Trends we've seen this Christmas

I write this blog with two trading days to go before the Christmas holiday period begins, crucial to the final sales figures of the year. So what have we seen so far?

The star performer without a doubt has been the Gaggia Evolution espresso machine. I know that there has been a lot of press on this machine, and I expected to see a large number of sales through our website, but this hasn't been the case. All our sales of this machine have been through our shop. I guess when it comes to larger ticket items customers still want to touch and feel the product, as well as being talked into buying it. Old fashioned stores haven't died out just yet!

It will be interesting to hear how people get on over Christmas with their new machines. In the past we have experienced a large number of enquiries post Christmas with customers wanting more information as to how to get the optimum performance out of their machines. I hope we have reduced this somewhat with our own help sheet which we provided for each machine sold and which can be found in a previous blog. Time will tell!

As far as coffee is concerned, the Old Brown Java has been a real hit this year. A coffee we only introduced a couple of months ago has gone down a storm. The coffee equivalent of a full blooded red wine. I tasted it the other day in a Cafetiere (French press) and was really impressed with its earthiness, base notes and pungency. Not everyone's idea of a great coffee, but if you love coffee, it's a must.

A hit on our website has been La Chocolaterie, a cafetiere for drinking chocolate. Not sure why that is, but clearly there is a demand for a method that makes a wonderfully creamy drink. Although not yet on our website, our Mexican spiced chocolate works fantastically in this format.

Finally on the tea side, a good deal of interest has been shown in Rooibos (Red bush) tea. So much so that we've currently run out of stock until after Christmas. We introduced a couple of flavoured varieties and these too have gone well. A great drink that's caffeine free.

Thank-you to all of those who have done business with Cooper & Co this year, we hope to see you again and to those who have yet to try us, you won't be disappointed.

Happy Christmas to one and all, may it be a peaceful time whereever you are.

Jersey Enterprise awards - A tale of extraordinary diversity in adversity

Well today was judgement day in the Enterprise awards, as we the judges deliberated at length on which businesses we believe stand out above the rest in the Small, Medium and Large business categories.

As the owner of a small business I could empathise with many of the entrants as they battle to seek that point of differentiation which enables them to deliver long term sustainable value to their stakeholders.

What is so incredible was the sheer diversity of businesses - specialist shoe companies, wine makers, diamond experts, oyster farms, pr companies, web companies, architects, the list goes on.

When you think that there are around 2,500 businesses on Jersey that employ between 2 and 10 people, it does make you wonder what everyone else does.

So why is the only game in town as far as the politicians are concerned, Finance?

If finance left tomorrow what kind of state would our economy be in? Small business entrepreneurs need to be encouraged to ensure that the Jersey economy has diversity.

That doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a complete disaster if Finance left the Island, it does however mean that there might at least be the seeds of something to take its place, rather than a desert.

At the buffet lunch today where the judges got to meet the entrants, much of the talk was about the Regulations of Undertakings law. For those uninitiated in the employment rules of Jersey, Government has the ability to restrict the number of people a business can employ. The reason is because this is seen as a major tool in controlling population growth.

Although businesses can make applications to the department requesting an increase in the number of people employed, the process can be long and drawn out, particularly when non-qualified people are required.

Small business doesn't have the luxury of time. Growth doesn't happen in a straight line. There is usually a window of opportunity in which to make a significant move, however this is a foreign concept to Government.

As much as Government say they treat cases sympathetically, this only occurs after the correct forms have been filled out. There is a sense that entrepreneurs are seen as fugitives not yet behind bars and something as dodgy as an informal conversation is frowned upon.

Yet as seen in the enterprise awards entrepreneurs generate wealth, they employ people, and if encouraged to export can bring additional wealth to the Island.

Government is changing, but it's a long drawn out affair. You only have to witness what is currently happening to the Jersey Milk Marketing Board which the Managing Director described as "death by a thousand cuts" to understand the potentially disasterous impact that Government interference can have on business.

To paraphrase a famous saying and something that is appropriate when the next elections come round "ask not what you can do for your Government, ask what your Government can do for you" (with apologies to JF Kennedy)

The perfect cup of coffee?

So is there such a thing as the perfect cup of coffee? I personally don't believe there is. If there was wouldn't life be boring! We'd all be drinking one type of wine, cooking our vegetables in one type of way, there'd be no variety. After all the human experience is all about expressing our differences and then enjoying them.

Now I know you're all wondering where this is leading to. Well I had a chat with some of the individuals that I know who make great coffees, two of them work here at Coopers of Jersey, the third works for the Jersey Pottery out of their Bond street coffee shop.

First of all Pedro - He enjoys a long white coffee, I guess technically it is an Americano with a twist.

Pedro reckons that our Old Brown Java is the best coffee. He used to prefer the Monsooned Malabar, but finds that the Jave has more punch.

Pedro fills his cup with a double shot of espresso coffee, about 1/3rd of the total volume.

Then he add a further 1/3rd of hot water.

Finally he pours in cold milk (semi skimmed), to fill the cup.

He then places the steam wand of the espresso machine into the drink and heats the whole drink. No attempt is made to create any foam.

Pedro says that it's important not to heat the drink too much. "You should be able to drink it as soon as you've made it".

I've tasted this drink on many occasions and I have to say I'm mighty impressed.

Now it's Ania's turn -

I reckon that Ania makes one of the best Latte's I've ever tasted. She achieves great balance in the drink.

At the moment the Costa Rica Tarazzu is Ania's favourite however she has a sneeking regard for Monsooned Malabar, interestingly she finds the Old Brown Java a little too strong for her taste (vive la difference!)

First of all Ania half fills the latte glass with warm water. This stays there right up until the moment she's ready to pour in the milk.

She makes a double shot espresso, however only uses one shot.

She then heats the milk carefully, stretching it slightly, working on the texture, rather than creating huge bubbles. She places her hand on the side of the milk pitcher whilst she heats it so that she can monitor the temperature.

Next she empties the water from the glass and fills the glass with a combination of foam and milk (this she "free pours").

Then over the back of a spoon she pours the shot of espresso slowly into the milk to create a dark layer of coffee halfway down the glass.

Finally she dusts the drink with cocoa powder.

A brilliant concoction!

Finally Chris at the Jersey Pottery coffee shop on Bond street comes highly recommenced from a customer of mine. She tells me he makes the best cappuccinos she's ever tasted.

Into a large warm cappuccino cup Chris pours a double shot of espresso coffee.

Next he sprinkles on a combination of cinnamon and cocoa powder on to the crema of the espresso.

He now foams the milk carefully to ensure that he gets a velvety texture.

He then free pours the milk / foam combination onto the espresso, moving the pitcher so that the shape of a leaf appears on the top of the drink. A little latte art for good measure.

That's it! If you have an absolute favourite formula let me know. The more great cups of coffee sold, the better for the industry, and the better the rewards for those who grow it.

I'm hoping to be able to add Stefan's latte to this blog tomorrow.

