Journal

Grinding our whole beans The ideal grinding practice is to grind immediately before you brew whilst achieving the finest grind possible without clogging the paper filter, or, if using a cafetiere, releasing too much sediment into the cup. The purpose of grinding is to effectively increase the surface area of the coffee exposed to the water, so as much of the flavour oils can enter the brew. Fine grinds result in more flavourful, economical coffee....

I mentioned in our first post on sustainability that we have seen an uplift in online orders during COVID-19 lock down and that it was plain to see that we were making poor choices using non-environmentally friendly packaging. This needed to change, and change it has! From next week, bubble lined mailer bags, plastic document envelopes and plastic tape will be replaced by paper mailers, paper document envelopes and paper tape. We think that paper...

I have been thinking about sustainability a lot. Sustainability is something that’s likely always been in the back of my mind and we probably already do a lot of it at work without thinking. However, I think that making a concerted effort to do it right, is better for the environment as we move towards being a more progressive business. This and future posts will form the basis of a more cohesive plan around sustainability...

As a roaster, I spend many an hour thinking about fantastic, exciting coffees to source. Coffee that challenges perception of what coffee can taste like. Coffee that challenges my experience as a roaster and cupper. Coffee that I feel proud to showcase to my peer group. However, experience has taught me that this can sometimes go against what my customers really need or want (relative to their journey into speciality coffee). I roast coffee for...

"Dogma is a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. It serves as part of the primary basis of an ideology or belief system, and it cannot be changed or discarded without affecting the very system's paradigm, or the ideology itself." I am often asked what recipes to use for espresso, pour over and cafetière. My answers a described through numbers. I roast to profiles. These profiles are refined...

The Sparkling Water Decaffeination Process was first discovered by a scientist called Kurt Zosel at the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in 1967 as he was looking at new ways of separating mixtures of substances. In 1988, a German decaffeination company called CR3 developed this process for decaffeination, whereby natural carbon dioxide is combined with water to create 'sub-critical' conditions which creates a highly solvent substance for caffeine in coffee. It is a gentle,...

When I started the company six years ago, it was with the intention to bring a small scale coffee roasting operation to Hull. To provide people with a selection of small batch roasted coffee, mainly through this website and a few market stalls that I did – Beverley Market, Humber Bridge Market etc. Roasting coffee was a hobby, an interest, but no thought was applied to wholesale coffee roasting. Why? Hull’s coffee scene was in...

What you will need: Hario V60 dripper Filter paper Freshly roasted coffee beans Filtered / bottled water Kettle Pouring device Weighing scales Stopwatch Brew instructions: Begin bringing your filtered / bottled water to the desired temperature – 100 degrees Celsius Fold the seam edge of the filter paper over and place into the V60 dripper Place the dripper onto your cup / decanter and onto your scales - tare the scales Once the water reaches 100 degrees...

I get to taste quite a lot of espresso throughout my working week, and when travel permits, on the weekend too. I visit various shops - some that are wholesale customers of mine and some that are not. I also drink espresso at the roastery too. It strikes me that the variance in 'quality' of shots received is huge. Some of this is down to choice of coffee, espresso recipe (different starting and brewed mass...

What you will need An AeroPress Paper AeroPress filter Coffee grinder or pre-ground coffee (finer than filter paper) Scales Stopwatch Filtered or bottled water A stirring device A mug or decanter Brew Instructions Begin bringing your filtered / bottled water to the desired temperature - 90 degrees Celsius Put the paper filter into the AeroPress cap and thoroughly rinse with hot water to remove any paper taints Weigh out 15grams of whole bean coffee and grind...

How do you make the perfect cafetiere of coffee? Well, the instructions below will get you pretty close to a perfect cup and importantly, be able to replicate it time and time again. Firstly, there a few tools that you will require, so go ahead and put together everything on the 'tools' list: Cafetiere of your choice Freshly roasted, coarse ground coffee Your favourite coffee mug Measuring scales - kitchen scales will be perfect Spoon...

Firstly we would like to point out that a stove top / Moka Pot is not a method used to make an espresso, only espresso machines can do that! Instead, we use moka pots to make a strong, deep and balanced coffee. So, what equipment will we need before we get started? The list below will be everything you require: - Kettle- Carbon filtered water (bottled mineral water with a TDS of around 150ppm)- Moka...