancer surgery to help stop the recurrence of the cancer.

Why coffee?

Although it is still unclear what role coffee might play to help lower the chance of the cancer reoccurring, researchers believe that coffee beans might help to activate the Tamoxifen making it more efficient in the patient who is taking it. However, at this stage, scientists are still unclear.

Coffee and other cancers

In the past, researchers have found that drinking coffee might help to prevent certain types of cancers from developing.

However, researchers discovered that it wasn’t because of the caffeine. For example, a study researching the effects coffee had on breast cancer, published in the National Cancer Institute, found that it didn’t matter if patients consumed caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.

Researchers believe that coffee has anti-inflammatory properties and is rich in antioxidants which could be partly why studies have found that drinking coffee regularly could lower your chances of developing certain types of cancer.

Future research

In the future, researchers at Lund University have said they would like to find out more about the effects lifestyle has on breast cancer treatment.

It would certainly be interesting to find out the effects of environment and stress, whether something as simple as consuming hot drinks regularly has a relaxing effect on the body, and what specifically makes coffee good for combating cancer.

6 unusual uses for coffee beans

Posted on by Sara Walker

1. Fashion

The fabric manufacturing company, Singtex makes environmentally friendly clothing using old coffee beans. The finished fabrics are soft, breathable and they help to protect you against harmful UV rays, making them ideal for sports, yoga and outdoor activities.

Find out more: Would you wear a top made from coffee beans?

2. Art

In addition to latte art, many artists have also decided to paint, sculpt and make murals using coffee beans. One of the most recent creations was a giant coffee bean mural mosaic made by Russian artist, Arkady Kim. The piece used over one million different shades of roasted coffee beans and took 12 days to make.

Read more about artists who use coffee in their work

3. Environment

If you’re a keen gardener, ground coffee beans will work wonders on your soil. This is the perfect time to start adding your left over beans to your vegetable patch, compost heap or the soil in your greenhouse to help your plants grow.  Coffee beans are rich in potassium, phosphorous, copper and magnesium which is supposed to be great for soil and plant growth.

4. Beauty

Coffee beans can be used to exfoliate rough skin, combat cellulite and when mixed with natural yoghurt and honey, they make a great face mask. You can also use freshly brewed coffee on your hair to get irresistibly silky smooth locks – just let the coffee cool, pour it on dry hair, leave it on your hair for about a minute, and rinse.

Read 5 homemade beauty products using coffee beans

5. Home

Coffee beans help to repel nasty odours – that’s if you like the smell of fresh coffee – and they’re great for scrubbing down your household surfaces. Coffee beans are slightly abrasive and acidic which makes them ideal for cleaning your home.

See more interesting uses for coffee

The comfort of an Irish coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

I don’t often drink Irish coffee – I love it, but it’s definitely a drink that’s perfect after a particularly good meal or special occasions  It doesn’t even have to be an Irish coffee – a good quality filter coffee served with a liqueur is just as good.

Over the weekend after a delicious meal at Hitchcock’s Restaurant in Hull my friend bought us all filter coffees with amaretto – a traditional Italian after dinner drink. There’s something both refreshing and warming about coffee and a good liqueur.

One of my most memorable Irish coffee moments was in Finland. The weather was minus 20 degrees and the ground was covered in thick, knee high snow.

It’s traditional in Finland to have outdoor fires – there are designated places all over the country with wood stacked to use and burn; so, you can just light a fire and have an outdoor picnic/ BBQ in freezing temperatures by a lake. It might not sound appealing, but having a fire in the snow with sausages cooked on an open fire and cups of Irish coffee is incredibly comforting.

The beauty of a good coffee with liqueur is that not only do they taste delicious when you make them with good quality coffee beans, but you can drink them at any time during the year. Just add ice in the summer and cinnamon in the winter.

Coffee beans and liqueur

  • Irish coffee – coffee with Irish whisky and brown sugar
  • Italian Classico – coffee with amaretto
  • Highland coffee – coffee and scotch whisky
  • French coffee – coffee with Cordon Rouge (orange flavoured brandy liqueur)
  • Russian coffee (Karsk) – coffee with moonshine or vodka
  • Australian coffee – coffee with Bundaberg rum
  • American coffee – coffee with Bourbon whisky

 

And if you don’t drink, fear not – you can always add some flavoured syrups to your coffee. Wholesale coffee Company have flavours in Amaretto, Irish cream, chocolate and many more.

The WorkHouse Coffee Company is a hit in Reading

Posted on by Sara Walker

When it comes to coffee shop competition, it’s not often that an independent coffee shop business will survive when it’s surrounded by Costa, Starbucks, Pret and other global coffee shop chains. But, one local business in Reading – The Workhouse Coffee Company – is doing amazingly well despite being opposite two major coffee shop chains.

The WorkHouse Coffee Company was set up eight years ago by Australian business man, Greg Costello who wanted to bring good quality coffee to Reading.
There are now several WorkHouse Coffee Company cafes in the Reading area, including shops on King Street and Oxford Street.

Managers at the WorkHouse Coffee Company employ people from all over the World and also sample different coffee beans regularly to make sure the coffee served is always top quality. Costello has also started to source and roast his own coffee beans.

On top of this, the shop is renowned for its high quality coffee beans, delicious food and excellent customer service. And, the business has been nominated for a Reading Retail Award.

Amazingly, the WorkHouse Coffee Company does not rely on any marketing or advertising and instead relies purely on word of mouth to spread the word.

