Cooper & Co

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Guatemala – Monte Rosa – “Laurina”
November 08, 2018
Volcan de Fuego erupted on the 3rd June 2018 causing immense devastation in the south west of Guatemala, a major coffee growing region famous for Antigua coffee. As with typhoon Hudhud in south-eastern India a few years back, devastation occurs overnight. Livelihoods as well as life is lost in these immense natural disasters.
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DR Congo – Kawa Kanzururu Co-op coffee
November 08, 2018
I think it is quite miraculous that we are able to source coffee from The Democratic Republic of Congo. Not only is it rewarding to receive, it is also great coffee. One day I hope I'll pay a visit to these amazing producers but for now all I can do is write about the background to a country that has been devastated by war and disease.
- Africa
- Coffee
- Coffee Blog
- Coffee Expert
- Congo
- Travel
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One Moment In Time
November 08, 2018
If it’s ever possible to have a time out in my business, then Saturday morning tends to be that moment. It has been a tradition for many years now that at 9 o’clock I play uninterrupted tennis with my friends and heaven help anyone from work who tries to interrupt this golden hour and a half.
- coffee
- Coffee Blog
- Coffee Stories
- Saturday
- Tennis
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Lazy Sunday
November 08, 2018

For the first time forever I had Sunday off (normally I’ll be opening our busy waterfront café). I’d forgotten how carefree this day once was so many years ago before life got in the way.
- Coffee
- Coffee Blog
- Coffee Expert
- Dinard
- France
- Sunday
- Travel
- Travel Blog
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Monsooned Malabar Coffee
November 08, 2018
I wrote a blog about this coffee and its origins on the 5th January 2018 where I described it as a bit “Marmite”. Well a few weeks ago I was over in London and visited a famous Indian restaurant called Dishoom which can be found at 4 Derry Street, Kensington, London.
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Decaffeinated Coffee – Fact and Fiction
November 08, 2018
I’ll aim to keep this blog fairly short and sweet as it’s very easy to get caught up in the long grass when it comes to the different decaffeinating processes and the impact it has on your cup of Joe. There are plenty of websites out there who will go into the chemistry but few talk about what really matters and that is the taste.
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Getting your coffee out of hot water
November 08, 2018
This is one of those challenging issues that coffee purists will hate but which in reality occurs over and over again in many a foodservice outlet. The coffee machine temperature / pressure (they are interlinked) is set a little too high or has increased over time.
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Myanmar coffee - The Beaujolais noveau of the east
November 08, 2018
I visited Myanmar in February 2018 and discovered a really interesting country with a lot of historical baggage but with a bright future if only the rest of the world would stop interfering. In my book “trade and aid, the politics of coffee” I’ve tried to give some insight into what I saw without the filter of a global media. There are major problems not least of which is a resolution to the Rohingya crisis, however the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi needs to be given some space to allow her fledgling Government to establish itself after decades of ruinous military rule.
- Aged Coffee
- coffee
- Coffee Blog
- Coffee Stories
- Myanmar
- Rohingya
- Travel
- Travel Blog
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Up-Cycling
November 08, 2018
The idea to up-cycle a couple of tired soft chairs came out of a response to an article I wrote in a local magazine that goes by the name of “Rural”. For some reason the editor has let me loose to write the closing piece and on the last occasion I chose to comment about how disappointing some of our public planting schemes are these days. Low hanging fruit when it came to that great austerity moment.
- Chairs
- coffee
- Coffee Blog
- Jersey
- St Helier
- Up-Cycling
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My Day Off
November 08, 2018
I decided to take a time out of my business the other day and go to London to see an exhibition at the Tate Modern Gallery. However being in the coffee business I find you never really take a day off, instead I found myself drinking more coffee than ever as I trawled various outlets on both my outward and return journeys.
- coffee
- Coffee Blog
- Day Off
- London
- Speciality Coffee
- Travel
- Travel Blog
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Shwe Ywar Ngan, Myanmar
November 08, 2018
Traceability has virtually become the new ethical standard for the consumer. However did you know that many of our giant and most trusted corporations use fake farm names or fake place names to give the impression of provenance? The competition for your spend seemingly means that no stone is left unturned when it comes to cosying up to the consumer and giving the illusion of that feel-good factor.
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Boozy Blueberries
November 08, 2018
Following my recent visit to the coffee producers of Myanmar I was very struck by the amount of effort being put into different processing methods. It’s something that is familiar to the speciality coffee industry however is quite new for your average consumer.
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