Mike too busy to try a coffee. I have a cappuccino.
As I am leaving, he wishes to try Ethiopia Arsosala WS, an Ethiopian coffee I had picked up from Cartwheel Coffee.
I would have suggested V60, Mike says no, an espresso. He is impressed the bag lists brew ratio for espresso and filter, which gives a good starting point. Something more coffee roasteries should list.
We try espresso, or at least Mike tries espresso, for me he adds hot water a sort of Americano, though I would have preferred to try espresso. We are both impressed. Very fruity.
Saturday 13 June 2020 day eighty two of coronavirus lockdown in Lincoln. How many weeks has the city had to pedestrianise the city centre leading up to and including Bailgate, to enable independent coffee shops and restaurants to put their tables in the streets?
It is a tragedy the number of coffee shops and tea rooms either closed or eking out a meagre living on takeaways.
Stokes on High Bridge, High Street, will open in a few days time for takeaway only.
Coffee Aroma closed. Will open sometime in the near future for takeaway only. They wished to open with tables in the street. They asked and received an emphatic no from County Hall.
Unfortunately we will not agree to you increasing the number of tables and chairs you use or the size of the area that you have at the current time (your enclosure needs to still be only outside the frontage of your premises).
The one exception, Bookstop Cafe, located in a Norman croft below a Norman building which houses Imperials Teas, purveyors of fine tea, coffee and chocolate. They opened a few weeks ago for takeaway tea and coffee, tables outside. The tables removed by edict of a Town Hall jobsworth acting like the Stasi on a tip off.
In Bailgate only Sanctuary in the Bail open for takeaway tea and coffee. Would love to see Bailgate pedestrianised and tables in the street.
There are several restaurants in Bailgate. Only Elite on the Bail open, serving takeaway fish n chips out the back. Elite on the Bail overlooks a square where tables could be placed.
We hear the sound of birdsong, the streets are traffic free, the cities are pollution free. There can be no return to normal as normal was not normal.
We have been jolted into another now. We must maintain our city centres car and pollution free.
In Athens in the evening the streets turn into restaurants. Athens is expanding its network of pedestrianised streets.
Northern Ireland is looking at expanding the number of tables in the streets.
Sheffield has plans to expand pedestrianised streets.
Paragon Chambers in Hull, coffee shop encouraged to place tables outside.
North Laine in Brighton the restaurants, coffee shops and other shops are in the street. There are plans to expand the pedestrianised streets.
Soho has plans to pedestrianise the area, turn into one large open air coffee shop and restaurant. Currently awaiting approval from Westminster Council.
Unless indie coffee shops and restaurants are allowed to spread their tables into pedestrianised streets few will survive covid-19 pandemic.
Many coffee shops have no future. Too small to manage social distancing. A kiosk can survive on takeaway only, a coffee shop with higher overheads cannot.
We had sunniest May on record, Mediterranean climate. The tragedy indie coffee shops and restaurants were not able to spread their tables into the street.
Win win for everyone. Kick starts the local economy, maintains social distancing, helps local businesses back on their feet, improves city centre ambience.
It is not only coffee shops at risk it is the entire supply chain. There are the coffee roasteries that supply the coffee shops, the growers who supply the coffee beans.
We all have to act. If not, we lose our coffee shops.
Talk to local councils and councillors, change the mindset that allows traffic into city centres, pedestrianise the city centre, allow indie coffee shops and restaurants to spread their tables into the street, no chains no pubs No Smoking.
Government has to extend furlough for local businesses if they are unable to open. Reducing social distancing from two metres to one metre does not help as it greatly increases the risk for staff and customers.
Lincoln should follow the example of Soho, Soho Summer Street Festival, introduce with immediate effect temporary measures for the summer, Sincil Street, High Street, Cornhill, The Strait, Steep Hill, Castle Hill and Bailgate, pedestrianised, tables in the street, indie coffee shops and restaurants, no chains no pubs No Smoking. Then carry out consultation with the aim to make permanent.
