--------------------------------------------------------------- The Hill and Valley Gourmet Coffee Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 7, November 2000 This month -:Meeting our Customers :Hill & Valley's First Christmas :Out of Stock :New Coffees in the Range :Coffee Machine offer :Tip of the Month - Cup of Care :GreatCoffee.com - gone forever? --------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Issue 7 of the Hill and Valley Gourmet Coffee Newsletter As you will the imagine the espresso.street mobile is hiding away for better days in the spring - I don't feel like towing a 1.5 ton trailer out of a flooded field somewhere in the home counties each weekend. It gives the carpal tunnel syndrome a chance to mend too. For the christmas season we've added a few consumer events and markets to our regular wednesday slot at Oxford, Gloucester Green. Come out and find us and taste some of our coffee if we're near to you at one of these. - Nov 19, Farmers Market, Aylesbury. - Nov 25-26, Craft Fair, Rotherfields Greys Village Hall, Nr Henley on Thames, Oxon. - Dec 2-3, Seasonal Market at BBC Good Food Show, NEC, Birmingham - Dec 19, Christmas Farmers Market, Aylesbury We're really enjoying all the fine food events we've been going to - the last one being at Arley Hall in Cheshire where Charlie pigged out on Menai Straits Oysters, Welsh Oggies and Lakeland Fell reared Swaledale Lamb. Not forgetting Giles Henschel's magnificent olives. See at http://www.olivesetal.co.uk The quality of locally produced speciality foods in the UK is moving up dramatically and much of it is not as expensive as people think. The Mountain Blend and Kalosi went down pretty well with the other traders as well! We will be doing more of these events next year and will preview them through the newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- Hill & Valley's First Christmas --------------------------------------------------------------- It's November, we've already had storms, floods and snow and our first anniversary is approaching. THAT time of year is coming around as well. To celebrate all of the above, we've given our website a tune up (which we hope you like - tell us if you don't) and added a Christmas gifts section. There will be a selection of gift packs in the £15 to £30 range which bring coffee drinking joy for the holiday season. As well as "themed" combinations of coffee, in each pack we have sprinkled limited edition Hill & Valley Coffee Mugs and some of the best Hand Made chocolates you will ever taste, from Nigel Rumsey here in good old Aylesbury. Like ourselves, Nigel shares the distinction of supplying nearby Waddesdon Manor, the seat of the Rothschilds and venue for many of their gourmet wine and food tasting events. We've also bundled all the items up including shipping and basic gift wrapping and we will be roasting and shipping all the gift items over the weekends of Dec 9/10 and Dec 16/17. So look out for the holly sprig and snow on the site, push the button and have a look inside. By the Way - our anniversary Christmas blend for 2000 will only be available though the gift packs until the new year. --------------------------------------------------------------- Out of Stock --------------------------------------------------------------- Our Old Brown Kalosi proved so popular that we ran out of it much quicker than I thought and we've had to remove it from the range temporarily. We hope to be re-stocking before the end of November and will e-mail all those who would still be interested in purchasing when we put it back into the store. The main crop Kenya is also getting very thin on the ground, but Stefan has promised relief from a new shipment later this month! --------------------------------------------------------------- New Coffees in the Range --------------------------------------------------------------- Our range is getting pretty comprehensive now, but we hope you will agree that the following three coffees are worthy of the addition to the range - once you've tried them. We seriously toyed with a barrel of Jamaica Blue Mountain which was recommended to us as being fine enough to almost justify the price, but we decided the keep this until the new year when we intend to offer it with a special purchasers "SHARE-HOLDING" scheme. More on this in the next newsletter. Here goes with the new coffees. Third Wonder - Guatemala Genuine Antigua "Capetillo" --------------------------------------------------------------- Nestling under the 12,000 foot Volcano Agua, the town of Antigua spent over two centuries as the national capital of Guatemala. It now takes a firm place as the coffee capital of Central America as the centre of the growing area producing the finest coffee in the region. Fine Genuine Antigua Coffee boasts characteristics that are unique and inimitable. A pronounced smokey aroma heralds a cup of burnt chocolate tones with the smoothest finish and a satisfyingly rich body. This season's "Capetillo" will give you a