SHILLINGS. COFFEE.

Coffee Review: Workshop Coffee

I hope from this post that you become inquisitive and curious to what the whole deal is with Specialty Coffee. I am sure you must be thinking what makes it 'that' much better as 'its only coffee...'

But as you will find out its more than just coffee. You don't just buy coffee, you buy the experience, the story and then enter another way to think about coffee. Like - where it has come from, how it was made and roasted and how best to drink it?

So here is my first coffee review about a very popular and well known coffee roasting company called Workshop Coffee. They started off as just a roasting company providing beans to coffee lovers all over the world and now they have multiple coffee shops open all over London. (which I am yet to visit!)

I first become aware of the Workshop Coffee from a friend of mine, James. He presented this box from what you receive from Workshop when you order beans. We had a chat about it and all the different types of beans they roast from all over the world.
I looked on their website and was overwhelmed by the amount of choice there was!

After taking this box of fresh beans home and trying them I was hooked. The quality and pure freshness of the beans was amazing. The first selection I tried was called Ruben Guagala from Ecuador, sounds exotic right?

I opened up the box and was presented with a very neatly and carefully wrapped packet of coffee. It was wrapped in a white tissue paper with a Workshop sticker to seal the wrapping. First impressions, very good.

Underneath is a small (but detailed) leaflet and a postcard. Within this leaflet Workshop have perfectly portrayed the story of the coffee before turning up on your door step.
Workshop have put real effort to give gratitude to the farmers of each individual bean. Telling you exactly how much effort has been put into growing the cherries, what obstacles have been overcome and the different processes that the beans have been through. Workshop actually go out to see all there partnered farmers to work on different types of beans. Reading this leaflet really lets you appreciate the hard work and extensive effort that have been put into having this quality bean for your morning 'get up and go'.

Now to the good bit.. Drinking!

Breaking the bags seal is certainly satisfying and after taking a first smell of the fresh beans inside I was looking forward to getting them ground and into my cup!

The process was detailed on the back of the packet along with the growing altitude which makes an enormous difference to the taste and notes the coffee gives off.

The coffee was fantastic. Once my Sage espresso machine was set up to pull the perfect shot, I was hooked. The different notes in the coffee were subtle and not too overpowering. The blend was balanced and not too harsh of an aftertaste. It was a very pleasant espresso with a satisfying and strong caffeine hit.

Afterwards I made a flat white with a double shot. The milk was hugely complemented with the coffee, a definite winner for me!

It may sound rather silly for some calling coffee an experience. But when you really read about the story of how that cherry from the coffee tree is taken from a fruit state to how we know it in society it is quite remarkable. I believe it is also important to companies such as Workshop Coffee to keep spreading the word about all the hard work and effort that is put in to making the perfect coffee.

I would recommend anyone to try Workshop Coffee for its truly special efforts to bring us the best of specialty coffee.
After chatting to my friend James about this coffee and how great it was he then brought me more, a lot more. Still now the coffee community is showing me example after example how awesome they are. He has given me over 10 boxes all different types of beans to try!

If you were to walk the historic York city walls you would find yourself intrigued by the aspect of the Gatehouse and feel compelled to stop for a coffee instead of strolling past. Slightly away from the centre is where you will find this 15th century medieval gate house with Gatehouse Coffee inside.

Now how to describe such a unique setting for a specialty coffee shop?

If you were to amalgamate a collection of my favorite adjectives: interesting, artisan, historic, character, quaint. Then sprinkle this concoction of a seasoning over this amazing building you would create this wonderful and quite individual coffee shop. Ok - can you tell I'm a fan?

I arranged to meet the manager of this great example of a specialty coffee shop, Caelen. Armed with a flat white I wanted to discover what makes this coffee shop exactly what it is.

After chatting about the coffee, in this fantastic place, it was clear that we were in a coffee hub. Everything we talked about was filled with energy and passion for the coffee and for making that experience as good as possible. Whether you want to come here to do your Uni work or to socialise, this is the perfect place. There is a roof top terrace, sofas, armchairs, just about everyform of comfortable place to sit.