How to get the most out of your Espresso machine this Christmas

It's the time of year when we sell espresso coffee machines like they're going out of fashion.

However we know that a lot of you wll be disappointed with the results of your first attempt at making an espresso based drink, whether it be an espresso, cappuccino or latte.

As a result I, Stefan and Ania have come up with a few top tips so that you get the most out of your espresso machine this coming holiday.

Ania first - Read the manufacturers instructions

Now I know that may sound obvious, but Ania knows what men are like. They see the shiney new machine plug it in and then try and work out how to use it with the instructions still in the box. It does only take 5 minutes to read the instructions, time Ania believes is well spent.

Stefan next - Take your time! - get organised

This is not a drink to be rushed. Make sure you warm up the machine properly before making a coffee. That includes group handles and cups. Only heat sufficient milk to make a couple of drinks maximum at a time. Chill out, enjoy the fact that it takes time to make great coffee.

Finally, David - Don't make the drinks too big

A great cappuccino only needs a shot of espresso in a 5 oz cup, topped out with milk and foam. You'll really appreciate the intense, balanced flavour far more than if you have a cup the size of a bucket.

.....and a couple of other points

Make the coffee first, then steam the milk, and once you have sufficient foam, pour straight on to the coffee, don't wait for the milk to settle.

Always use fresh cold milk, half fat will foam just fine. Reheating milk will not create any more foam.

Don't overheat the milk, there is a fine balance between a caramel taste remaining and the milk becoming almost bitter. Caramel enhances, bitter does not.

Always "flash" the steam wand after use, this gets rid of any excess milk that has made its way up the inside of the steam wand and will save you long term maintenance problems

Keep the machine clean, used grounds will not enhance the taste of your next coffee as they say, cleanliness is next to Godliness!

Have a great Christmas enhanced we hope by a cup of Coopers coffee!

You don't have to be a celebrity to be brilliant!

There's a restaurant here on Jersey that through the efforts of many different individuals is becoming increasingly internationally renouned.

It's name is Bohemia and the chefs name is Shaun Rankin. As the Independent on Sunday newspaper puts it "he has no television show, no sponsorship deals, no syndicated magazine column and no new cookery book, yet for my money Shaun Rankin is one of the most gifted, highly polished chefs in the British Isles".

Although not mentioned in the article Lawrence Huggler and his family have to be given some credit for taking the immense commercial risk of investing many millions of pounds in this venture, which combines The Club and Spa with Bohemia Restaurant to give a truly remarkable offering in the hospitality industry here on Jersey.

Shaun goes on to acknowledge the fact that Jersey offers a superb range of local ingredients. "I wish I could do more for the producers and bring them into the limelight....the guys bending over for eigth hours a day picking herbs and Jersey Royals".

As a businessman on Jersey supplying restaurants like Bohemia, we sometimes forget how high the standard of cuisine is on an island only 9 miles x 5 miles. Their efforts allow businesses like mine to bring in products which ordinarily we might not consider in such a small market. They also spur us on to new heights which I hope one day will result in a thriving export market under the Jersey brand.

It's a team effort and with competition nowadays coming from so many different parts of the world it's vital that Jersey businesses step up to the plate, not just as individuals, but united under the Jersey banner.

P.S. For the curious, the coffee we supply to Bohemia is our Bourbon Dark blend for espresso and a blend of Kenya Estate and Colombian Fair Trade coffees for their cafetieres. All hand roasted by us here on Jersey.

Jersey Supermarkets on Radio 4

As Chair of the Jersey Chamber Small Business Group I tend to get requests to do interviews whenever there is a potential threat on the horizon to the small business community.

Well a few weeks ago I had such a request from BBC Radio Jersey who were doing a piece for the BBC Radio 4 programme "You and yours".

Out of the blue today I got a call from a friend of mine to say that the programme had been aired and had I heard it?

It got me reflecting though on how fast things change. Since that interview, Le Masurier have put forward plans to build a new supermarket etc. in Bath street, whilst Channel Island Traders, the owners of the Le Riche brand have put forward a proposal on a site probably no more than 1,000 metres away also in St. Helier.

Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Well the debate rages - As I've said before the political will is there, but do the economics add up? There is after all only one cake on Jersey and all that happens is that that cake gets sliced up in a different way as market share changes hand.

The loosers I fear though may well be many small businesses, the old Central Market with its Fruit and Veg offering? Who knows? The winners, well the theory is the consumer in the form of lower food prices, however is this sustainable over the longer period given the logistics of getting things to this Island?

It's a tough call, but maybe ultimately it comes own to us as individuals, what do we really want? Jersey is a special place, it's different, and it's different because of its diversity. Surely it's all too easy to throw that all away for the sake of cheaper bread and milk, but then again if you are unfortunate enough to be below the poverty line, your qualiy of life won't be that great either, and you'll be one of those cheering on a new Supermarket offering.

I hope we all get the opportunity to debate this point before any decisions are made, in the mean time have a listen to this 5 minute piece, be warned you need to choose the "Co-Op" sound bite, the BBC seemed to have mixed up their segways. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/listenagain/wednesday.shtml

Rainforest Alliance Coffee tasting

I understand from those in the know, that the Rainforest Alliance people have been criticised for not putting themselves about enough in the UK when it comes to promoting coffee that they have certified.

It would appear that they are now making amends for this apparent omission by doing a "Sustainable Quality Coffee Tasting" in London on the 29th of November. The exact location is Canning House, 2 Belgrave Square.

We're excited because it's the first time that coffee roasted by us will be seen and tated at a major UK event.

We've normally been very reticent in this area, however because we now have the ability to supply coffee from a farm that I have visited and can vouch for, we've decided to tell the world or at least those who'll be attending this event!

The coffee we've selected is from the Daterra Farm in Brazil, and are their Sunrise and Bruzzi selections. We think that they are not only great coffees, but also that they truly represent sustainable coffee. They don't just talk the talk, they walk the walk.

If there were more farms on this planet like Daterra then we could all rest assured that the planet was in good hands. (and, no I don't have shares in the Farm!)

Of course if you can't get to the London event I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't tell you that you could buy both of these exceptional coffees from our website. Sunrise is great for Filters and Cafetiere, Bruzzi for all espresso based drinks.

Enjoy!

Green Tea - They may be healthy but!

We had the dubious pleasure of tasting our green tea offering yesterday. I profess at the start of this blog of not being a great fan of straight green tea, however I know there are a lot of you out there who love the stuff, and the Chinese and Japanese having been producing it for centuries, so it's probably me.

Of course Green tea has become known in the west for its health giving properties, it helps protect against Cancer, high cholesterol levels and many other nasties found in our society today. It does however contain caffeine, a fact not always that well known.

First of all a brief resume of why green tea is green and not black.

The tea is what is known as "unfermented tea". To stop the fermentation process, the tea has to be what is termed "fixed". This is done by steaming the leaves for a very short period of time. This has the effect of killing the enzymes that cause the oxidization process to take place. The result is that the chlorophyll still remains in the leaves and is why green tea is green.

