Saturday 13 November 2010

Blends

BLENDS
Over the past few months we have been hard at work with our long term plans and that is to develop a coffee blend. This we know is a long process and one that will develop over time; we need to ensure in the long run we come up with a coffee that is consistent, unique, enjoyable, and saleable.

Having a clear objective of the type of blend we wanted to produce was important but we had to remember that what we liked didn’t necessarily mean the public would like. We wanted to achieve a cup that’s a little on the acidity side that’s clean and hopefully memorable to taste but without a heavy feeling in the after taste.

We decided to use 100% Arabica beans but also to try some Robusta beans on occasion to heighten the earthy flavours of the cup as well as to ensure a much thicker crema.
The beans were roasted separately and as slowly as possible to a level higher than we would normally take the bean too, and released the beans from the roaster a few seconds beyond the second crack and then quickly cooled them down. After leaving the beans to settle for a few days we then got on with the fun part of the job that of combining the beans at different percentages hoping to have the right amount in each blend to produce a decent cup.

We roasted the beans separately for a number of reasons one it reduced the amount of waste, a single roasted batch could be used for a number of experimental blends and two we felt that the flavours of each individual origin could be recognized within the blend as well as their contribution to enhance the blend.

We mixed between 3 and 6 different coffees together, although we found that mixing too many made for a complicated cup, we understood to achieve consistency of taste this is the normal practice for big companies to employ. As coffee is a harvest the beans will change from crop to crop and year to year, so the greater number of bean types you put in the less noticeable is the change, However we found that 3 to 4 coffees blended together was enough for what we wanted to achieve.

We did roast the beans to a higher profile than we normally do as this too helps with the consistency of the taste because then it’s the roast that is tasted and not the coffees. We at Caer Urfa tried to take this to the limit of the individual’s coffees profile so the origin could still be tasted within the blend.

After a lot of cupping sessions we discarded many of the blends because we didn’t think they fitted into the criteria we were trying to achieve. Eventually we came up with four which we thought worthy blends, the outcome of which we developed for a short period for our market stalls and found they sold very well.

Blend A- Roasted to a higher level gives this coffee a stronger cup with fragrant floral tones that has a pleasant tangy flavour.

Blend B – Special blend – a blend of Brazilian, Costa Rican and Ethiopian beans that were roasted to a higher profile, this well balanced blend had a sweet chocolaty taste that resonated across the spectrum of the palate.

Blend C - French roast - A combination of South American and African coffee beans gives this cup its full bodied strong earthy flavour.

Blend D - A combination of beans from around the world ensures a strong flavoured cup with its woody lingering after taste ideal for relaxing with after dinner.

We get asked on many occasions for a strong coffee and most of the time we inform the customer that the blends that they would normally drink taste stronger because the bitterness they taste is produced when roasted at a higher level. We roast to a lower level to bring out the flavour of the origin of the coffee and what they perceive to be strong may well be the earthy flavour which we have found to be so in most of the African coffees anyway.

We hope in the future as we develop our blends roasting them to a higher level would ensure the wants of a bigger audience and encompass many more and different customers.

We have now purchased a new selection of beans from different farmers and countries and continue to develop our blend, which will very soon be available on our web site and market stalls for you to buy.

Sunday 9 May 2010

deli - farm shops info

Caer Urfa Coffee Company

Coffee that’s

Roasted in Dorset

www.caerurfacoffee.co.uk

Here at Caer Urfa we strive to bring out by roasting the best that coffee has to offer so you the customer can enjoy.

We at Caer Urfa hand roast each order individually so that you can enjoy the freshest coffee that tastes like the grower intended.


Hi there, this is a message to the owners of farm shops and delicatessens who sell a variety of high quality, local produce, at a reasonable price, to customers who enjoy and appreciate the time and effort you have gone through to guarantee they receive real value for money, so to ensure they the customer comes back time after time.

We at Caer Urfa are very much aware that coffee products on your shelves aren’t exactly flying out of your establishment but you still want to sell coffee because it is still a commodity people want.

So what’s the difference between our Caer Urfa Coffee and the rest and why would you want our products on your shelf.