London's West End set to become outdoor dining district — here's how it will happenhttps://t.co/UxYuupjXnr
Update: Excellent news from Soho. The area to be pedestrianised, roads closed to traffic, indie coffee shops and restaurants to spread their tables into the streets. And not only Soho, Covent Garden and other areas too. The excellent news from Soho only serves to Illustrate how backward Lincoln and lacking in vision. County Hall and City Hall have had weeks to implement a similar scheme in Lincoln, enable indie coffee shops and restaurants to spread their tables into the street, to help them get back into businesses. It revitalises the local economy, improves the ambience of the city centre.
Almost a month on, retry La Pila at Stokes at The Lawn. Usually I let Mike choose, today, as roasted for espresso, I chose, cappuccino and V60. Mike chose a flat white.
The classic cappuccino, rarely achieved, smooth and creamy. Not so, but nevertheless interesting fruity notes making the cappuccino an interesting drink. I was very much reminded of cappuccino at Makushi with their own light roast.
The V60 a disappointment, OK hot but not good as it cooled.
Not the classic smooth creamy, nevertheless interesting with fruity notes.
What was now left of the bag of coffee beans I gave as a gift to Michelangelo.
Special thanks to Mike barista at Stokes at The Lawn and Mohammad barista at The Speciality Coffee Shop.
Rodolfo and Reina are the proud owners of the La Pila farm. Rodolfo has basically been in coffee for his whole life. When he was young, he used to work on farms as a coffee picker to earn money. And when he was 25 years old, he inherited a plot of land from his father, so that he could start his own farm business.
Little by little he managed to make steps ahead, increase the volume of his coffee, and invest in another plot of land. He names his farm ‘La Pila’, which is a tank for water in this context, as he found a small water source on his farm. He made a small cement tank and decided to use this as a reference for his farm. Water is very scarce and precious in this region.
Rodolfo is very eager to improve the practices on his farm, to keep learning and innovating. He’d like to have a soil analysis done at his farm, so to optimize the root and foliar systems of his plants with adequate nutrition. He also plans to keep investing in the processing area. He came up with a genius system to depulp the coffee with a bicycle! Since 2017 we are working with him on honey and natural processing and are thrilled by the results.
La Pila single origin honey process, location Santa Ana la Montaña, Fraijanes, farmer Rodolfo Garcia, var yellow catuai, altitude 1750m, taste notes molasses, maple syrup, blackcurrant, roasted at The Underdog.
Three bags of coffee. An excellent espresso blend roasted for Refinery by Bonanza, single origin Kenyan roasted by Coffee Gems, and a Costa Rican roasted by Red Roaster.
Of the three, which to choose? The aroma was excellent. Not my choice, that of Mike head barista at Stokes at The Lawn.
He made himself a black Americano, for me a V60. Although Mike chose an Americano for himself, an espresso based coffee, he said would not work as a cappuccino, wrong flavour profile.
He thought the Americano excellent, even I was impressed.
For me the real test was the V60. I had tried a Colombian brewed as V60 at Blackbird and it was excellent, a hard act to follow.
Wonderful colour, as was the Americano. And the taste? At first I thought not in the same league as the Colombian. But as it cooled, and every V60 improves as it cools, it was probably on a par with the Colombian.
Mike commented it was like red wine.
His comment was most apt, I agreed, we both agreed mulled red wine without the spices.
Worth noting coffee has more flavour notes than red wine. Something coffee drinkers are unaware of when are so used to the crap served by coffee chains, over-roasted coffee, over-roasted to hide the defects of cheap coffee, then the vile taste masked with sugar and syrups. Coffee does not should not taste like this, but so used are people used to drinking crap coffee that they identify it as the taste of coffee. Sadly nothing could be further from the truth.
What coffee drinkers also forget, the care to bring us quality coffee, that of the coffee pickers, the processing of the beans, the roasting, and finally the skill of the barista.
Ichamara fully washed Kenyan, var Batian, Rairu 11, SL28, SL 34, red volcanic soil, taste notes grapefruit, lime, creamy and sweet, roasted by head roaster Ricardo.
Three bags of coffee, Brazilian, Indian and Tanzanian from DT Coffee Roastery.
I have tried before an Ethiopian from DT Coffee Roastery, brewed as a V60 at Blackbird. It was good, but a disappointment compared with a Colombian from Coffee Gems we tried the week before which was excellent.
I was pleasantly surprised, it made an excellent cappuccino, interesting flavour profile.