Next the tea is kneaded, then dried for around ten hours during which time it is constantly turned and finally rolled according to the grade required. It never ceases to amaze me how much effort is expended in producing this simple beverage, and also for such little reward.

I start with our China Gunpowder Green Tea. It is so called because it is rolled into small balls, which is what (so I'm told) old fashioned gunpowder looks like.

From out tasting session, the amount of tea you use and length of time you brew it for are very critical in ones overall enjoyment.

We experimented first using a regular amount of tea and brewing for about 4 minutes. This we found was totally excessive. It led to a powerful pungent taste and smell, almost undrinkable. The infusion itself looked quite muddy.

The next thing we did was to pour away the liquid and reinfuse the leaves with freshly boiled water, this gave us a much improved brew. A much clearer infusion and quite palletable.

Finally we used a much smaller quantity of leaves, and infused for only a couple of minutes, what a difference. Although I have to say I don't find the taste of green tea particularly pleasant, flavoured with a slice of lemon, or Egyptian mint does help in its enjoyment.

The next tea we tasted was our Young Hyson offering. As suggested by its name it is made from young to medium leaves. Visually the leaves are short and fine and slightly twisted.

There are many types of Young Hyson, we carry the Chun Mee variety.

When infused this tea has a bright clear green liquor. Having learnt from our previous tasting experience, we kept the quantity of leaves down as well as the infusion time.

It still produced a pungent brew, however I felt that overall it was a much smoother and more pleasant taste than the Gunpowder. (I now see Gunpowder sales plummeting! - sorry, please don't be too hasty in your judgement!)

If you, like me aren't really a green tea drinker, but feel the need to try something cleansing, I would suggest trying our Lemon Sencha green tea. The lemon has a wonderful fragrance and is delivered into the cup. I find this combination of flavours much more enjoyable, however do take on board my comments above about the issues of quantity of tea used and the time needed for infusion.

The Renaissance of the Grand Hotel

I was last night invited by Gregor Ritchie the joint managing director of Hilwood Resorts & Hotels to a dinner with his team and other members of the local business community at the Grand Hotel. His group acquired the Hotel from De Vere's earlier on this year and are now setting about carrying out a £15 million refit.

Mr. Ritchie gave us a whistle stop tour of the plans, which I have to say were breathtaking and shows a real confidence in the future of the Jersey economy.

In the past we have experienced overseas investors who have ignored local suppliers due to a policy of centralised purchasing, however Mr. Ritchie is keen to use local suppliers where appropriate, a refreshing change. This is of course fantastic as it will keep money in the local economy at a time when we are all being asked to pay more in taxes.

We are really priviledged on Jersey that a number of entrpreneurs have shown a willingness to make some major investments in the Island in recent times. The Atlantic Hotel, Hotel de France and The Club and Spa have all helped to raise the bar.

Isn't it great that Mr. Ritchie and his team wants the Grand to once again join this illustrious list as he seeks it to become a 5 star hotel. What it also means is that the local suppliers will also need to raise their bars to justify his support.

I for one can't wait

Jersey Airport - A move in the right direction

At last! some light at the end of the tunnel. British Airways have announced the launch of a new early afternoon flight between Jersey and London Gatwick, increasing their capacity by some 20%. The new flights start on the 25th of March 2007 and we hope will bring more visitors to this wonderful Island. Well done to Julian Green and his team, as the BA spokesperson said it shows what can be done when Airlines and Airports work together.

The days of sofas in the baggage reclaim hall draw nearer!

Win, win, win

Kenya Peaberry Coffee - Another outstanding coffee from Kenya

The first thing you notice about Kenya peaberry is the beauty of the shape of the raw coffee beans. Whereas usually you get two beans from a berry, peaberry as the name suggests only produces a single round bean.

I'm not quite sure if this is by accident or design, however what I do know is that these beans are separated from the regular beans during the sorting process.

As is usual with Kenya coffees it is washed, giving a very clean cup.

Once again we tried two different roast styles, a light medium and a medium roast.

Once brewed the most noticeable feature about the coffee is its wondeful aroma. I probably go on about this a bit too much, but it has a great wiff 0f wild berries. Stefan's first impression was that he could drink this all day, and black.

Ania, who isn't a great fan of Kenya coffee, felt that this was the best Kenya she had tasted.

It does have that classic acid, fruit taste of Kenya, however it also has a little more body than its Estate equivalent.

A complete contrast to the Old Brown Java, which consists almost entirely of low notes, and which incidentially made a fabulous espresso.

Our recommendation for this coffee is to make it in a Cafetiere (French press) or filter, unless you're really brave it's probably advisable to stay away from the espresso machine on this one.

Coffee to inspire the connoisseur!

I've decided to change some of the coffees we offer in our shop a) because I like to keep things fresh, but also b) because each coffee we sell has to earn its place in our selection.

The coffees we tasted today were, Kenya peaberry, Ethiopian Harrar and Old Brown Java. We're currently experimenting with the roast colour, and so far only the Java has been agreed.

All of the coffees though are outstanding and very distinctive. We did the initial tasting in the shop, and the level of interest from our customers was superb.

I'll start on this blog with the Old Brown Java. The word old is used, because the coffee has been "aged", that is left in the warehouses prior to shipment for anything between 2 and 3 years. This in itself has a major impact on flavour, as the acidity levels in the coffee drop dramatically. The raw coffee also has a wonderful aroma of old sacks! A really earthy feel to it.

What is noticeable with the raw beans, which by now have lost there initial greenness and instead are a light tan is the range of sizes. It would appear that very little screening takes place at origin so as a roaster I'm concerned about how I'm going to achieve a consistent roast colour. The only way it would seem is to go dark.

We roasted the coffee to a full medium colour as well as to a dark roast and tasted the resulting brew. Our initial impression was that the lighter roasted coffee didn't seem to have much flavour and was rather flat, however what a difference going just a little darker made to our overall impression.

The liquor was a wonderful full dark colour, however the taste was very smooth, with a slightly nutty flavour coming through in both the taste and aroma. In fact it reminded us all of the Monsooned Malabar offering, despite being roasted significantly darker.

Following the tasting we made up a cafetiere (french press) of this coffee and all agreed what a great tasting coffee this is. Despite its dark colour I found it very palatable as a black coffee, the lack of acidity really helps here.

I'm looking forward to tasting it as an espresso, which I'll hopefully do tomorrow.

By the way for those of you interested in the details about the origin of this coffee, it comes from near the Kawah Ijen in the east of Java.

It really is a pleasure to be able to offer this coffee to you once again after many years absence. It will be available from our website in the next couple of days.

Lapsang Souchong Tea - an acquired taste!

We continued on our tea tasting today with one of our more exotic teas, namely Lapsang Souchong.

It has a magnificent smokey aroma, which combined with its wonderfully large rolled leaves creates a lasting impression. Once tried, never forgotten!