To understand the difference we have to first explain how other larger coffee company’s produce their coffee.

As you are probably aware some of the big names in the coffee industry include Nescafe, Maxwell House or Douwe Egberts, and also Lavazza, Illy as well as Costa and Starbucks.

Nescafe, Maxwell House and Douwe Egberts are producers of instant coffees, through various manufacturing processes the coffee is dehydrated into the form of powder or granules. These can be rehydrated with hot water to provide a drink similar (though not identical) to conventional coffee, enabling it to have a longer shelf life that is convenient and easy to make. These consist in most cases of the cheaper Robusta coffees maybe sometimes Arabica if it is so displayed on the container. Instant coffee differs in make-up and taste from ground coffee, in particular, the percentage of caffeine in instant coffee is less, and the bitter flavour components are more evident.

As for Lavazza and Illy as well as Costa and Starbucks coffees these consist of a blend or mixture of coffees usually using Arabica beans from various areas of the world that are roasted to a high level so in fact you taste the roast whether that roast level is an Italian, Vienna or French, rather than the origin of the coffee, this also helps to ensure in some cases consistency, and indeed a few of these taste very nice.

We in the UK as you probably know aren’t a coffee producing country that is we don’t grow coffee beans, we just don’t have the right climate or soil type the coffee tree/bushes prefer and as for the Arabica beans an elevation of greater than 1300m and although the Robusta type beans prefer the lower elevations we still don’t have the combination that is required, all of which are usually found between the Tropics.

However like most European countries we can import such commodities and roast them. In some cases over decades some countries have developed a roast that they prefer and commercialized upon, so we get the infamous Italian roast or Turkish roast or French Roast. These roasts refer to the type or level the beans have been roasted and not to the origin of the beans.

So why are we different?

We are known as a micro roaster so roast small batches to order so to ensure freshness of the cup.

We stop the roast process shortly after what is known as the first crack where the beans have been caramelized and are slowly roasted to a lighter roast; this ensures a more favorable cup where you taste the flavour of the origin of the bean rather than the level of roast.

Our coffees are mostly of single origin having bought the green beans directly from the farmer or cooperative, via our merchant who ensures they have been sought at a fair price so making sure fair trade conditions are applied.

The farmers or cooperatives who have produced these beans have carefully over years looked after their plantations however small or large and nurtured them so to eventually harvest and produce a crop viable for exporting and which when roasted produce an excellent cup of coffee. Guaranteeing ethical practices are carried out to enhance both the sustainability and environmental aspects of their area for continued growth.

Like you we fall into the criteria of selling a high quality product that is produced fresh and local here in Dorset, at a reasonable price, to customers who enjoy and appreciate the time and effort we have gone through to guarantee they receive real value for money, so to ensure them the customer comes back time after time.

Saturday 27 February 2010

farm shops and delicatessens

Being based in Bournemouth we would like to introduce ourselves to you as your local supplier of freshly roasted coffees.

We at Caer Urfa are passionate about our coffee and believe by roasting in small batches and to order ensures that you the customer receive your coffee as fresh as possible and so that your customers enjoy the best flavours that coffee has to offer.

All coffees have a different roasting profile so by roasting by hand and using our training and experience we can manipulate this profile to roast the beans to their individual optimum level where we believe the flavours of that batch will be at its best, by doing so we encapsulate the taste and sense of the origin of the coffee.

Our coffees are ethically sourced direct from the farmers to our merchant here in the UK who ensures only the best quality beans are purchased and at a fair price for both farmers and merchants.

At present we sell on line and at local farmers markets, and are expanding our business to cater for the needs of local farm shops and delicatessens. If you wish to enquire further, or are interested in having a free sample or indeed wish to make a purchase please do contact us via our website contact page by clicking on the link at the bottom of the home page, (wwwcaerurfacoffee.co.uk) or by emailing us at info@caerurfacoffee.co.uk.

Our coffees come in 250g bags that are specially adapted with a valve to ensure the freshness is kept in and the gases produced when roasting are allowed to escape. Our coffees can be supplied already ground for cafeteria or filter machine use or if you require as whole beans.