Caffe Society Blog

Going Green with Coffee

Dennis — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:25:27 +0000

Have you noticed the relationship between social and environmental issues and coffee drinking?

There have been plenty around in the news recently.

For instance, the Fair Trade certification is something that many people look out for when they browse the supermarket in search of their coffee.

This is an organisation that takes the agreements made with coffee growers seriously – so that certain criteria need to be in place to get the Fair Trade award, which in turn, helps the farmers of developing countries and their communities.

Another coffee ‘green’ issue: using coffee grounds as a fertiliser.

Some savvy coffee shops are giving away their grounds to be used as compost by green-fingered customers.

A coffee morning was planned in Lincolnshire recently, in the town of Horncastle and the agenda at the occasion focused on green issues.

While sipping on some coffee, visitors could discuss these matters and raise their awareness of them.

The planned topics for discussion?

There will be vegetable seedlings and plants for sale to encourage families to ‘grow their own.’

In addition, Life on the Verge information is to be made available – in essence a wild flower expert will help with the identification of flora.

An expert on energy assessing will also enlighten those who are interested about a new Green Deal, which is to come into play later in the year.

It seems that coffee sometimes acts as something of a catalyst to think about environmental issues and social issues, which surely benefits all of us.

Fair Trade fund-raising has added attraction

Dennis — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:16:05 +0000

Did you know that in New Zealand, it is currently Oxfam’s Biggest Coffee Break and Fair Trade Fortnight 2012?

No?

It runs from 5th to 12th May and has been organised by Oxfam in the country.

Of course, both Fair Trade and Oxfam do excellent work to help those in need.

Fair Trade helps to put in place agreements to buy the products of farmers in developing countries, which comply with certain protective criteria (and help the community).

Oxfam is known the world over for its help of those who are in need.

The two organisations have inspired Bret McKenzie so much that he is ‘up for auction,’ as part of the fortnight’s activities.

McKenzie is well known for his appearance in Flight of the Conchords.

He has also won an Academy Award for his songwriting skills in last year’s The Muppets.

However, he is now turning his hand to raising money for worthwhile organisations.

Those who bid the highest at the auction could end up on a date with the much-loved New Zealander.

There is also a guitar, signed by McKenzie and also fellow bandmate Jermaine Clement.

Oxfam’s Biggest Coffee Break and Fair Trade Fortnight gives volunteers the opportunity to host a Coffee Break party – which has the benefit of (a) being a good shindig, (b) raising money, (c) raising awareness of Fair Trade initiatives.

The funds go towards the producers of the products in developing countries.

Who is the UK representative at the World Barista Championships?

Dennis — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:21:39 +0000

Did you realise that there is a competition to discover the world’s best barista?

Annually, this event takes place in a different country around the world.

Last year the World Barista Championship took place in Bogota, Columbia, in South America.

This year it is to take place in Vienna during June 2012.

However, to find out who is to compete in the global competition, each participating country will have its own national competition.

As we approach the next global competition, the baristas in the United Kingdom have been flexing their coffee-making muscles and have been competing against each other to work out who will earn the title of the UK Barista Champion.

The winner has the prize of representing their nation at the world championships….

The news is now out.

The winner of the national competition goes to a barista who is based in the beautiful Georgian city of Bath.

He’s Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, the co-owner of the coffee shop Colonna and Smalls.

To win the event, Colonna-Dashwood had to prepare twelve drinks – four cappuccinos, four espressos and also four espresso-based signature drinks.

Colonna-Dashwood chose to use Rwandan coffee for his signature dish, with other ingredients including ruby grapefruit and also sparkling water, root liquorice and star anise.

Of course, this is also good news for the Colonna and Small business in Bath.

We wish Colonna-Dashwood well in his performance at the World Championships in Vienna.

Coffee morning to help local charity

Phil — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:12:58 +0000

In the pretty town of Petersfield in southern England, there has recently been a successful coffee morning to raise funds for a local charity.

Although the weather in the area was miserable and visitors might have been tempted to stay inside and keep warm and dry, there was a good turn out, all things considered.