Of course such a tea has to come with its own legend of discovery and I'm pleased to say that our research didn't let us down.

The Legend goes as follows. During the Qing dynasty, an army unit passing through Xingcun (Star Village) camped in a tea factory filled with fresh leaves awaiting processing. When the soldiers left and the workers were allowed back to their businesses, they realized that if the tea was to arrive at market in time, they couldn't allow the leaves to dry in the normal way. So they lit some open fires of pine wood to speed up the drying process. Not only did the tea reach the market in time, but the smoked pine flavor created the taste and aroma we experience today.

Once you get past the smoke and tar flavours, the tea has a rich and malty flavour, and brews to a deep red colour. Although this tea can be drunk with milk, there seems little point as it is totally overwhelmed by the other flavours.

Once again I felt quite frustrated in my research at the lack of detailed information on this truly historic tea. There is no growing information easily available, apart from the fact that it is grown in the vast province of Fujian, and that the tea originally came from the Zheng Shan part of Mount Wuyi. This is fine, but where does this tea particularly come from?

China Keemun tea - a great forgotten tea?

For those of you who follow my blog, you will already have read about our Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon offerings. Yesterday we tasted our Keemun tea, a tea that I hadn't tasted for some time. The problem for tea growers today is that virtually the only option on the supermarket shelf is the ubiquuitous and anonymous tea bag. Tragic if you are trying to offer something a little special. I believe that China Keemun falls into this category.

Keemun is a black tea, with very little of the "tippeyness" of the classic Indian teas.

We found that it infused to give a more malty flavour than its Indian cousins without any unpleasant bitterness.

Keemun is the English name for the "Qimen" precinct in the Anhui province in the South Eastern part of China.

From my research I found that Keemun is a relatively new tea, first produced in 1875. It was a development on from Green tea that had in the past been traditionally produced by the Chinese.

Although we don't use it in our Breakfast tea blend, Keemun was in the past a prominent ingredient. When you taste it you can understand why. It offers a great full bodied flavour.

Although this tea can be drunk black, it does come up well when milk is added.

You can buy China Keemun tea from our website, and whether you're a keen tea drinker or just experimenting you won't be disappointed.

The only thing that disappoints me is the lack of information available on one of the world's great teas.

I've got more Bars than you!!!!

We've just had an instance of a customer querying the bar pressure of an espresso machine he recently purchased from us. He read in the manual that the pressure generated by the machine was 15 bars, however on the internet he had read that it should be 18 bars of pressure.

I was amazed that he should be so concerned about such high levels of pressure.

The mazimum level of pump pressure required to achieve a perfect espresso extraction is between 8 and 10 bars. When I talk about pump pressure, I mean the pressure at which the coffee machine drives the water through the coffee.

If the pressure is higher than this, the water will be driven through the coffee too quickly, and a poor extraction will be achieved. To counteract this you would need to grind the coffee finer still, however this would in turn put a strain on the coffee machine's pump.

I then reflected as to whether this huge bar pressure was necessary to generate steam? But of course it isn't, steam will be generated when the internal pressure of the boiler is just 1 bar.

The only thing I can therefore think of is that the machine manufacturers are in some kind of race to potentially achieve the highest pressures possible, much like the speedometer on your car.

Your car speedometer can go to a maximum of 180 mph, however most of us will never get above 70mph.

So although the pump can be set to 15 or even 18 bars of pressure this fact is unimportant, you only actually need a maximum pressure of 10 bars.

So please machine manufacturers can you explain this to the buying public, as at the moment there is total confusion. In your attempt to sell machines, you're using spurious information that only mis-informs your potential customer.

In conclusion to this blog, I would point out to any potential purchasers of espresso machines, that if the manufacturer states that the maximum pressure is anything less than 8 bars, you will never achieve a properly extracted coffee.

Who moved my cheese?

This afternoon I was due to give a presentation to the Jersey branch of the British Institute of Innkeepers who, faced with the prospect of smoking being banned from their pubs in the near future one would have thought might just be interested in some innovative ideas about how to use their Espresso coffee machine to maximum effect.

Sadly despite plenty of notification from Simon the branch chairman, not one person from the 100 plus pubs across Jersey showed up. How, I ask myself will they survive in the future battles for their customers spend which will also include a Goods and Services Tax? With the amount and quality of competition increasing I fear they will be asking the question "Who moved my cheese?" as per the famous book.

So if there are any of you out there who just might be interested in the things I had to say, here is a resume.

Presentation to the Institute of Innkeepers


MAXIMIZING PROFIT OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH THE EFFECTIVE USE OF YOUR ESPRESSO COFFEE MACHINE

Why do you need to consider other sources of revenue?

Changes in Government legislation – smoking laws
Drinking and driving
Changing attitudes towards binge drinking
Health impact

Who are your customers and what are their expectations?

Retired and traditional drinkers
Younger generation of pub goers
Greater female participation

The younger generation will expect –

Cleaner environment
Healthier drink options
Good quality and good choice of beverages
Ethical issues


WHO ARE YOUR COMPETITORS?

Other pubs and specialist bars, e.g. cocktail bars
Coffee shops
Informal restaurants

What difference then can a properly used espresso machine make to your business?

1. Drink range

COFFEES –

A full range of Espresso based drinks – this means Americanos, Cappuccinos, Lattes etc.

A full range of the above in a decaffeinated version –

A full range of Liquor Coffees

TEAS –

Traditional English Breakfast tea

Herbal Infusions

Fruit flavoured teas

CHOCOLATE –

Drinking chocolate


HOW TO DELIVER PREMIUM QUALITY AND GREAT PRESENTATION

1. Proper staff training

– Do your staff know what the various drinks should look like?
– Do they care? – We offer tours around our factory
– Which drinks are served with milk, which not

Presentation

- Are you using the right cups, what are the right cups?

Promoting your offering

- Tea / Coffee menu
- Specials of the day
- Drink and food offering

Equipment properly maintained and cleaned – money well spent

That's it in a nutshell. I hope the above is of benefit to any young budding Innkeeper who is keeping his or her eye on the cheese.

Ministerial Question Time - More questions than answers?

The Jersey Chamber of Commerce organised the local equivalent of the BBC's "Question Time" at the Pomme D'Or Hotel tonight. To a packed audience Senators Le Sueur, Walker, Cohen and Ozouf faced a broad range of questions from GST to Pensions.

Compared to the real question time, this one proved to be a rather tame affair, there seemed to be a lot of consensus between the ministers and if there are any divisions internally they certainly weren't going to let the paying public know about them.

For me there seemed to be a lot of "Jam tomorrow" rhetoric from the ministers. Given that ministerial government is still very new it was hard to argue against their optimism. Maybe we need to wait 2 or 3 years for a clearer picture to emerge.

Freddie Cohen though almost inadvertently put his proverbial foot in it towards the end and left the audience with that slightly uneasy feeling that we all need to keep a very close eye on what our political masters are up to.

