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Ramblings of a roaster

Coffee & spice and all things nice ...

10/11/2018

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​As the famous advert whispers “the holidays are coming, the holidays are coming....” and it’s true, the festive season will be on us before we know it. So that got me thinking about festive flavours and coffee.

Now any self-respecting qualified roaster usually shudders at the phrase ‘flavoured coffee’. That is because it usually brings to mind poor quality coffee with unhealthy and unnatural ingredients.

Well it doesn’t have to be that way. So a while ago I set off experimenting to determine how I could create something that has a great flavour, respects the delicate nature of speciality roast coffee and is natural.
I started off with good quality syrups, but found that the amount of syrup required to get a good flavour was adding far more sugar to the drink than was good, and was difficult to grind.  So what if I could find a great flavour without the sugar, whilst using just natural ingredients. Say hello to whole spices!

The spirit of Christmas (and mulled wine) is summed up in a few key spices.... cinnamon, star anise and cloves..

By grinding the whole spices directly with fresh roast coffee The Garden Roastery Whole Spiced Coffee Collection was born. Launching with two varieties - Cinnamon and Christmas Spices.
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The Garden Roastery Whole Spiced Coffee in Bags, Tins & Gifts .........Click to Order
Whole Spiced coffees are available in The Garden Roastery bags, tins and gifts sets.

At the roastery, I prepare the flavoured coffees separately to single origins.  I use my new Wilfa Grinder, which, as with my Drogheria Eureka grinder, the Wilfa can be set for the appropriate  grind size for whichever brew method you prefer.
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The Garden Roastery Whole Spiced coffees are available now. Order on line and we will post them direct to your door. Alternatively, local customers can collect from the Roastery at a pre-agreed time, once the fresh roast coffee has been prepared.

Wishing all my customers a happy and healthy festive season.  Happy holidays..
Lisa
SCA Certified Roaster (and coffee geek...)
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coffee Giving something back...

23/9/2018

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So this blog may well be a little more serious than usual, and for good reason.  Sadly, I have, like so many other people, experienced cancer as a family member.   Including the indescribable, personal and unique journey that creates, not only for the individual but also for their loved ones.  In both my personal life, and through various roles, I have seen first hand the support that cancer charities can provide.  Whether through nurses and carers, or providing support and information to the individual and their family through the most difficult of times.

So, it seems only fitting that someone who runs a coffee business should support the World's Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.  

100% of the profits from orders placed for The Garden Roastery coffee bags and coffee tins between 28th September and 6th October will be donated to this worthy cause.  Just place your order through the button below and I will send it straight to your door.

Purchase Coffee to Support Macmillan
The Garden Roastery will be donating the coffee for the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to be held by my friends at LKHair Bromsgrove on 5th & 6th October 2018.  Thanks to Karen and Lou for organising that.
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So, whether you have experienced cancer, or been lucky enough not to, we'd love to provide you with some great coffee and help a worthy cause at the same time.  

Thank you so much for reading this blog....

Lisa x 
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​This one's for you Dad xxx. .......


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Back to basics - brewing...cafetiere / french press

28/7/2018

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I often get asked about different ways to brew coffee. So once you’ve chosen which beans you like, and whether you prefer a lighter or darker roast, how are you going to make your drink? So in this series of short blogs I’m going to take those new to coffee through some of the absolute brewing basics. This time it’s the turn of the good old Cafetière or French Press .....
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Brewing In a Cafetière / French Press

How much coffee to use?
Use 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of ground coffee per small coffee cup
For a 3 cup cafetière, I use 4 to 5 tablespoons of coffee
For an 8 cup cafetière, I use 11 to 15 tablespoons of coffee

Grind Size?
The coarseness of your coffee grind is really important. Every brewing method extracts flavour differently. So for a Cafetière use coarse ground coffee. At The Garden Roastery our Eureka grinder can be set to all levels. So just let us know how you brew when you order your coffee, and we’ll give you the perfect grind.

Preparation
Boil your kettle, 94 degrees is good for cafetière brewing so let the water cool a little. You can pre-warm the pot, but it’s not essential and remember that will affect your brewing temperature.

Here we go...
Add your coffee to the pot. Pour over the water to just cover the grounds. Leave for 30 seconds to ‘bloom’. Then fill the pot, leaving enough room to place the plunger on top.

Wait 4 minutes....... then plunge, slow and steady.

Your coffee is ready to enjoy.

Take some time to experiment, to make the perfect cup of coffee, just how you like it. These are just guidelines .. #yourcoffeeyourway.


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If you fancy brewing your coffee in a Cafetière, but don’t have one, check out the gift sets in The Garden Roastery shop.
Shop For Cafetières
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Roasting day

21/7/2018

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So it's roasting day.  This is how we do it at a micro-roastery....
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Back to basics...

8/7/2018

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So I’ve taken a bit of time out over the last few weeks, and it’s got me to thinking. I set up the Garden Roastery after I became increasingly interested in speciality coffee, I learnt a lot, and I am still learning. But before all that training and developing my knowledge, what did I know? I knew that I loved coffee, I was fascinated by the hundreds of ways that you could make and drink it, but I didn’t know the difference between a latte and a flat white, the difference between commodity coffee and speciality, and I’d certainly never heard of an aeropress! I guess that is the same for the majority of folks, so I’ve decided over the next few blogs to write about some of those things. I make speciality roast coffee in a micro-roastery, and I want people to not only be able to drink my coffee, but to know how to make it the way they like it #yourcoffeeyourtime, so let’s learn about coffee together...
#yourcoffeeyourtime

Hey coffee lovers, add a comment to the blog if you have any questions or interest areas, and I will try to include these in future blogs... e.g. ways to brew your roast coffee, what’s the best grind size to use? when do you press the plunger in your cafetière? how much coffee should you use?....


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Your coffee, your time....

28/5/2018

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I've been wondering for a while what led me on this journey to becoming a coffee roaster, and it finally dawned on me.  I have had a passion for coffee for a long time, but what was the original attraction?  Nowadays coffee is available 24/7, in many formats and locations, good quality and bad.  The industry is in it's 5th wave, with coffee shops in the daytime, that become pop-up bars at night.  But when I started working in my 20's there was a lot less choice.  The first branded coffee stores were starting to appear on the high street and I could barely walk past one without wanting to pop-in.  With their shiny espresso machines, dim lighting and promise of a a few moments of watching the outside world tick by while I drank my coffee - my coffee, my time.  I was hooked!  That was it......the ability to stop time.  In those days the coffee wasn't great, and the service was patchy, but I still loved the relaxed experience of squishy sofas, newspapers and chilled music, while other people's lives rushed by.

Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it

​Over the years since, the choice and quality of coffee has improved, and you can decide when you take your coffee time-out.  A coffee shop, a meeting place, a bar, or at home.  The speciality coffee industry has been developing since the 1970s, focusing on the whole process from farm to cup, developing the best way to roast and extract coffee, to give you the taste and feel that is personal to you.

When I was lucky enough to be given the gift of a barista training course for my 40th birthday, I loved it, but what surprised me the most was how fascinating I found the science of the development of the coffee beans themselves.  Being a 'people' person it was an unusual interest for me.  So, that's where it started.... and from then basic and more advanced roasting training followed.  I now understand much more about the science, and I am lucky enough to run my own micro-roastery.  But every day is a school day and I continue to develop the taste of coffee that works for me, my friends and my customers, to give them their coffee-time, just how they like it.

In the words of Ferris Bueller "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"
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    Author

    Lisa - Roaster by Passion

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