Sheffield Coffee Festival followed the Nottingham Coffee Festival last year, different events in different coffee shops, but unlike Nottingham, overwhelm the coffee shops.
One train cancelled, an hour late, an hour lost.
Looked in Tamper Sellers Wheel but did not linger.
Mow’s a bar takeover by Dark Arts from Hackney. An excellent espresso from Mexico with weird processing. I was sufficiently impressed to buy the beans. There was a talk which I missed.
Marmadukes to pick up The Daily Grind, information when and where for events.
Lunch at Cambridge Street Collective. Palestinian lunch was good, the same cannot be said of the venue, too hot and unpleasant deafening music.
As one walks in through the main entrance of Cambridge Street Collective, the wide-screen display over the bar shows what a depressing place it has become.
Clanging of bells from St Marie a dreadful racket.
I would not usually visit the Nottingham Coffee Festival, for the simple reason, I would be in another part of the country. There is little publicity, word of mouth and would not know of the coffee festival.
Tickets sold out. I decided to take a risk, a trip to Nottingham. Maybe I might be in luck.
I looked in Vibe, then headed to what I thought was the church. Wrong church I wanted St Mary’s Church on High Pavement.
I looked in Public. Hype and no vibe. Lacks the character of Cartwheel Coffee. Lovey building on the exterior. I may have tried a coffee, but packed, a queue to the door. They must have emptied Starbucks.
People I knew, old acquaintances, new friends. Not the unpleasant atmosphere of the London Coffee Festival. Having visited coffee festivals in several countries, London ranks as the worst, and sadly they take no steps to improve and heed the criticism.
New gear from La Marazocco on Outpost Coffee that I’ve never seen before.
I expected roasteries from Nottingham, but from further afield, including one I’d never come across before. One I thought would be there, but wasn’t , Dark Woods.
Interesting discussions on chocolate, Fair Trade and Great Taste Award.
Chocolate, always look out for bean-to-bar craft chocolate. Beware of melt and mould. Check ingredients for emulsifiers. Cheapskate substitute for cocoa butter.
FairTrade is a scam. No reputable roastery or coffee shop will touch Fair Trade. A tiny pittance is paid above commodity price. Even worse, maintains growers in poverty as does not pay more for quality.
Award winning. Always question. Great Taste award is no guarantee of quality.
The Nottingham Coffee Festival has a pleasant vibe, well run, the volunteers helpful.
A big thank you to everyone who made the day a success.
On leaving, I looked again in Public. It was still packed, still a queue to the door. Baffled.
A panel discussion. Two guys from Saturday, plus three young ladies from Cafe Natura (hosts) and local coffee roasteries Stokes and Seven Districts.
From where does espresso originate? Italians claim to have invented the espresso machine, though the French may beg to disagree. Steam was used to force hot water through the ground coffee at a pressure of nine bars, ie nine atmospheres. One of these early espresso machines can be found in a coffee shop in Prague, Charles Bridge Museum Café. Until fairly recently, Bar Italia in Soho had an original Gaggia lever operated machine. There is an iconic Victoria Arduino poster, showing a passenger leaning out of a steam train to pick up an espresso. Modern, steam, speed.
What makes a good coffee shop? The clue is in the name. It matters for nought the decour, if not invested in equipment and staff, and buy the best coffee beans.
James Hoffmann, world champion barista co-owner and founder of Square Mile Coffee, makes the point, serving great coffee, excellent customer service and vibe, necessary but not sufficient conditions, also need to be able to run a business. James Hoffmann is known for his passion and knowledge of coffee. He is also a successful entrepreneur.
Too many open a greasy spoon cafe masquerading as a coffee shop. Clueless on coffee, what constitutes good service, no idea how to run a business. Those who drink bad coffee frequent the corporate chains, those who appreciate good coffee will not drink bad coffee. These coffee shops last all of six months, or until the money runs out.
Cappuccino single shot or double shot? Often the coffee shop will ask. Let the barista choose. If too weak you need a double shot, if too strong a single shot.
Correct cup size for a cappuccino? There is only one size, the correct size. Too many coffee shops are using the wrong size cup. The Supersize mentality. And never chocolate on top. Chocolate is used to mask bad coffee. It will ruin a good coffee. The size used by Stokes was the correct size.
Will varying the pressure not change the water temperature? No. Water does not compress. Hence hydraulics. The answer is yes for a gas.
Flat white? Australia and New Zealand claim the credit for a flat white.
Courtesy of Stokes, latte art tutorials, and showcasing the latest San Remo espresso machine.
For latte art buy and read Coffee Art by Dhan Tamang, UK latte art champion six years running. If in Winchester, visit Kavi Coffee, may if lucky find Dhan Tamang.