Following a question about the current state of play on the Waterfront, Freddie was at pains to highlight the importance of "sinking" the main arterial road that divides the waterfront from the main town. Freddie told us how when the latest planners suggested that this road should be sunk it dawned on everybody that this was the solution to the problem of joining the waterfront development to the main town. It was "such a simple and obvious solution"!

Now this begs the question, if it was such an obvious solution why hadn't previous planners thought of it. Well of course two of those who sat on the previous committee were Messrs. Le Sueur and Walker. Freddie didn't quite point his finger and say "it was them", but the point was highlighted by the compere of the night James Filleul.

Senator Walker made some lame excuse at not being a very good planner, and Senator Le Sueur made some comment about different advisors having different views. But of course the main point is that these individuals who had been talking about how badly the past had been run were the very same individuals who were telling us how great the future is going to be and that they had simply been hamstrung by the old system.

Isn't the real answer that Jersey Plc. has had a wakeup call from the rest of the world and now we've all got to get our act together to ensure our future properity. But then that would be taking credit away from our politicians wouldn't it?

Response to "Under pressure" blog

Following my blog of Wednesday the 11th October about the build up of the water pressure in machines that aren't constantly in use, I had a response from "Fracino", the leading UK manufacturer of espresso coffee machines. As you will read from the following, they acknowledge that they did experience an issue in the past, however they have now modified their machines. Older machines can have a simple modification made to them to eliminate the problem. The power of the Blog!

Reply from Adrian Maxwell Director of Fracino

"This is not really a problem but just a question of settings. This must be an old machine ie more than 2 years as we now as standard fit the temperature control on all machines as people are now much more aware of " Italian style espresso" which is a good thing. In the past people always wanted very hot milky coffee. The second thing that probably happened is that the Barista over heated the milk because this would make the cappuccino far hotter than the group temperature. The other solution is to fit the temperature control parts which is very simple. This consists of replacing the 2 heat exchanger dip tubes for longer ones and fitting 2 PTFE restrictors into the the top heat exchanger fittings. This will then act as a brake slowing the water flow down and thus cools the group. The smaller the orifice the lower the temp. With this mod the group will run at 89-92 degrees c and makes perfect espresso with any coffee.

This would also explain why you have noticed this on some machines but not others. We are getting in Dip tubes and restrictors for any one who requires them."

Menu de Terroir or the incredible produce of Jersey

I am a member of a slightly unusual club, namely the "Countryman's club".

Given that I've lived in the town of St. Helier for the first 20 years of my residence on Jersey it does seem a little odd that I should be invited to become a member.

Originally the club only considered those individuals who worked in the countrside, however as people left the land, so the recruiters needed to become a little more pragmatic in their approach.

Today we're a group of individuals who meet up about once a month at various restaurants around the Island, enjoying the food and each others company. On many occasions we invite a speaker to share their thoughts with us.

Last Wednesday, the 18th of October was one such occasion, however this meeting was particularly special.

The venue was the Atlantic Hotel, and the menu was made up of produce either grown or manufactured on Jersey. The guest speaker was the First Minister Frank Walker.

I was priviledged to sit alongside the minister, along with some of the suppliers of the produce we consumed. There was Kevin Keen of the Jersey Dairy a sponsor of the evening, who incidentially is also the president of the Jersey Chamber of Commerce. Tim Crowley from La Mare Vineyard, whose company provided the locally grown wine and complimentary chocolates. Two gentlemen from Woodside Farm who provided the Jersey beef, finally my business Coopers who supplied the coffee, a single estate Brazilian coffee roasted by us here on Jersey.

Other farms had supplied the fresh vegetables and fruit for the desert.

All in all it was a fabulous meal and to think that it had all been provided by local businesses, located in an Island that is only 9 miles by 5 miles in size.

As Senator Walker pointed out, we should be immensely proud of our Island, we are very priveledged to live here.

In an age where globlisation, the destruction of rain forests, global warming etc. seem to be overwhelming us, this was a great reminder that there really is no need to look further than our own backyard. Think of all those food miles we save, and how that benefits the long term ecology of our planet as well as our economy.

Jasmine Tea - Deliciously delicate!

As someone once said, "there are as many varieties of Jasmine as there are Commune wines in Bordeaux". It is quite extraordinary the level of sophistication applied to this particular tea.

Being traditionalists though, we like to supply a truly authentic drink, so use the "K.I.S.S." approach, "keep it simple stupid!"

The quality of Jasmine tea is determined by the quality of the green tea used as its base, and how effectively it has been scented. The best standard is 9301, and naturally this is the grade that we have selected. It has an even-sized leaf with wonderful whole blossoms.

Our tea comes from the Fujian province which is situated along the south east coast of China.

The leaves are plucked from early April to late May. They are then steamed to produce green tea. The tea is now stored until August when the leaves are mixed with the blossoming Jasmine flower. Interestingly, the scenting operation is usually carried out in the evening, when the plucked but unopened buds begin to pop open and release their fragrance.

Traditionally layers of Jasmine blossoms were placed between the green tea. Over time the Jasmine scent permeated the tea. However today the process is a little less romantic. Hot air is passed through the Jasmine blossoms and then filtered through the tea so that the blossoms can be re-used. The exhausted Jasmine blossoms are then used to decorate the tea.

Finally the leaves are refired to remove the moisture in the blossoms and preserve the taste.

The result is a tea that has some of the characteristics of green tea, but is lightly fermented.

We brewed some at work the other day and it was heavenly. The secret is not to use too much tea, and to be really strict on the brewing time, the danger is always to overbrew and this can turn a heavenly scent into a very bitter taste.

You can buy this truly refreching product from our website.

The problem with coffee grinders........

So many things happened today that it's difficult to know exactly where to start. So I've decided on this blog to focus on two coffee grinder issues and refer you back to a couple of my earlier blogs.

The first was a customer in our shop who has a house in Spain. He was telling me that he usually bought a very high roasted coffee from the local Supermarket, and with his "blade" grinder was able to achieve a great taste. He had worked out the amount of time required to grind this coffee so as to achieve a perfect extraction. However now he was using a different coffee that was a bit lighter roasted, he was experiencing problems with the level of extraction.

What he has experienced is what we as roasters experience every day. Different coffees require to be ground slightly differently in order to achieve perfect extraction. This is largely because of the level of oils emanating from the coffee. Lighter roasted coffees are effectively slightly drier than their darker roasted cousins and therefore as a rule of thumb tend to need to be ground slightly finer to achieve perfect extraction.

However because coffee acts like a sponge, so its characteristics will change even over a 12 hour period. A very humid day will result in the grind needing to be slightly different to a hot dry day. All very scary indeed, but very useful to know when you are experiencing problems.

As to choosing the right grinder have a look at my blog of Friday 18th August in the archive for full details.