real treat in our generous medium / dark roast. An after dinner coffee of distinction - but why limit yourself to that when you can start to brew it 12 hours earlier? Papua New Guinea Aiyura Peaberry --------------------------------------------------------------- Fine Arabica production began in the highlands of Papua New Guinea in the 1930's around the town of Aiyura. The town still houses the National Coffee Research Institute which supports continuing efforts to raise PNG's profile on the world coffee map through improved husbandry techniques. With our German friends continually looking to smuggle the best PNG into their blends as they wait for arrivals from the Kenyan Main crop, the best coffees rarely find their way out of Hamburg. Try this selection and amaze yourself at an elegance and rich fruity acidity that you thought could only come from Mombasa. Medium Roast. Ethiopia Sidamo Washed Grade 2 --------------------------------------------------------------- The aroma of a cup of good Sidamo is evocative of the ancient days of coffee, and this coffee has huge sentimental value to many coffee professionals worldwide. Mostly harvested from wild tree stock, delicate, floral Sidamo is more subtle than it's cousins, Harrar and Yirgacheffe, but the fascinating spicy complexity in the cup makes it the most sensual of all day coffees. A good book, a knotty problem or the right music are all complemented by Sidamo - best drunk black in our gentle medium roast. --------------------------------------------------------------- Coffee Machine offers for Newsletter subscribers --------------------------------------------------------------- As many of you will know, selecting the right machine for home or office use is difficult and all the espresso machines on the market for home use have their pros and cons. Getting support from retailers and re-sellers is another area where disappointment is the norm. At Hill & Valley Coffee we are determined to *not* get married to machine manufacturers who cannot deliver long term customer satisfaction and we will not be selling machines that we have not had first hand experience with (or at least high quality second hand experience). Although we have our preferences we will endeavour to remain independent, and we wish to offer advice on purchasing and use as much as possible on a one to one basis. It is for this reason that we have decided to offer the machines through the newsletter subscription list rather than simply put them on the site in the store. We would ask any subscriber who is seriously interested in sourcing home or workplace coffee making equipment through us to e-mail to roaster@hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk. We would be willing to send out brochures etc, before the prospective customer makes their final choice. So here is the first batch of machines that we will be offering and our comments (of course!). Automatic Filter Coffee Brewers. --------------------------------------------------------------- It is extremely easy to find a competitively priced filter coffee machine for the home and most of those available through department stores differ little from one another apart from the aesthetics, branding and arguably robustness. The main problem with nearly all of these machines is that they do not control the temperature of the water that hits the coffee. Boiling or boiled water and coffee are not good friends (well the water doesn't care, but the coffee sure as hell does). The other prevalent problem is that these machines nearly always brew into a glass carafe on a small hotplate, keeping the brewed coffee warm by re-applying heat to it, that is slowly stewing it! - NOT GOOD, in either case. For this reason we are not offering a product in this market, but instead we will offer to professional level filter brewers from BRAVILOR, which each provide an excellent solution for offices and even the home user who gets through a lot of coffee. Both control the brewing water temperature below 89 degs Celsius and brew into heat retaining vessels. - The TH10 - Direct to Airpot Brewer. This machine is simply awesome. With a footprint not much larger than a sheet of A4 paper it will fill a 2.2 litre airpot directly in 7 minutes. We have used (and abused) one of these all summer on our espresso.street mobile, and I remember one day alone when we used 8 kgs of coffee (that's 80 brew cycles!!). I'm still drinking coffee from it today. It's easy to clean, comes with a brew cycle alarm "beep" and an automatic decalcify alert light. Packaged with a plastic filling jug, coffee scoop and a supply of filter papers. To create a package we will add in a Bravilor 2.2 litre vacuum, lever action airpot and our "Four Continents Club" christmas gift bundle. These airpots are without doubt the best we have seen on the market. We have regularly brewed a pot of coffee at an event at 6 pm and it has still been hot and drinkable at 8 am the next day! Brew coffee at 8.30 and the coffee is still in peak