Lets talk a bit more about the history of this 15th century Gatehouse and coffee shop. Firstly the Gatehouse is inside the Walmgate Bar which is also the only city gate in the UK to retain its original Barbican. (which is a medieval defensive structure that creates a narrow bottleneck for those of you who didn't know - don't worry neither did I).

The coffee house is connected with the Calvary Chapel York across the road. Which is a Bible teaching, non-denominational christian church. If you ever visit the Gatehouse you will hear an American accent behind the bar. While talking with Caelen I learned that everyone who works at the Gatehouse is part of the church and is a volunteer. Yes! a volunteer - how awesome is that!

The Gatehouse has teamed up with All Press for their Espresso beans. In my opinion, the perfect choice. Such a consistent and quality Espresso every single time. Every time I have visited this coffee house the quality has always been absolutely perfect.

I came away feeling more like I was part of the specialty coffee scene and I felt reassured that the coffee culture is so very friendly, happy to spread the word, and is so eager and willing to talk about what is going on around us.

I would like to thank Caelen and the team for having me and spending the time to talk to me about what they do. I hope you visit Gatehouse Coffee because it really is a unique coffee shop.

You get the opportunity to travel down to London completely free - what do you do?

Well, that's obvious! You go to the UK's biggest coffee festival, right?

The previous year it attracted over 30,000 coffee connoisseurs and enthusiasts over 3 days. I'm going to take an educated guess and say they smashed that number this year.

The venue is Central London down Brick Lane and with 3 halls to explore there was more than enough to look at and to try out.

Featured were over 250 artisan coffee and gourmet food stalls, tastings and demonstrations from world-class baristas, interactive workshops, street food, coffee-based cocktails, live music, DJs, etc. etc. You get the picture - there was a lot there.

My girlfriend Sophie accompanied me for today's adventure. I must add that before she met me she hated coffee but I may have changed her opinion over the years and as you may expect she likes it. A lot.

Anyway we arrived at the venue and joined the end of the line. We must have arrived 20 minutes before it opened and there were already 100 people waiting patiently in line.

Whilst waiting, we were handed the London Coffee Festival newspaper and the latest edition of the Caffeine mag (brilliant!). Once we entered we were instantly handed our first of many coffees that day. After a good first walk around the 3 halls we looked at what was on around the show.

Having picked out of the long list of the various events, we chose to see the Coffee Masters, the Cupping Session, Roasting and Latte Art Live where the British champion was giving a display.

We must have been there no more than an hour and we had already had 4+ coffees. It was safe to say we were buzzing!

Firstly we watched the start of the semi-finals of the Coffee Masters. For those who are not sure what Coffee Masters is, it is a multi-discipline competition which is a pretty big deal in the coffee world. The top baristas go head to head in each discipline to get the highest overall score. The disciplines are cupping, brewing, latte art, the order challenge, signature drink, espresso blend and the origin.

It’s a seriously cool competition go check out the website - http://www.coffeemasters.org

Anyway, back to the festival. By an hour and a half in, Sophie was all coffeed up but I was still going strong. Because, hey, its free quality specialty coffee, why not, right?

We also got to try the espresso blend Caravan supplied for the Coffee Masters. It was perfect.

Another highlight of the day had to be the Latte Art live area where we got to watch and take part in producing fantastic coffee art with the British Coffee Art champion Dhan Tamang. Just watching this guy work was pretty special. How he makes it look so easy and relaxed. Trust me its not as easy and simple as they make it look!

All Press - a London based coffee roaster also let me have a play with their La Marzocco Linea Mini espresso machine which in all seriousness puts my lovely home set up to shame. Such quality and brilliance in a compact form, although you would expect that from a £3.5k machine. Yes £3,500 pounds for you to make a coffee at home, people. I’ll pop it on my Christmas list...