The second issue was that of blunt grinding blades, and the impact that they can have on the quality of the coffee being delivered into the cup. It is sadly one of the most neglected areas in espresso production, but again vital to monitor to ensure drink consistency.

I refer you to my blog of Thursday 21st September which goes into more detail.

Never under estimate your customer

I had a real reminder yesterday of how peoples attititude and perception of coffee quality has changed in recent years.

We had a call from a customer of ours saying that they had had a complaint about our coffee. "It was tasteless and bitter". Of course the alarm bells start to ring and I immediately went out to see them and check out what had gone wrong.

Thankfully, by the time I got on site, the problem had resolved itself. It would appear that for some reason the espresso machine hadn't been quite up to temperature and as a result the water when it hit the coffee wasn't extracting the flavour properly.

However what really interested me was who was doing the complaining. It was a group of retired individuals. They were out for their weekly morning bowl, after which they have a coffee and a chat.

The reason I was surprised was because this group of individuals are from what I would call a "Nescafe" generation. A generation who really didn't understand coffee quality and who had been brought up in a culture of tea.

But how wrong I was, not only were they identifying the fact that the coffee didn't taste right, they were also making their views known to the management.

So it shows you, everybody has an opinion on coffee, and today will vote with their feet if you're not up to scratch. That's fantastic for my industry, and given the amount of effort that we and our suppliers put in makes it all worthwhile.

Long live retired folk!

Too hot!

I was out for a meal last Friday at one of my favourite beachside restaurants. The meal had been excellent, however the cappuccino was awful, and, yes it was our coffee. I was mortified, the coffee tasted thin and burnt, and on top of this I had to wait 5 minutes before I could drink it because I was in danger of getting 3rd degree burns; it was so hot.

This troubled me all weekend trying to work out what was wrong. I knew the coffee itself wasn't particularly darkly roasted, which sometimes can be a problem, no something else was going on here.

When I arrived on site today, I was expecting one of three scenarios. Firstly that the machine was building up excess pressure when not being used, and this was then firing the water through the coffee too quickly, burning it, and giving it this thin taste.

Maybe the grinder was set incorrectly and this was resulting in badly overextracted coffee.

Or thirdly the machine and its group handles were badly in need of a clean.

Well it turned out to be none of the above!

The machine was perfectly clean, there was no apparent excess of pressure when you first made a coffee, and the grinder seemed to be set correctly.

The give away was the temperature of the water coming out of the group head. Thankfully I had a thermometer with me, so by sticking a probe up inside the group handle I was able to check how hot the water was when it hit the coffee.

All things being equal, the water should be coming out at anything between 88 and 92 degrees Centigrade. As I ran the water, the numbers just kept going up and up. The thermometer raced through 88 degrees, and didn't stop rising until it had reached 96 degrees, before falling again as cold water replenished the boiler.

Eureka! - At this temperature, the water was simply burning the coffee and delivering it straight into the cup.

The problem tends to occur only when the machine has not been in use for some period of time. The temporary solution is to ensure that a good couple of cupfuls of water are run through the machine before making a coffee. The long term solution is to reduce the average temperature of the boiler which is easily done by an engineer.

Finally the other point to highlight is that if you are just making a coffee for one person, ensure that the portafilla is full of coffee. That may sound obvious, but in the heat of the moment it can be easily overlooked.

When words become barriers

Despite having had a reasonably good education and being fairly literate, I was surprised by an article in last Saturday's Independent newspaper that contained at least 10 words that I had never before heard.

The journalist Deborah Orr was interviewing the French intellectual Bernard-Henri Levy and in it she used such wonderful words as "mountebank" and "chimerical" plus many others which for me were totally obscure, however upon looking them up in the dictionary they proved to be very appropriate. It made me appreciate once again what an amazing language English is, and how important it is not to "dumb it down". But of course it's not just one language it is a hybrid of many different langauges whose history for one reason or another appears to be being lost in the annals of time.

The problem with the loss of this knowledge is that when more unusual words are used in an everyday context they become a huge barrier to getting people to understand what is being said, not unlike someone speaking a foreign language.

Today for me was a classic example. I went to my local Church this morning and was struck as I read through the order of service just how many words that seemed so familiar to me didn't actually make much sense. The Church seems to assume that its members have a close affinity with Latin. Now given that Latin hasn't been taught at many schools for a number of years this appears to me to be a rather great oversight and maybe reflects why so many people feel alienated by the Church.

Could the word barrier, although probably a small factor in itself be just the thin end of the wedge?

So I've taken it upon myself to "translate" some of the language used in today's order of service which I hope those of you who read this blog will appreciate.

MATINS, means "Morning", in the case of the Church of England, the daily morning service

VENITE - this word is combined with "EXULTIMUS", and means "o come let us (venite) rejoice (exultimus). In the Church service, the Venite is the 95th Psalm from the Bible.

ANTIPHON - Alternate chanting or singing. A type of Church music sung by two parties each responding to the other.

EPISTLE - Something written or sent to someone. In the case of the Church it is a letter to the Church from usually one of the Apostles.

JUBILATE DEO - To shout for joy for or with God.

COLLECT - A short prayer conveying one main petition.

CONCORD - Harmony

Prayers of "INTERCESSION" - The act of pleading on behalf of another.

I hope that the above helps anyone lost by the language of religion. If you have any words that are used in your Church and which you don't understand please send a response to this blog.

Infamy in the Jersey Evening Post!

Infamy, infamy, they've got it infamy! once famously said I believe by Frankie Howard is my immediate reaction to a small article in tonights JEP about my Blogging activities.

For those of you who haven't blogged before, it is a wonderfully cathartic experience, particularly when it comes to my political comments on this Island. I would also add that my reactions to various topics is immediate and therefore might on some occasions seem rather strong.

In an earlier blog I gave Julian Green our new Airport director a hard time following one or two comments he was quoted as making to the press. Following some discussions with my colleagues in the Jersey Chamber of Commerce this commentary has been developed a little more thoughtfully and I hope a more balanced article will appear in the not too distant future in the Chamber on Line magazine.

Given the huge changes currently taking place in our Island at the moment and the uncertainty that that causes, it is important that we all take part in the various debates. Hopefully that means a pat on the back sometimes as well as the more familiar kick.

I've come to the conclusion that it isn't good enough to simply sit back and take what Government throws at us, we need to be proactive and influencing the decision making process. If that happens then our Island will be all the better for it. Everybody has a part to play.

Assam Tea - A true classic

Assam is located in the very north east of India. It is squeezed between Bhutan to the north, Nepal to the west, Bangladesh to the south and Burma (Myanmar) to the east. In fact it's quite hard to see how it has remained part of India. (I hope that doesn't start a fight!)

The Assam tea we currently offer a tea estate called Itakhooli which is found in the Assam valley. The estate is owned by Williamson Tea Assam Ltd. who own some 17 tea estates in this region. This company was founded way back in 1869 by two undividuals, namely Williamson and Magor. Today the company produces around 21 million kilos of tea for both the internal and export markets.

