--------------------------------------------------------------- The Hill and Valley Gourmet Coffee Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------------- This month - :Welcome Coffee Lovers! :Hill & Valley Coffee News :espresso.street News :Tip of the month :For Home Roasters :From the Experts --------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Coffee Lover, Welcome to the inaugural Hill & Valley Gourmet Coffee newsletter. It's our intention to send out this newsletter monthly at least and hopefully we can stimulate your interest in brewing and drinking the best coffee you can find. This one may be a bit long - but that won't be the general rule, and there are parts you can skip! Each edition will feature the following regular spots - Hill & Valley Coffee News News from espresso.street, our sister company that runs mobile espresso bars at events and railway stations. A "from the experts" feature comprising short articles on various topics from experienced coffee professionals. This will be balanced between in depth dossiers from coffee producing regions and information on coffee brewing, blending and roasting. Home Roasters Corner. For those that like their house to smell like a coffee roastery, not just a coffee bar. Readers contribution - stuff from you out there. Coffee stories, opinions, coffee equipment for sale or wanted. So without further ado, here's the first edition! Best Regards Charles Massey Hill & Valley Coffee Ltd roaster@hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk Phone: +44 1296 482708 Fax : +44 1296 339425 Mobile: +44 468 028021 --------------------------------------------------------------- Hill & Valley Coffee News --------------------------------------------------------------- INCREASE TO THE PRODUCT RANGE. Our initial product offering on the web was deliberately selective. We don't like carrying stocks that only slowly deteriorate in the roastery. However now we are up and running we will be adding the following coffees over the next 4 weeks: Tanzania AA Fancy. Tanzanian coffees are well appreciated in Japan and Germany these days, but have had a devoted following in the UK for many years. A selected Guatemala Genuine Antigua from the 1999 crop to tide us over until the new crop arrives in late April / May. A fully organic Mexican Altura. A decaf blend in espresso dark roast ACCESSORIES. We intend to add some coffee accessories to our range to improve your coffee drinking experience at home and are currently evaluating some products giving the same value for money that our coffee does. ESTABLISHMENTS CARRYING HILL & VALLEY COFFEE. Currently our coffee can be drunk in the following restaurants and hotels: o The Old Parsonage Hotel, 1 Banbury Road, Oxford o Studley Priory Hotel & Restaurant, Horton-cum-Studley, Oxford o Corks Wine Bar, Winslow, Bucks o Cucina Restaurant, South End Road, Hampstead Heath o The Crown Inn at Cuddington, Bucks Watch the website for additions to this select list. WEBSITE ADDITIONS. We hope to add the following to the site by the time of the next newsletter. Credit Card ordering via WORLDPAY. A links page. A customer comments page. An information page on our Virtual Roaster Game which will be featured on the site later this year. --------------------------------------------------------------- espresso.street News --------------------------------------------------------------- Flush with our success at: - The National Cross Country Championships at Stowe Park - The Reading Half Marathon - The Daily Mail Festival of Schools Rugby at Twickenham - Burnham Beeches Horse Trials at Burnham Beeches You can now drink great espresso drinks prepared by us at the following venues in April: - Tring Railway station, Herts. (Weekday mornings from 6 to 9.30) - Spring Lambing Fayre. Hampden Hall, Aylesbury (Sunday 9th April) - Bicester & Whaddon Chase Point to Point. Kingston Blount Races, Kingston Blount, nr Thame, Oxon (Saturday April 15) - Winchendon Spring Show. Musk Hill Farm, Nether Winchendon, Bucks (Friday April 21) - Oving Horse Trials. Church Farm, Oving, Aylesbury, Bucks (Sunday / Monday April 23-24) *************************************************************** **** Bring this newsletter with you for a freebee pulled **** **** by Charlie, Debbie or Steve!! **** *************************************************************** --------------------------------------------------------------- Tip of the month from espresso.street ("tell the difference") --------------------------------------------------------------- Check how your next cappuccino is made at a coffee bar or restaurant. The milk should be freshly poured into the steaming jug - it is impossible to correctly make a cappuccino from re-heated milk. The barista should have an air of concentration as he steams the milk, and his hand should be almost motionless. Lots of noise means a mess is being made of your cap. There should no bubbles larger than a large pinhead in the drink when it is presented to you and coffee should be combined with foam all through the drink - otherwise it's a latte not a cappuccino. --------------------------------------------------------------- For Home Roasters --------------------------------------------------------------- "Home roasting - Getting Started" By Ken Wilson Why? Three main reasons - variety, freshness and fun. I have a store cupboard of some 20 green bean varieties - if I fancy Colombian in my cafetiere tomorrow - then tonight I will roast just enough for a couple of days. My espresso blend last weekend was a gutsy blend of Java, a Mexican, Guatemalan and a touch of robusta. Next weekend - who knows? Fresh roasted beans are at their peak from 48 hours to two weeks from roasting. If you pour hot water on your ground coffee and it doesn't froth then they are stale - and you will miss the chocolate, earthy, wine, spicy or nutty flavours that make these top class beans so interesting. How? Following the upsurge in interest in home roasting, you can now buy 240v home roasting machines for about £130 and prices are set to come down. They make it easy: put the beans in, set the dial and switch on. If the setting is right then they will roast and cool automatically - perfectionists will override the settings to get the exact colour and degree of roast that they want. But you don't need to spend that to try it! I was happily roasting for a couple of years in one of those electric popcorn machines - £15. A handful of beans, switch on and when they are done decant into a colander, toss and blow to cool as quickly as possible. Takes about 6 minutes plus cooling time. I was apparently lucky - mine is still going but they are not designed for this. I have also used a stovetop popcorn pan with stirring paddle, a wok over a barbeque and others use the better convection ovens. These demand careful stirring to avoid "tipping" the bean which adds an unplanned burnt taste. There are two disadvantages with home roasting - smoke and chaff (outer skin of the bean - comes away on roasting). Outside solves both, a cooker hood solves the smoke indoors and using the butter dish hood to direct the chaff into a bowl solves the chaff. Of course, its not as sophisticated as the professional machines. No adjustable roast profile, fast cooling or temperature monitoring - and my batch is only 3oz. It's an art or hobby like cooking - if you prefer shop bought cakes and bread its not for you! If you want to take it further, there are full details in Kenneth David's book "Home Coffee Roasting" - your bookshop can order it." --------------------------------------------------------------- From the Experts --------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT HAPPENS TO THE BEAN DURING THE ROAST? A green coffee bean is completely made up of cells. Coffee beans, whether green beans or roasted, are very Hydroscopic - they attach to water and foreign smells. The green beans are dropped into the roaster oven at a temperature of up to 230 degrees Celsius. The cells start vibrating together creating energy, and thus roasting. The outside layer of cells are in constant vigorous contact with other beans. Water evaporates during this time and the beans swell whilst losing up to 20 percent of their weight. If the beans are roasted for too long the surface friction can damage the outside layer. When the outside layer is damaged all the essential coffee oils and aromas leak out. This is typically known as oily beans,and can attribute to flavour loss. Some roasters roast the coffee to this stage as it does produce a very strong, full-bodied flavour. So long as the coffee is consumed within the week of roasting it shouldn't be too detrimental to the flavour characteristics. The roasters requirements of flavour and also bean type will determine the length of time the beans are roasted. Once the beans are dropped out of the roasting oven, the cells of the beans continue to vibrate furthering the roasting process. The roaster will want to stop the process, as this will alter the flavour profile of the coffee. Therefore water quenching is used to stop the roasting process; it also helps to re-hydrolysise the beans' cellular structure back to their almost normal state. by Jane Cowin --------------------------------------------------------------- +++ Subscription information +++ --------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for reading the Hill and Valley Gourmet Coffee newsletter. You can receive this newsletter regularly by e-mail by subscribing at http://www.hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk/ Issue 1 April 2000. Copyright (c) 2000 Hill and Valley Coffee Ltd. Information freely distributable, but must include this copyright messages. Formatted and delivered by m.e.thornton internet "Let us show you how your business can succeed on-line" http://www.methornton.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------- T h e G o u r m e t C o f f e e N e w s l e t t e r From Hill and Valley Coffee Ltd. --------------------------------------------------------------- Web: http://www.hillandvalley.co.uk E-mail: roaster@hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk Fax: +44 1296 339425 Tel: +44 1296 482708 Mobile: +44 468 028021 Address: Hill and Valley Coffee Limited 7 Bessemer Crescent, Rabans Lane Industrial Area, Aylesbury, Bucks. HP19 3TF. Privacy: http://www.hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk/privacy.html