condition at lunchtime and drinkable late into the afternoon - perfect for the long home-office worksession or closed meetings and small workgroup activity. Total price, including delivery within the U.K. 285 pounds plus VAT. Extra Airpots are 47.00 pounds plus VAT - The ISO 20 - Direct to Thermal Flask Brewer. Every time we lend out an ISO 20 we seem to sell one! With the same footprint as the TH10, but shorter, the ISO 20 takes about 8 minutes to fill a 2 litre unbreakable stainless steel flask. We have used a combination of two of these brewers and 8 flasks to serve coffee to 200 people in 2 hours (with free refills), and they are ideal low cost, high quality brewers. They are also lightweight, robust and portable. Packaged with a scoop and a supply of filter papers. Our package includes one Bravilor 2.0 litre unbreakable stainless steel vacuum flask and our "Millennium Edition" gift bundle. The flasks keep coffee in good condition and hot for several hours and double as the measure to refill the machine. Total price, including delivery within the U.K. 210 pounds plus VAT. Extra flasks, 2.0 litre 21.50 pounds, 1.5 litre 18.50 pounds, 1.2 litre 16.50 pounds plus VAT Espresso Equipment for the Home --------------------------------------------------------------- I freely admit that my views on this subject are a bit controversial and I am by no means an expert on these machines. However I have read enough posts to the alt.coffee newsgroup to know that: (a) all the machines from the serious manufacturers have their pros and cons. (b) buying one of these machines and using it can become like taking on a new hobby - not just improving your coffee quality at home. Espresso is a highly volatile concept and perfect shot can attain Holy Grail like proportions. It is for this reason that there are no machines on the list below that fit into the 100 to 300 pound range. Unless you are prepared to invest money in a "serious" machine from a "serious" manufacturer - stick to your stovepot espresso (the method is essentially the same) and drink more filter coffee or support your local independent espresso bar! The list below is very restricted, but these machines either benefit from my personal experience and can grind coffee, pull shots / steam milk up to professional standard or come recommended from the online espresso community AND are sourced from our commercial suppliers at the best prices available in the UK. The family group is Oscar, Sylvia and Rocky - well I didn't name them! - Nuova Simonelli Oscar - semi professional espresso machine. Nuova Simonelli are one of the top 7 espresso machine manufactures in Italy, but are not well known in the UK as they have no dedicated marketing organisation here. This machine was recommended to me after the Milan fair in November 1999 when it was launched and has been use in my kitchen since June, with a Rocky Grinder. To all intents and purposes it is a scaled down professional one group machine - adequate boiler for repeated steaming of milk, heat exchanger for the espresso, hot water heating of the group head, pre-infusion and a chunky pump. Importantly it has a 58mm basket size - good for tampers, blank screens etc. At a pinch it could be used in a low volume restaurant for espresso / cappuccino and my 14 year old son James makes GOOD caps with it, two at a time, and can pull a 25 second / 1 oz shot with good crema and sweetness. Sounds like the answer - well it is really. It comes in either a plumbed in version or with a 1.3 litre reservoir. I love the machine and have no hesitation in recommending it. Package includes 1 year warranty on parts and labour, and with an aluminium hand tamper, plus our "Espresso for the Holidays" gift pack to give you time to get the shots right on us! Total price, including delivery within the UK is 405 pounds plus VAT. - Rancilio Sylvia - high end home espresso machine Probably the only espresso machine with it's own tribute site on the web at www.coffeekid.com and the most popular machine in the USA with the home espresso enthusiast. Every question you may ever need to ask about using a Sylvia is available by subscribing to alt.coffee on the net, and this machine comes highly recommended for producing excellent quality espresso at home. The technical specs mean it will not steam cap after cap without rest, unlike the Oscar, but the price differential is substantial. I have huge respect for Rancilio as a company and their commercial machines are robust and workmanlike - you see a lot of old Rancilio's around!. Package includes one year parts and labour warranty, with an aluminium hand tamper, plus our "Espresso for the Holidays" gift pack to give you time to get the shots right on us! Total price, including delivery within the UK is 330 pounds plus VAT. - Rancilio Rocky - semi professional espresso grinder and doser. The perfect mate to either of the above machines is the Rocky. Once again this is a scaled - down professional burr grinder, offering fine degree adjustment of grind