Arusha Natural Burka State Tanzania, var Kent, N39, Blue Mountain, alt 1350m, tasting notes stone fruit, red berries, bright citrus, roasted by either UK latte art champion Dhan Tamang or head of coffee Don Altizo.
Unlike V60, no skill required, grind the coffee, pour in hot water, top up as necessary, leave for a couple of minutes, press red button to release the brew into the lower chamber.
The brewed coffee will be slightly cloudy due to a fine metal mesh filter not a paper filter.
A minimum volume of water due to part filter part immersion.
The resultant brew using a Rwandan coffee was good.
For the coffee shop, if no batch brew, an easy way to make a few cups of filter coffee.
For the home brewer, why waste money on a Nespresso? Set up your Asobu, whilst brewing, pour out the cereals, then coffee is ready. Not only that, the lower chamber has a screw on lid, take with you on your outing. Though if on way to work, maybe better to pour into s reusable cup, which can then used later in s coffee shop.
Ideally, a V60 at home, but Asobu a good start.
Many thanks to Mike, barista at Stokes st The Lawn for the demonstration.
Lulu was a whale, an Orca, she was washed ashore dead on a beach in Scotland in 2016. She was a member of the last remaining Orca pod in UK waters.The pod is in danger of being wiped out.
Lulu was found to have high levels of PCB in her system. PCBs were banned decades ago, but are still prevalent in the oceans, are concentrated in the fat of mammals.
Lulu is sculpture suspended from the ceiling at Stokes at The Lawn.
Designed by Ptolemy Elrington, Lulu is made from bits of plastic and parts from old coffee machines. She serves as a stark reminder the damage plastic is doing to the planet.
8 tonnes of plastic are discarded into the oceans every year. The plastic accumulates. By 2050 the amount of plastic in the oceans will outweigh the fish. It is hazardous to sea life.
Ten rivers account for 95% of the plastic in the oceans.
The UK was shipping 5000,000 tonnes of plastic to China every year. It was called recycling. This is not recycling, it is dumping waste onto another country.
Plastic is not recycled, it is down-cycling. Glass, steel, aluminium is recycled.
Wood can be reused.
Makushi is an excellent example of wood reused as tables.
The Underdog has reused railway sleepers as tables.
Something every single one of us can do is stop using disposable coffee cups. In the UK, we throw away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year. These are not made of paper as they first appear. They are paper with a plastic liner, cannot be recycled, go to landfill or incineration, or are thrown in the street.
Stokes are investigating replacing the plastic-lined cups with compostable paper cups.
A step in the right direction, but, what to do with the paper cup once empty of coffee? Unless a compost heap is to hand will go in the waste stream.
Stokes at The Lawn have on sale Frank Green Smart Cup. Ugly, expensive and no one can recall one ever being sold. It lacks the elegance of a KeepCup. And is made of plastic.
Unless targeting office workers with a substantial discount, reusable cups of limited value in reducing waste.
What we have to do is discourage the grab it and go consumer culture that is encouraged by the coffee chains and instead encourage sit and relax with a cup of coffee at the coffee shop. After all what is the hurry? Coffee is a drink, or for that matter tea, to relax
with.
The clientele at Stokes do tend to be sit and relax with a coffee or afternoon tea.
Pret a Manger offering filter coffee at 49p a cup if bring own cup for a refill has to be seen in the absence of in-store information and no reusable cups on sale as little more than a clever publicity stunt.
House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has called for a 25p levy on all disposable coffee cups, the so-called latte levy. This should be implemented at the next Budget, but already the chains are lobbying for the levy not to be introduced.
I first came across the Frank Green Smart Cup in Stokes at The Lawn. I asked how much? No one knew, no one could ever recall one being sold, let alone used. They thought a tenner, maybe a little more.
Did they give a discount if used? Yes, but no one knew. They said you scan the cup.
I checked on the Stokes website. Price range £12-50 to £14-50, which puts it mid-range between a plastic and glass KeepCup. On Amazon the price much higher, £26.15 plus £9.05 delivery charge.
20p discount if bring the Frank Green cup back to Stokes for a refill.
I give Stokes as an example not as a criticism of Stokes. What it illustrates is a more fundamental problem, the lack of take up of let alone use of reusable cups, be they Frank Green or the more desirable KeepCup.