All day there was music coming from everywhere in the venue and the live bands were great. The food was absolutely spot on. Basically the whole atmosphere and vibe was completely as you would expect. Super chilled but with a flurry of enthusiastic people having a great time. It’s great to step into a world such as coffee and see it as lively and popular as this. You need to check out the highlights video which has just gone live! See the link - www.londoncoffeefestival.com/Home

I'm already looking forward to next year!

Coffee anyone?

Also a quick congratulations to James Wise for winning the Coffee Masters competition!

One difficulty with speciality coffee shops is finding them. They can be notoriously illusive and can be found in the most abstract of areas, so when you do hear/read/find one it's great!
I have to ask the question - what would a coffee addict do if they read an article about 3 speciality coffee shops in one area? I would guess they would do what any one else would do and visit all of them the day after, right? Maybe not.

This is what I found myself doing after reading the speciality coffee magazine 'Caffeine' whilst sat in Makushi Coffee in Lincoln. After reading the article 'Caffeine's Tour' written by coffee enthusiast Brian Williams who blogs about coffee shops all over the country. I felt compelled to visit Harrogate and experience what it has to offer!

I set off from Lincoln after visiting my girlfriend at Uni and took the trip north to the spa town of Harrogate. First on the list of shops was Baltzersen's. Very conveniently situated in the centre of the town, it has seating out front in a sun trap perfect for the day's weather. The atmosphere was lively and busy. It is definitely a food orientated place which led me to get a home made apricot and mixed seed crumble with my flat white. The coffee was top quality, perfectly finished of with a 14 tier tulip. The espresso was well balanced and smooth which was very well complimented with the perfectly textured milk. I would recommend this quaint shop to anyone looking for a coffee fix as well as a spot of lunch. Quality coffee & food.
22 Oxford Street, HG1 1PU

Next on the tour was no more than a 5 minute walk away - Bean & Bud. This shop is the longest standing speciality coffee shop in Harrogate and you get that sense once you walk in. They know what they are doing and they know how to make the perfect coffee. I ordered a flat white (my usual as you might have guessed by now) and I was asked which bean type I would like. This is how you know you are in the right place. 2 chalk boards with the descriptions of each option. I went for the Ethiopian Sidamo, I don't expect anyone to understand what this means because neither did I without the information that followed the name. Such as - the growing altitude, wash process, roasting and flavour. My flat white went down like a treat. It was less bitter with sweet and floral hints which made a pleasant change to the usual bitter like after taste you do get from a coffee. Very pleased to have visited this iconic shop.
14 Commercial Street, HG1 1TY

Last but by no means least, Hoxton North. As you can imagine I was definitely caffeined up by this point. I found their shop which is placed in a very open and central area. The ambiance was thriving with great music just as you would want in a coffee shop. My flat white was served with a glass of water for afterwards. This coffee was powerful with a pleasant subtle, bitter taste which compliments the velvety milk texture. I would recommend this shop to anyone looking for great coffee and atmosphere in your day out in Harrogate.
1 Royal Parade HG1 2SZ

I suppose the question is where is next for my Coffee Tour?

My espresso machine.

So as I plan to review coffee in the future I would say it would be a good idea to show everyone what coffee machine I use.

Now, this is by no means a review.

Reviews are boring, laborious and full of statistics that only the manufacturers understand.

I am simply giving you my take on what I use. However I did scroll for hours on end reading all the reviews on the internet about this machine, (yay go me). I have a lot of spare time as you can imagine.

This is the 'Sage The Barista Express Espresso Machine and Grinder'

Two simple statements: 1. It is pricey, 2. It is worth every penny.

I initially wanted to go for the version under this however my dad being my dad twisted my arm and hey presto I came out with this one.

I've adjusted the grind size and temperatures for different types of coffee and it has never failed to make that perfect espresso extraction. There are a whole load of setting adjustments you can make which is great for experimenting. If you are like me when I first got this machine the standard settings are great for getting you started!

Extra features such as the single whole steam wand, matching knock box and hidden tray all complement this machine.

The quality is excellent and the satisfaction from using it tops all else.

If you really love espresso coffee and want to go it right this is the one.

I can't wait to get started with some coffee reviews in the future!