If you’re into your coffee you’ll be in for a treat here. According to the Independent, Baristas at the WorkHouse Coffee Company will make people coffee to their exact specifications. Forget flat whites, skinny lattes and medium Americano’s with a drop of milk – this is an independent coffee shop that has made good quality coffee beans and its customers’ preferences a top priority. The café also made it into the Independent’s top 50 best breakfast spots list.

It’s certainly nice to see an independent business flourishing in a time when global corporations are opening up chains of fake independent coffee shops in an attempt to pass them off as unique businesses.

How to make a Thai iced coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

A couple of years ago I spent a bit of time travelling around Thailand and became a huge fan of iced coffee with condensed milk – in other words the delicious Thai iced coffee that looks as good as it tastes.  You might not think of Thailand as being a place for good coffee beans, but this recipe is certainly one to try (when the weather perks up).

Makes three Thai iced coffees

Thai iced coffee ingredients:

70g ground coffee beans of your choice

700ml boiling water

Sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk

Sugar or coffee syrup (if you have a really sweet tooth)

Six cardamom pods

Thai iced coffee instructions:

1. First, open up the cardamom pods and using a mortar and pestle or some sort of herb grinding device, crush up the cardamom seeds so you’re left with a fine powder.

2. Mix the cardamom seeds with the ground coffee beans, place into a cafetiere, pour the boiling water over the coffee beans and cardamom powder and leave to settle for 10 minutes.

3. If you’ve got a sweet tooth, you can add some sugar to the mixture; but condensed milk is already quite sweet so you should be fine without it. By all means add some extra sugar or a flavoured syrup of your choice once you’ve tried the drink with the condensed milk.

4. You can now serve your Thai style iced coffee dividing it equally between the three glasses.

5. Finally, using a table spoon placed over the glass of iced coffee, pour in the condensed milk slowly. This way, the milk will float beautifully into the rest of the coffee creating an interesting and rather sensual pattern.

Serve with ice, drink and enjoy sweet iced coffee, Thai style.

Buy coffee beans from Wholesale Coffee Company

Buy flavoured syrups from Wholesale Coffee Company

Tea vs coffee — what do you prefer?

Posted on by Sara Walker

coffee beans

Does the stereotypical coffee or tea drinker exist? Maybe so with builders having their own brand of tea, but what about coffee? Is it the drink of choice for high powered business people, sleep deprived writers or sophisticated 20 something’s sipping lattes in European cafes?

Perhaps your stereotypical coffee drinker is harder to pin down – coffee drinkers like coffee beans come in a multitude of styles. Perhaps with both tea and coffee it would be best to group people by character rather than vocation.

From observation I’ve noticed that people who are only tea drinkers and don’t enjoy coffee at all tend to be perhaps a bit more laid back, whereas those in favour of coffee beans might be more likely to have more drive. In high powered meetings, the drink of choice is often coffee – whereas tea might well be the drink you would wind down with after a hard day at work.

Going back to the initial question ‘Is coffee the drink of choice for high powered business people, sleep deprived writers or sophisticated 20 something’s sipping lattes in European cafes? I’d have to say now that I think coffee is the drink of choice for people who want to succeed and achieve.

I know this is a sweeping statement, but if research was conducted I think the results would back me up. Coffee beans are stimulants and the caffeine helps to wake us up, improve memory and concentration while we’re drinking it and refresh us for the day ahead.

When you’ve got a lot going on, whether you’re a busy student, a new business owner or you’ve just need a wake up kick, you’re not going to sip chamomile tea throughout the day are you?

Of course, not everyone sticks to just one type of tea of coffee. When you start to observe the drinking patterns of people you spend a lot of time with, you notice all kinds of things. For example, some people might drink coffee throughout the morning and then wind down with a builder’s style tea in the afternoon, finishing with a chamomile tea in the evening before bed.

What are your coffee drinking habits?

Should coffee beans become less of a commodity product?

Posted on by Sara Walker

Gone are the days when you could ask for a simple frothy coffee in a coffee shop. If you asked now, you’d be greeted by a confused barista asking you specifically what kind of coffee you’d like, the size of the drink and even your milk preference.

Starbucks to an extent expanded the world of coffee drink options – from the skinny soy latte and flat white to the size grande frappuccino … And even coffee machines have followed suite. You may still be able to order a simple coffee in a greasy spoon or a hospital waiting room, but with the rise of the pod coffee machines and the sophisticated designs of the more modern coffee machines, coffee has certainly come a long way from the instant freeze dried granules.

In a previous post, I wrote about the rise of third wave coffee – a movement that aims to make coffee more like wine and less of a commodity product. I can certainly see this hitting off. Should coffee beans become less of a commodity product?

Coffee shops and coffee machines may give us a lot of choice, but how much do we really know about the different types of coffee beans, the roasting process and the stories behind how the coffee beans were grown and who grew them?

Perhaps in the future we’ll start to see less of the gimmicky coffee drinks and we’ll develop our taste so rather than there being a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ coffee, we’ll be able to distinguish between the different roasts and unique flavours of different kinds of coffee beans. This is the case with wine after all. Even if you’re not a wine connoisseur, you can probably tell the difference at least between a sweet and a dry or a Chardonnay and a Sauvignon Blanc.

At the moment, however, I think we’re still a long way off from coffee tasting (coffee cupping) sessions becoming as popular as wine tasting, but it’d certainly be nice to see more coffee shops offering the service.

more information about coffee cupping and coffee tasting

Buy wholesale coffee beans online from Wholesale Coffee Company