This tea is an FTGFOP. That is, the leaves are quite large with light tips. It has the classic malty taste of Assam teas. When brewed its produces a deep red / brown liquor, yet drunk without milk it tastes wonderfully balanced with no sign of any harsh notes. Simply a great tea.

You can drink this tea with milk, but before you do, savour its wonderful malty aroma and think classic English tea.

Under Pressure!

I've talked previously about the grind of the coffee, its freshness etc., however I haven't said much about cofffee machine pressure, that is the pressure in the boiler and the pressure delivered by the pumps.

I was reminded of this issue over the last couple of days following a site visit to one of my customers. I pressed the button to drive some water through the group head before making a coffee and was met with this intense spray of near boiling water. I checked the gauge on the machine to see if the boiler pressure was significantly above 1 bar pressure, it wasn't, I then checked the pump pressure and this too was correctly running at between 8 and 10 bar pressure. So what has gone wrong and why is it important?

Well if the water flows at a constant rate, the barista can set up the grinder to grind the coffee to a fineness that will allow him or her to make a perfectly extracted espresso in 20 or 30 seconds depending upon the characteristics of the coffee.

If however the water blasts out of the group head on one occasion and steadily on another there is no way that the taste can remain consistent. Water that is under undue pressure will force its way through the coffee resulting in a thin and underextracted brew; you might even end up with a burnt taste.

Now I don't experience this on all machines, but it does appear to be prevalent at sites where coffee throughput can vary dramatically throughout the day. For some reason and I hope a machine manufacturer takes note there can sometimes be an excessive build-up of pressure in the boiler which effectively means that the machine needs to be "bled" before making a cup of coffee.

I have found that this tends to happen when the machine has not been used for a while. The important thing as far as the barista is concerned is to be aware of the condition and to ensure that he /she runs the machine until a steady flow of water is established and then make that coffee.

As a customer said to me recently, great coffee isn't just about one or two things, it's about a whole series of little things any one of which can cause the whole structure to collapse. Never a truer word said.

Ceylon Tea - Help!

Today we continued our tasting of teas, this time moving on to Ceylon, or Sri Lanka as it is now. Somehow tea from this country has retained its old colonial name which I think adds to the romance of this wonderful origin.

Sri Lanka has 6 tea growing regions or districts, within which are found literally 100's of estates:

Dimbulla
Nuwara Eliya
Uva Highlands
Galle
Ratnapura
Kandy

Because there are so many estates and so little information it can be quite difficult to identify from which district a particular tea comes. This I discovered to my cost today and hence the reason for the title of this blog.

I'll start with our Ceylon B.O.P. from the Dotel Oya estate in the Uva Highlands. This tea produces a deep red liquor. It has a full tea flavour without being overbearing. I would describe it as a classic English tea taste. If you were to picture cucumber sandwiches and tea cakes this is the tea you would choose to compliment the ocasion. Can be drunk with milk without fear of loosing its wonderful flavour.

Our Ceylon O.P. is a bit more of a mystery. We are advised that it comes from the "Nawagamuwehena" estate, however we're unable to discover in which district this lies. So if there is someone out there who has better information, please can you respond to this blog.

The tea has a wonderful black twisted long leaf. The brew is a gentler version of the B.O.P., still quite a deep red colour, however I think a more refreshing classic English tea taste. There is even a slight hint of lemons. If you like milk in your tea you'll want just a dash, otherwise you will destroy its wonderfully subtle tones.

Once again two great teas, but quite different from the Darjeelings we tasted yesterday.

Darjeeling - The Champagne of teas

As I promised yesterday, my staff and I today tasted our Darjeeling offering.

A First flush Darjeeling from the Pattabong or Puttabong (also Tukvar) tea estate, and a Second flush Darjeeling from the Chongtong tea estate which is found in Darjeeling east.

Did you know that only 77 tea estates are allowed to use the Darjeeling name? No wonder similarities are drawn with Champagne!

These teas contrast hugely, first of all there is the price differential. First flush Darjeeling is nearly four times the price of Second flush, but is it worth the money?

That's a very difficult question to answer as the teas taste so completely differently.

First flush is the first growth of leaves after winter, in fact to be precise it is the first two leaves and bud only. Because only the new growth is used, the tea leaves have a very green appearance, which in the cup makes for a very light infusion.

It's a mile away from a gutsy Assam or Ceylon B.O.P., however it delivers a wonderfully refreshing drink. Light, fragant and delicate Muscatel flavours all combine wonderfully on the pallet. No need for any additives.

The Second flush has a much darker appearance, not only are the rolled leaves more akin to traditional black teas, the taste too has a good deal more body, and the distinct Muscatel flavour is much more pronouced. Simply put it's a wonderful cup of tea. This one you can drink with milk, though no doubt a number of you might consider a slice of lemon as a welcome addition.

Having finished our tasting I realised what a great loss in our tea drinking tradition has taken place over the last 50 years as the UK market has become dominated by a handful of major players, none of whom are interested in the delicate sublities of the different tea estates of Darjeeling.

Isn't it a great irony that in an age when we seem to have endless choice, that the selection of great loose teas has become limited to a select few specialists such as ourselves. Who needs supermarkets!

Tea - In the beginning

We had a family holiday in the UK some three weeks ago, part of which was visiting the sites in London. As we crossed Tower Bridge one could see where the old tea wharfes used to be in the days when Tea was brought up the Thames. Today of course it's all fashionable flats, and this wonderful history that existed prior to striking dockers and the invention of containerisation is all but lost.

However what it did do was to remind me of some of the stories my Grandfather used to tell when he worked in London in the 1920's.

His first job was with a tea brokers, that is a business that used to buy tea off the market and then onwardly sell it to the trade, another line of business that has now virtually died out.

His job in those days was to taste the Assam tea. Whereas today we're lucky to see more than 3 or 4 samples of Assam tea, he used to have tray upon tray to taste. The samples would come in from the auction house and his job was to value the tea, that is establish its worth to his company. He told me that his valuation had to be within a "farthing" of the price paid in the tea auction otherwise he could be in big trouble.

Now for those of you unfamiliar as to what a "farthing" is, it's a unit of old English money, in fact it used to be a 1/4 of a penny. Given that when old money converted to decimal in the mid 1970's you got 2 1/2 new pence for an old 6d, that makes a farthing worth 1/10th of a new penny. Not much margin to play with then!

What it did however do was teach him the value of tea to other players in the market. He knew when to pay more for tea, or if he had bought a tea particularly cheaply. He knew how to blend tea so as to add value to it. He knew what other tea packers needed and how much they were willing to pay.

His expertise allowed him to became quite successful, to the point where he was supplying the world famous P&O lines with all their tea requirements. Bear in mind that this was in a time before tea bags, and all tea was supplied to the docks in tea chests.

After the war he started to do business in Jersey, supplying most of the major Hotels with their loose tea requirements, and in 1964 he bought out Cooper & Co. a business that has been on Jersey since at least 1890, and which I now run, the grandson of the original owner.