for your espresso. The hopper perfectly takes one of our 250 gram packs of espresso beans! Adjusting the grind setting allows you to grind coffee for all other serving styles - cafetiere, filter etc. with much more even particle size than in a blade grinder and without over-heating your coffee. This machine has also sat on my kitchen top since early summer and is very popular in the USA, subject to much discussion / recommendation on the alt.coffee newsgroup. Total price, including parts warranty (not grinder plate wear and tear!) and delivery within the UK is 125 pounds plus VAT, or 105 pounds plus VAT if purchased simultaneously with either a Sylvia or an Oscar. --------------------------------------------------------------- Tip of the Month - Care Trade Coffee --------------------------------------------------------------- There is no tip of the month - but I bet you all read this section, hungry for knowledge - so I've published the launch of our "Cup of Care" range of coffees here. This is Hill & Valley's and our own way of giving something back to those countries where great coffee is grown and some of whom have provided me some of the most thought provoking business holidays of my life. Fairtrade in tropical products is doing much to improve the economic and social circumstances in certain coffee producing regions of the world. Ironically as a small scale food producer we are unable to source directly from growers, or unilaterally determine the prices that our ultimate suppliers are paid. However we feel we "do our bit" in this regard by paying top dollar for truly high quality products and we know that the price differential and it's consequent message reaches the target. Our own personal experience of travelling in coffee producing countries suggests that the poor in rural growing areas are relatively well off compared to their counterparts in the cities and towns. Therefore as, hopefully, a coffee company with a "conscience" we have been seeking to help fund a few projects which: - Focus on aid to urban areas in a coffee producing countries. - Act within the charities umbrella, but are provided with administrative support through voluntary work. - Support sustainable development. - Can be linked to a great local coffee, which we can source through our existing supply chain. - Need help badly and work with children. The concept of the "Cup of Care" project is simple - raise the price of the coffee to the consumer and match the donation made from our own gross profits. All money so raised is paid directly to the charity concerned monthly and we will inform our customers of the donations and the ongoing projects through our newsletter. The first of a limited range of coffees in this category is our Colombia Medellin Excelso which has been removed from the regular catalogue. More information can be found about the pricing, donations and objectives on the appropriate page in the shop part of the site. More direct information or (hopefully) any offers to help raise funds can be directed to cupofcare@hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk The "Cup of Care" coffee is accompanied by a simple christmas gift in the gift range called simply "Caring Christmas". --------------------------------------------------------------- GreatCoffee.com - gone forever? --------------------------------------------------------------- First I stopped getting the newsletter, then I couldn't find anything on the site, then I heard that they were seeking new funding and now their site seems to have disappeared entirely. Although as a USA site the coffees offered through Greatcoffee.com were not strictly speaking in the same market as us, I found this site very informative and the cupping comments / reviews interesting reading and a good benchmark. Anyone who has visited the site will confirm that the site had a professional feel to it and worked well, but most importantly it displayed a great love for the massive variety of coffee in the US Specialty Coffee scene and the imagination of the independent roasters in seeking our different coffees and roasts. Although of course it was intended to be a commercial site, somehow it felt like more than that. Sadly it seems the economics didn't work, or didn't work quickly enough - but is it really true that they had burned through 1.4 million US Dollars of funding in finding this out and now need more?? Anyone out there who wants to fund a growing UK coffee internet site / mail order service with attitude, a high search engine placement and a great range of products is welcome to write cheques for less than 1.4 million US Dollars to help in our growth in 2001. A town centre shop with roasting in the back would be a nice idea next summer! Just e-mail investments@hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk. --------------------------------------------------------------- Issue 7 November 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 8TF. Privacy: http://www.hillandvalleycoffee.co.uk/privacy.html