Cooper & Co

I can’t believe how smoothly the journey has gone so far. The connection between Gatwick and Heathrow went like a dream. I’ve missed flights in the past because of that apparently simple link, but today the coffee gods are with me. At Heathrow once again the flight was on time and left ahead of schedule. The “toothpastegate” issue at Jersey airport turned out to be a minor skirmish!

I left Jersey at precisely 14.00 on a pristine and gorgeously sunny spring day, the proverbial calm before the storm predicted for the following day. I’m off on my next coffee adventure to Honduras a mere 5,500 miles away but I wonder if the days of the “origin” visit are numbered? How do I now justify the inevitable carbon footprint this journey will make? I’d probably struggle to look a certain Greta Thunberg in the eye as I claimed there was a greater good in this journey.

Having abstained in 2019 from visiting a coffee origin, I’m pleased to announce that my coffee adventures will re-commence in 2020 with a visit in February to Honduras.

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.

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.

“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!)

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?

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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.