The charity that was to benefit from the event?

The Bereavement Counselling Charity.

The format for the coffee morning was traditional – homemade cakes aplenty.

Many of the visitors were part of the walking group called Walking for Health, who had especially planned their route to
end at the venue of the coffee morning.

The Bereavement Counselling Charity supports those in the East Hants, Portsmouth and also the Havant areas.

Originally named the Havant Area Bereavement Care Group, the organisation has been going strong since 1989.

The charity does an excellent job and, as it provides services without charging for them, the donations it receives from events such as coffee morning, are welcomed.

The charity provides counsellors who have had special bereavement training and the charity operates in accordance with the British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy.

If you want to use the services of the Bereavement Counselling Service, you can arrange for adults to be counselled in the comfort of their own homes and younger people can either receive help on a one-to-one basis or also in smaller, group sessions.

The charity has been well-recognised and received the Queens Golden Jubilee Award for Services to the Community back in 2003.

Independent coffee shops are celebrated in Devon

Matt — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:02:59 +0000

It seems that the people of Devon, a stunning county in the south of England, are very proud of the heritage of independent coffee shops, as opposed to chains of coffee outlets.

They are so proud, in fact, that they have decided to hold a festival to support them.

The festival will be a culmination of a period of coffee celebration.

The period will run from 5 May to 20 May. It is no coincidence that these dates tally with the World Fairtrade Day (May 12th).

During this time, the baristas in the area will battle it out between each other to create the best cup of coffee.

The cafes and eateries in Totnes have also agreed to promote coffee and there will be prize draws for rating the quality of coffee at relevant venues.

The café which wins the most votes will be disclosed at the festival.

In addition, at the festival there will be a barista-style competition, with plenty of entertainment at the event, plus various coffee making demonstrations.

It is said that the people in the area were partly motivated to hold this festival because they want to preserve the individuality of the shops and coffee outlets on their high street.

A common criticism of the high streets of Britain this year, is that they have the same selection of chain shops, so that visiting one town is very much like visiting any other.

Hopefully, this coffee festival will help the county of Devon to stand out from the crowd.

Gearing up for the annual World Barista Championships

Matt — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 09:10:53 +0000

It’s coming up to that time of year again – the best baristas in the world will battle it out against each other to win the title of World Barista Champion.

The coffee world is very sophisticated and competitive these days and the craft of the barista is something that is also developing and the standards of coffee delivery are increasing.

Techniques are improving. Creativity in designing coffee drinks are blossoming.

Service is improving.

This year, the World Barista Championships will take place in Vienna.

Watch this space!

One of the judges who will be at the World of Coffee event in Vienna is a coffee roaster called Hayden Thompson.

He is the manager of an organisation called Pomeroy’s Coffee and Tea Company.

However, the Viennese event is not simply focused on the skills of baristas.

It also looks at other aspects of the world of coffee, such as World Latte Art (the designs which baristas make in the froth on the top of a cup of latte, which have been increasingly sophisticated of late) and also the Coffee Roasting Challenge.

Mr Thompson will in fact judge at an event called the World Brewers’ Cup, which is the newest competition at the event – in fact, 2012 will be the debut world competition for the title.

What is this competition about?

It is designed to test the barista’s ability to brew coffee without the use of an espresso machine or other machine which is powered by electricity.

Coffee meetings to discuss important issues

Dennis — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 10:00:59 +0000

Have you noticed that coffee seems to be a good catalyst for discussion and debate?

Right from the beginnings of the coffee house, it seems that the early coffee drinkers appreciated this aspect of the caffeine elixir and the early coffee houses were dubbed ‘penny universities.’

People like to chat and think about things as they drink coffee…

This has been used to great effect in many social settings.

If you fancy catching up with a pal, isn’t the coffee house one of the first places that springs to mind?

What about coffee mornings, that great social tradition for networking and also raising funds for charity?

There is a new trend too for the use of coffee – the gathering of locals and officials over a cup of coffee to discuss the issues of the day, raise matters which need attention and discuss grievances, with a view to finding solutions.