Home brewing? Cheap domestic machines are a waste of money, poorly built. If want an espresso, a few thousand pounds on a professional machine, or visit an independent coffee shop serving speciality coffee. Buy beans, never ground, buy from a reputable coffee shop or roastery, never from a corner shop or supermarket, no way loose beans from a zero waste shop. Invest in a good hand grinder, Timemore, Knock, Commandante or a Niche Zero. For accuracy and consistency digital scales are essential, Hario or Timemore. For brewing, V60, Origami, French Press, Aeropress. For espresso without an expensive machine, 9Barista.
To learn more, buy and read How to Make the Best Coffee at Home by James Hoffmann, follow James Hoffmann on YouTube and when not busy chat with your barista.
Coffee: A Global History, on sale at Cafe Natura, has also been serialised as a podcast, A History of Coffee.
Add to your growing coffee library
The World Atlas of Coffee
The Devil’s Cuo
God in a Cup
The Monk of Mokha
Coffee Shop North
When the Coffee Gets Cold
Subscribe to coffee journals
Standart
Drift
Arabica v Robusta? Arabica grows in the mountains in the shade of trees. Very vulnerable to climate change. Robusta grows on large commercial plantations. More resilient to climate change. Fails on taste. Cheap coffee fails on taste. Robusta is used to bulk out poor quality coffee. 200 Degrees, Brazilian blend bulked out with Vietnamese Robusta. Dark Sheep serve Robusta (will serve Arabica if asked). In Athens, Dope roasts and serves Robusta.
Certification schemes? The only one worth knowing about is q grade. Look for q grade 85 and higher. Q grade below 80 commodity coffee, served in the corporate chains. Q grade over 80 specialty coffee. Fair Trade pays a tiny premium above the commodity price. Maintains the growers in poverty as no incentive to improve quality. Look for direct trade, higher price paid for quality.
Lincoln and York brought along a sample roaster, with demonstrations of roasting, discussions of roast profile .
Victoria Arduino brought along a single head espresso machine and a Mythos One grinder.
Jonathan Morris author of Coffee: A Global History, book signings and part of the panel discussion.
The panel discussion was a question and answer session.
The price of coffee in a coffee shop is it too high? How much are you prepared to pay?
Quality beans are what you pay for, the equipment, the barista.
In Athens, Warehouse CO2 €8 for an espresso. In Nottingham, Vibe £8 for an espresso. But these prices are for exceptional high-quality beans, that blow your mind away.
For wine, a fiver for a bottle of undrinkable plonk, for a named vineyard, we will be paying a lot more.
We are seeing the same with coffee. All coffee is graded. Above q grade of 80 specialty coffee, below 80 commodity coffee, that goes to the corporate chains, the greasy spoon cafes. The bag will have information on the farm, where grown, how processed, the variety.
Please don’t insult the barista and everyone involved in the coffee chain by running down the street slurping from a takeaway cup. Would you do that with wine unless a wino? Relax and enjoy your coffee in glass or ceramic.
The rarest coffee? The most expensive coffee? Mayfair, I think Mayfair, a cup of coffee costing a couple of hundred pounds. Nothing special, the variety typica, aimed at posers and fools easily parted from their money, people with money to burn.
Geisha was rare and very expensive. It was and still is, but be aware there is geisha and geisha.
Kopi luwak, passed through civet cats. A vile trade in animal cruelty. Civet cats, shy nocturnal creatures, force fed coffee beans, kept in battery cages.
Wush wush, a rare variety few have heard of let alone tried. If wish to try may have in Vibe and Cosmo aka Kigali aka Outpost Coffee in Nottingham. Add to the list Effy and may find Panama Geisha or a geisha.
Unexpected places growing coffee? Gran Canaria.
Importance of water? Very important. Do not use tap water. Three solutions: ask nicely in a coffee shop for filtered water, buy bottled spring water, invest in a Peak water filter. This also applies to water used to make ice for cocktails.
Impact of climate change? Coffee is very vulnerable to climate change.
There was to be latte art throwdown, cocktails, but I had to leave.
Muddle ten sable black grapes in a shaking tin, add drinks, shake vigorously with ice, strain into chilled cut crystal rock glass. Garnish with three sable black grapes, dipped in the cocktail, when drank the cocktail, eat the grapes.
Enzoni is a twist on a Negroni. Coffee Enzoni a twist on the Enzoni, created by Dan Fellows, World Champion Coffee in Good Spirits, for the London Coffee Festival.
I have modified slightly. I used Brettos coffee liqueur. If no Muscavada sugar, can make a simple sugar syrup, 1:1 Muscovado sugar to water. Or try Agave syrup.
I used Topaz Blue. Try Japanese Cherry Blossom Gin. This gives a crisper more floral coffee enzoni.
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