Is it “Wake-up and smell the roses” or is it “Wake-up and smell the coffee?” Either way we decided to mash them together because, what could be more joyful than drinking coffee surrounded by the intoxicating aroma of freshly cut flowers? So, we take a closer look at 5 cafes that have integrated with florists to bring you a delightfully uplifting experience. Ella’s Place – 305 New King’s Rd, Fulham, London SW6 4RF, United Kingdom “Ella’s Places” in Parsons Green sell beautiful bouquets and of course, specialty coffee sourced from South London roasters, Volcano Coffee Works. The interior feels ..read more

Adventures in coffee is a new podcast that dives deep into your morning brew. Come and join us on this six episode series where Jools Walker aka LadyVelo and myself, Scott Bentley (founder of Caffeine) explore the world of coffee for people who are curious about what’s in their daily cup. We journey around the world getting the answers to the questions we’ve always wanted to ask. This is 7 months, 3 lockdowns and hundreds of Zoom hours in the making while being presided over by our producer, James of the Filter Stories Podcast As we’re are all becoming more interested in where our food a ..read more

Did you know, 2,500 years ago Pythagoras, an ancient Greek philosopher, invented the greedy cup; an ingenious device which empties itself when filled past a certain level? Fast forward to 1941, Dr. Schlumbohm invented the iconic CHEMEX® Coffeemaker now on permanent display in the Museum of Modern Art, New York. How are these connected? Well, Marco and CHEMEX® have designed the Ottomatic® for the CHEMEX® Coffeemaker, adapting greedy cup technology to brew the perfect cup of coffee. Brought to you by Marco and CHEMEX® The Ottomatic® coffeemaker adapts the greedy cup technology and uses innovati ..read more

Kelis once claimed that “milkshake brings all the boys to the yard” and while we’re pretty sure she wasn’t talking about the popular beverage, she makes a good point. So where are all the good-quality coffee milkshakes in the nation’s coffee shops? Surely they’re a no-brainer when it comes to summer menu additions? Marian Plajdicko from Berlin’s Happy Baristas drew our attention to the idea. He had a coffee milkshake on the menu right from the start. As with so many good ideas, it seems so obvious in retrospect – even more so after we decided to make some ourselves and share the results. We ex ..read more

Warning: we’re about to get really coffee nerdy on you. When our ancestors discovered fire, and someone had the bright idea of throwing food on it, our expectations of aroma and flavour were changed forever. As food is browned, new molecules are created and enticing flavours come to life. This process is referred to as the Maillard reaction. In the case of coffee, this reaction is what unleashes the varied and delicious flavour notes we know and love. Louis-Camille Maillard was the French scientist who in 1912 first described the process whereby amino acids, carbonyl compounds and sugars react ..read more

Coffee is a multi-billion pound industry. According to the Allegra’s World Coffee Portal, The coffee shop market in 2018 was worth £10.1 bn, up 7.9% on the previous year. That’s a huge pie, and it’s time to carve out a bigger slice for minorities. Coffee is part of our daily lives. It provides many great things that we can all agree upon. Health benefits, comfort and energy and social interaction. But first, here are a few general ideas to keep in mind moving forward. Educate yourself: You can find anti-racism resources here. Everything from books, to podcasts, documentaries, and more. (Docum ..read more

The UK is heating up, and so what better way to cool off than eating copious amounts of ice cream? Trick question, there isn’t. Our resident foodie Safia Shakarchi has got you covered with her coffee, sourdough and sea salt semifreddo. Brb while we go drool. There’s no doubt it’s one of the best things to eat, but ice cream can seem an intimidating thing to make. The stuff you eat in ice cream parlours or scoop shops is churned in a fancy (and pretty expensive) ice cream maker, and for years I avoided attempting my own ice cream for exactly that reason. But the truth is you don’t need a fancy ..read more

In the age of social distancing, one of the biggest questions we’re probably all asking is how coffee shops are going to adapt. While we definitely don’t have all the answers (or even some of them!) what we do think is that we’ll see a flourishing of tiny coffee shops – after all, they’re too little to get crowded anyway! Today, we’re taking a look at our favourite little spots across the capital, and why tiny might be the next big thing. Tiny coffee shops have always been a part of the speciality world. Early examples include The Espresso Room, Mother’s Milk and Taylor St’s Shoreditch Shed. P ..read more

One of the best things to come out of lockdown is all the cooking and baking everyone is doing. We’ve been rummaging through all of our favourite recipes from our resident foodie, Safia Shakarchi. There are so many ways you can incorporate coffee into dishes – even in things you wouldn’t suspect, like hummus! So without further ado, over to Safia… I have a tendency to put my favourite things together to eat in one dish. They’re often things that people prefer to enjoy individually and perhaps with good reason (like, say, coffee and hummus) but if you don’t try you’ll never know, right? So I de ..read more

All the types of coffee processing – such as washed, honey and natural – describe the way in which the fruit or ‘cherry’ surrounding the coffee bean is removed. The natural process, also known as dry or unwashed, is the oldest of these and originated thousands of years ago in Ethiopia. It’s also the cheapest as it requires little specialised equipment. Once ripe, the fruit is picked and laid out in the sun to dry, often on raised beds or patios. It is turned regularly to achieve optimal dryness of between 10 and 14%. Drying in this manner – which can take up to four weeks – causes the cherry t ..read more