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Coffees of the Year 2019 by Edward Wilkins
With 2019 drawing to a close, we can look back on a year full of momentous events: The urgency of a climate catastrophe, another general election, Brexit extensions, Lizzo releasing her album - but to name a few. Looking through a coffee-stained lens however gives me the opportunity to reflect on the truly brilliant year we have experienced at Cooper & Co. and the coffees and customers that we have seen come through our doors over the past 12 months. -
The tea on which an Empire was built
I was reflecting the other day as I sat drinking a cup of traditional black loose leaf tea that we really have as a nation forgotten what great tea tastes like. The multi-national brands have been pumping out cheap tea for so long now that millions of us have long since given up on the stuff that once made Britain famous around the world. -
Black as death and sweet as love
“Coffee should be hot as hell, black as death and sweet as love”. There are many variations on this Turkish proverb however each would cause the coffee purist to turn in their proverbial grave. (I’m assuming they’ve gone to heaven!) -
Choosing a coffee for Christmas
It happens every year, the coffee lover in the family is expecting something special. So, partner / son / daughter / grandchild is sent to the local speciality coffee store and expected to select something. At Cooper’s they’re faced with a selection of 16 coffees from all over the world with taste profiles from chocolatey to grapefruity and everything in between. Where to begin? -
Rwanda - Kinigazi
This is the first time in over 20 years that we have made a conscious effort to import coffee from Rwanda. I was reflecting upon why this was the case and checked out one of my favourite reference books written by the renowned author of all things coffee, Kenneth David’s. I noticed that in his book “A guide to buying, brewing and enjoying coffee” published in 2001 there is no mention of Rwanda as an exporting nation. -
London Coffee Festival
This festival has become one of the highlights of the year for my industry and this year I took two members of our team to experience the energy and enthusiasm that currently resides in our industry. -
Bettys!
Post the steroidal experience of the London Coffee Festival and all that is Brexit we took a few days out “up north”. This included a visit to probably the most famous tea room in England, Bettys of Harrogate. The contrast in style is so extreme that it’s hard to believe that Edwardian elegance still has any relevance in today’s market. However the permanent queue outside Bettys would make a hipster choke on their single estate flat white and proves that you can’t beat a well delivered authentic experience. -
Black gold?
This item has been splashed all over the national media, £15 for a cup of Yemeni coffee from an Alain Ducasse outlet in King’s Cross London. The PR people have done such a good job that even I’m writing about it! It does however, as The Times in their “Weekend” supplement points out, open up a discussion around what a great cup of coffee tastes like and what one might consider is good value. -
A taste test of alternatives to milk milk
Once upon a time the only milk available was, well, milk milk. That is, it originated from a mammal, mostly cows but also goats or sheep. However, in much the same way that coffee is no longer just coffee there has been an explosion in the non-dairy milk offer found on both the supermarket shelf and in your local coffee shop. -
Van Story
We have replaced our delivery vehicle, something we do every 3-5 years depending upon economic conditions and what else we need to renew. When you think about it, as we have been doing, it’s quite a big deal. If we get it wrong we could have 60 months of regret. Clearly there are the basics - getting the right size vehicle so that you are neither burning too much petrol carrying thin air nor one so small that you can’t fit in sufficient orders for a single delivery. Then there’s the decision as to how you to advertise our business on this white blank canvas. -
Filter Coffee - A New Dawn.
No doubt, like many of you, I’ve been making copious amounts of coffee as both a revival tool and for sheer pleasure over the holiday period. Usually on an average working day I’ll be drinking a selection of espresso based drinks from our trusty La Marzocco machine at our Halkett Place, Jersey shop where my office is also located. I’ve become so acclimatised to the punch that my double shot espresso based beverage delivers that anything less would, you might think, be barely worthy of comment. However, over the Christmas period I’ve been re-discovering the delight that is filter coffee. -
Coffees of the year 2018
It’s that time of the year when I like to review some of the incredible coffees we’ve seen this year. As I continually tell anyone who’ll listen to me we live in a golden age of coffee. The work at origin that goes into setting such a high bar is truly humbling and it’s tragic that so much is simply sold as commodity and left to the vagaries of New York “c” and a handful of hedge fund managers.
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