20p discount is not going to encourage use of reusable cups. Even where coffee shops have been offering a substantial discount the take up has been minimal.
In the New Year, Pret a Manger are going to be offering takeaway organic filter coffee at 49p a cup, if you bring your own cup to fill. That is 50p discount. With no information in store, no reusable cups on sale in store, no launch on their twitter account, it remains to be seen what will be the take up of this offer. Assuming it is not a clever PR stunt, nothing more.
Reusable cups have to be carried around. In Stokes would have to use in excess of 50 times to recover initial investment in the cup.
What is a smart cup? What makes it smart? What differentiates a smart cup from a dumb cup?
A chip in the lid that present to pay for your coffee. The chip communicates with an app on a smart phone.
The lid contains Frank Green’s other major selling point. It has a chip in it, which supports both loyalty cards and payment methods. Called CaféPay, this means you can actually pay with your cup and, for example, automatically get a discount since your using a reusable cup. Obviously how useful this becomes will depend on how many retailers support it. It’s clearly a neat feature, but I can’t help feeling it’s a solution looking for a problem. Perhaps I’m wrong, but I’ve never found myself in a coffee shop thinking how great it would be if I could pay with my cup.
Brian also says it is bulky.
I agree, a solution looking for a problem. I have never been in a coffee shop thinking, now if only I could pay for my coffee with a coffee cup lid. What is wrong with cash? About as useless as bitcoin for payment in the real world.
And if I were to buy a smart cup in Stokes can I use this dumb system to pay for coffee in other coffee shops?
I can find no information on the Frank Green website on why the cup is smart or how it is used.
There was no information in Stokes. My attention was drawn after reading about Lulu. A stranded whale that died, and the sculpture hanging from the ceiling. I had wondered why, when they opened in the summer, why a whale suspended from the ceiling. It is made of recycled plastic, to highlight plastic pollution.
I asked, were their takeaway cups compostable paper? No, but they are looking into it. I suggested talk to Makushi, who are now using compostable paper cups.
Compostable cups are a step in the right direction.
What appear to be paper cups are not, they have a plastic liner. They cannot be recycled.
Plastic pollution is destroying the planet.
Compostable coffee cups are better than the throwaway disposable takeaway cups. The UK throws away 2.5 billion every year which go to landfill or incineration.
But …. and it is a big but …. it does not solve the waste problem.
Let us assume I have been shopping at the market or the fruit and vegetable shop in Bailgate, have a bag of fresh produce, am on my way home, I can then pop my cup in with the fruit and vegetables, when I get home throw on the compost heap.
So far so good.
But what if not? What do I do with my compostable cup? Throw it in the bushes, over the wall in a garden, in the river?
That is the dilemma.
What in reality will happen it will join the waste stream.
Something like a KeepCup on sale, bring back for a refill. Disadvantage, expensive, have to cart around. Only really works if popping out from the office for a coffee to take back to the office. And that is the market Stokes should target, office workers popping out for a coffee to take back to the office, and with a larger discount, and KeepCup not a Frank Green Smart Cup.
What we have to do is discourage the grab and go, mindless consumption culture.
Encourage people to sit and relax with a coffee out of a ceramic cup.
And to be fair to Stokes at The Lawn, their clientele is people wishing to relax with a coffee or afternoon tea. And if you sit in the back room, can watch their coffee roasting operation.
If I were to advise Stokes, it would be get shot of the Frank Green cups, replace with KeepCup, which can have the Stokes brand, target office workers with a substantial discount, encourage relax in the coffee shop with a coffee.
How not to, a flyer I picked up from Coffee Aroma. I thought it was offering 50% discount on a cup of coffee. Sadly not. It is offering 50% on a takeaway. Please no. We should not be encouraging takeaway, we should be discouraging. Scrap the offer, reverse it, and instead, issue a flyer offering 50% discount if sit in and relax with a cup of coffee. By all means a discount of 50% if bring own cup for a refill.
Disposable cups are not the only waste coffee shops generate, the coffee grounds, milk making cappuccino.
Best use of coffee grounds, put out for gardeners to take away. The milk, already warm, can be used for making yogurt.
Speciality coffee shops have focused on the supply chain, direct trade, sustainable trade. They now need to look at what happens after they have brewed an excellent cup of coffee.
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