One example of this is in Cape May County – as reported in the local online press recently, the police have made themselves available to tune in to their community at their local coffee shop.

While sipping on a cup of joe, locals were made welcome to come along and share their concerns.

This could have interesting and valuable consequences – the police then follow up issues which have been raised.

They also obtain on-the-ground intelligence and are offered the opportunity to take pre-emptive action.

One of the most important aspects of the interaction is that the police and residents forge a closer bond.

All thanks to the humble cup of coffee.

UK Barista Championship preparations are underway

Dennis — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:15:44 +0000

Now that we are into 2012, all sorts of annual events and competitions are being brought to the forefront of our minds, as the festive fog disappears.

One of these events is the Barista Championships, which will be held nationally, to select the candidate to be sent to compete in the World Championships in due course.

For example, judges have been chosen.

In the local news in York, there have been celebrations that Sadie Hopkins of the York Coffee Emporium has been picked to go on the judging panel.

She will be collaborating with the Casa Espresso, to put together some workshops to help budding baristas hone their skills in readiness for the national championships.

The UK Barista Championship finalist, Howard Barwick, will also be at hand to offer advice to potential entrants.

During the competition, baristas will be expected to work quickly and efficiently.

They will be given a quarter of an hour to set up their working area and then another quarter of an hour to make twelve drinks.

Any particular sort of drinks?

Yes, they are expected to produce four espressos, four cappuccinos and four signature drinks which are based on an espresso.

The preparation of multiple drinks in each category will help to establish consistency.

The semi finals will be held at the London Coffee Festival, followed by the grand final on 29 April 2012.

We hope that the wonderful British baristas will shine at the competition and also that the winner will do us all proud when he or she participates in the global competition.

Coffee cup is home for teeny dog

Dennis — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 09:39:47 +0000

You may have seen recent news stories about the tiny dog that can fit into a coffee cup.

Pictures of the cute puppy have made viewers oooooh and ahhhhh at her tiny size.

The little Dachshund dog is, it is reported, one of the smallest dogs in the world.

In fact, it has been said that there is currently an application to the Guinness Book of Records to acknowledge the fact formally.

When she was born, this tiny puppy was so small that she could fit onto a teaspoon.

She was a mere one ounce in weight.

The puppy was named Beyonce and is now growing by the day, although is still very small.

According to reports, she is now about the same size as a credit card.

And Beyonce the tiny Dachshund is currently at a Rescue Centre for dogs, as her mother was an abandoned dog.

However, many people have fallen in love with the cute pictures of the little pooch and hundreds of people have, allegedly, offered to adopt her.

Although she is not yet strong enough to move home, the rescue centre have said that she may be available for adoption when she gets a little older.

Dachshund dogs are said to have a playful temperament and have a great love of chasing after little animals and birds.

It is said that they can also be a stubborn breed of dog – in Beyonce’s case, this may be a good thing, if she stubbornly decides to grow and become an adult dog of long life.

Coffee and Alzheimer’s: the good news

Matt — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:59:39 +0000

Given the huge popularity of coffee the world over, much effort has gone into assessing the effects of caffeine and coffee on our bodies.

Some surprising results have arisen from the various scientific and medical investigations that have taken place.

It seems that there are many good side effects from sipping on a regular cup of joe.

For instance, there has recently been a study at the University of South Florida into the effects of coffee and the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

This disease affects many of us – it has been estimated that there are around 750,000 with Alzheimer’s in the United Kingdom alone – and as the population grows older, this figure is expected to increase.

So what did this study discover?

It appears, according to reports, that those who drink coffee on a regular basis are statistically less likely to show symptoms of the disease.

Apparently, those participants in the study who maintained their health had twice the amount of caffeine in their bodies compared to those who developed the early stages of dementia.

This study looked at participants over a four year period.

How much coffee were these people drinking to keep the disease at bay?

It seems that a relatively low amount of coffee is needed to have this effect: participants drank three cups of coffee on a daily basis to reduce the chances of getting Alzheimer’s.

This is an important discovery, as there is no real cure for stopping deterioration as a result of the disease.