Tag: coffee news UK

Coffee fads: candyfloss coffee

Posted on by Sara Walker

We’re always on the lookout for the latest coffee fad – not because we want to follow suit, but because they make us smile! After all, when something’s as perfect as a good cup of coffee, why try and improve it? The rise of social media platform Instagram has a lot of answer for, with users posting pictures of rainbow coffee, coffee mixed with turmeric or green matcha powder. The latest ‘innovation’, though, comes from Shanghai, China. A café has paired up the very childish treat of candyfloss with the very adult treat of coffee. They’re offering a cup of coffee with a cloud of candyfloss suspended over it on a sort of metal rack. The idea is that as the heat from the coffee melts the candyfloss it drops little drips of sugary sweetness into your coffee. It’s called ‘Sweet Little Rain’ coffee, and it’s currently big on Instagram.

It’s more expensive than a regular cuppa, currently priced at around 58 Chinese yen or £6. And it does look interesting – but if you’re a coffee purist like us, we can’t help wondering if it’s actually adding anything to the drink, other than an undefinable amount of sugar. It doesn’t look that controllable, either – surely all that candyfloss would melt over the cup, spoon, saucer and table rather than being confined to your cup? We’re not sure it’s worth the effort of all the wet wipes you’d have to use afterwards!

If you’re looking for a great cup of coffee with no gimmicks attached, then you’ve come to the right place. We supply wholesale coffee for use in businesses and cafes, and we pride ourselves on the high quality of our products as well as our customer service. To find out more, or to browse our range of products, take a look at our main website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk – and sorry, there’s no candyfloss on sale!

US sweet company launches caffeinated gummy bears

Posted on by Sara Walker

Every time we think we’ve heard it all, we’re given a reminder that we haven’t yet. In California (where else?) a sweet company called Sugarfina have teamed up with a coffee chain called Alfred to produce the caffeinated gummy bears. For those of you not familiar with the gummy bear, it’s a small teddy bear shaped sweet made from gelatine and sugar and normally flavoured with fruit. The new caffeinated versions are even available in different flavours – bourbon cold brew, iced vanilla latte and cold brew. And yes, the bourbon flavour does apparently contain real whiskey.

Each 100g serving of the sweets contains the same amount of caffeine as a cup of espresso.

According to the coffee shop, they pride themselves on ‘staying ahead of trends’ – and we think they certainly have! The sweets took two years to develop and have been made with real coffee. They retail at around £5.70 for 100g – a lot more than most espressos.

Alfred has collaborated on all sorts of coffee-themed collections in the past, with their partnership with Sugarfina being the latest partnership.

We’re not entirely sure who these sweets are aimed at – although obviously not children! We guess they’re more portable and practical than a cup of hot drink can sometimes be – after all, you couldn’t stick a cup of coffee in your pocket or handbag – and they mean you can get an instant caffeine fix wherever you are. On the downside, though, they contain a lot more than just coffee, including sugar, so aren’t a like-for-like substitute. The sweets are nicely packaged in a miniature coffee cup or a paperbag, and are already proving popular on social media. We think, though, that we’ll stick to the real deal and drink actual coffee!

If you’d like to browse our range of top quality coffee beans, coffee accessories and coffee supplies, all aimed at cafes and coffee businesses, then take a look at our main website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Espresso or latte? It’s all in your genes.

Posted on by Sara Walker
Image: Pixabay

Ever wondered why you can knock back three cups of coffee in one go while your other half can never drink more than one? A study carried out by Harvard School of Public Health, in conjunction with Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers, could hold the answers. The study involved analysing the coffee drinking habits of 120,000 participants and was able to isolate six genetic variants.

The six included two genes involved in the way we metabolise coffee, POR and ABCG2. Two others, BDNF and SLC6A4, could have an effect on how rewarding we find caffeine. The final two, GCKR and MLXIPL, were known to have an impact on how we metabolise glucose and lipids, but hadn’t previously been associated with the metabolism of caffeine.

The findings of the study suggest that we automatically moderate our caffeine intake to experience the fullest effect. Marilyn Cornelius, the lead author of the study and a research associate at Harvard School of Public Health, said that the research may allow for the identification of groups likely to receive health benefits from increasing or reducing their caffeine consumption.  Marilyn Cornelius’ colleague Daniel Chasman, senior author on the study and associate professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital said the research was interesting as an example of how genetics can influence behaviour such as caffeine consumption, and similar patterns could be seen with alcohol and smoking.

So the next time that you think you can’t get through the morning without a large cup of coffee, remember it could be your genes to blame!

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re dedicated to supplying our customers with the very best in coffee beans and coffee supplies, all available at great wholesale prices online. To find out more or to browse our full range, take a look at our main website www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.