So there's a bit of our history. Over the next few blogs, I will endeavour to carry on the family tradition in tea as we taste the different teas and tissanes that we stock today and give you our tasting notes. I will also be giving advice on how to make the perfect cup of tea.

Jersey Airport - Same old story, different storyteller

Mr. Green our new antipodean airport controller was a busy man last week. On Wednesday he spoke at a surprisingly muted Chamber of Commerce lunch where he endeavored to explain what the big issues were when it came to halting the decline in visitor numbers to our shores.

He was adamant that the solution to the problem did not come in the form of low cost airlines, I believe he used the term "prostituting Jersey" in a previous interview. Strong words indeed.

He also made it clear that he did not believe that simply reducing landing fees would have a significant impact in lowering the cost of a holiday to the average visitor. He calculated the saving to be worth just 2% to the average punter, not a "deal breaker" kind of number. That must come as some comfort then to the 21 individuals on £70,000 plus at the airport.

He believes that the solution to the problem lies not just with the ports of entry to this Island, but in fact with all of the different stakeholders. I presume here he refers to Tourism and Hoteliers getting their act together and even possibly a combined effort with the other Channel Islands.

Well not exactly - It was widely reported in the press that Guernsey had agreed a deal with Flybe to re-establish a Paris link. Their approach was considered an inappropriate way for Jersey to spend its money in the eyes of Mr. Green and so Jersey pulled out of the deal. No wonder Guernsey tourism refuse to mark Jersey on their national advertising campaigns. Credit to them for their entrepreneurial approach - at least they're prepared to take a chance for the benefit of the industry.

Lets just take a reality check at this point. Flying as I have said in the past is no longer seen as a luxurious form of travel. It has become commoditized, by that I mean whether we pay £250 for a flight or just £50, we don't expect to feel lucky to arrive safely based on the amount the flight cost. If we did, businesses like Ryanair would never have got started.

So lets dismantle the first myth, the cost of getting to this Island plays a huge part in the decision making process of the vast majority of tourists. Why am I so sure? Well I talk to my customers most of whom are small businesses and who in turn talk directly to their customers in this Internet driven age.

One hotelier said to me that when a prospective customers rings him, the first question he asks them is "have they made any travel arrangements?" Why? Because he knows that no matter what room rate he gives them, when it comes to the cost of travel that prospective customer will take one look at the numbers and that's the last he hears of them.

What difference can he make? Well if his prospective customer books his / her travel arrangements through the Hotel, the manager can give them a significantly discounted rate, because the likes of Condor gives them a discount, a discount not directly available to the potential tourist.

Now I'm not having a go at Condor for trying to maximize revenues, but it does concern me when I hear that following the demise of Emeraude that the way in which they price their fares could be having a detrimental effect on visitor numbers to these shores.

What Mr. Green seems to fail to understand, is that whilst he's guaranteed his £100,000 plus salary, there are no such guarantees for the small hotelier with a mortgage to pay and rooms to fill over a 7 month period (although this is rapidly shortening)

If there's one thing that Mr. Green is very effective at, it is his ability to use the soundbite to dramatic effect. So far we've had "prostitute", but now I read the departure gates feel "like a meat locker in winter", and the baggage collection area like a "Swedish weight-loss centre". Great prose, but is this one of those cases of a lot of style with very little substance?

Surely what his customers would like to hear is how he intends to get all those security stations operational, so as to get people to those gates, rather than which natty colour of pastel blue he intends to paint the departure gates.

Maybe if we have leather settees in the baggage collection area we'll be the talk of tourists the world over and be in all of those trendsetting magazines?

As one Hotelier said to me, "he thought that visitor numbers had bottomed out 3 years ago and he was hopeful for the future - today that hope hangs by a thread, as numbers yet again show no signs of a significant recovery.

Whilst I wish Mr. Green every success, I and I'm sure the whole of the hospitality industry would much prefer to see effective tangible results that benefit everybody rather than hearing the latest clever soundbite.

It's all about balance

Yesterday after a game of tennis, my fellow players as usual asked me "what coffee are we going to have today David?". On this day I selected a double shot regular (around 8 floz) cappuccino.

John, who works behind the bar at our club must feel under huge pressure to deliver something great when I appear, and I have to say he didn't disappoint. The club uses our Colombian Excelso coffee for all its coffee requirements.

The taste was great for a number of reasons. The coffee was correctly extracted, the coffee shots weren't run too long, the milk had been correctly foamed and overall there wasn't too much to drink.

During the week Ania, who makes the coffee in our shop had shown equal prowess when making a latte for me - usually this is a drink for which I don't have so much time, however as she demonstrated getting all the different elements right really is key to a great drink. On this occasion she used our Bourbon Dark coffee blend.

The problem is that on so many occasions I've had a coffee that has had all of its flavours "stretched" so much that you end up tasting every other flavour apart from the coffee.

It could be that too much water has been run through the ground coffee, which means that you get a load of extraneous flavours that were never meant to reach the cup.

The milk has been overheated, or not correctly foamed, which delivers a thin taste assuming you haven't burnt your mouth first!

Then of course there are the usual culprits; coffee incorrectly ground, water not up to termperature, pump pressure not right, machine not cleaned properly, etc. Seemingly an endless list of problem areas.

So many factors go into making a great cup of coffee all the way from origin to the cup, that it's a wonder we even bother to worry about getting it right all the time. But thankfully we do.

As has been demonstrated to me over the last two or three days, when it's got right there surely aren't very many other drinks greater in the world than a perfectly made cup of coffee.

Temperature - Freshness - Grind - Cleanliness

Some days I feel I should simply run one of those self repeating tapes, because I can guarantee almost without exception that one of the above crucial areas has not been attended to and this in turn has had a dramatically negative effect on the quality of the drink in the cup. So at the risk of repeating myself, if you enjoy great coffee, please pay attention to the following:

1. Temperature - The correct water temperature is crucial to the successful extraction of flavour from the coffee. 88 - 92 degress centrigrade are the golden numbers. To achieve this temperature though you must ensure that the whole machine is warm. This means running a large cupful of water through the espresso machine prior to making a cup of coffee. It's vital that all group heads and handles are hot, otherwise you will affect the coffee flavour.

2. Freshness - There are two areas here, freshness of both water and coffee. Water is usually only a problem if the machine hasn't been used for a day or so. This results in the water going "flat", and this will be reflected in the cup. So ideally you want fully oxygenated water to achieve the best flavour.

Coffee freshness is a little more obvious. Look to see if there is a "roasted on" date on the bag. The nearer to the roasting date the fresher the taste is going to be. For most people who buy coffee off the supermarket shelf, it is crucial that the coffee is used within a week of the packet being opened. Careful storeage is also crucial - oxygen is the enemy of ground coffee and destroys its flavour.

3. Grind - Always ensure that the coffee is correctly ground. A shot of espresso coffee that doesn't take between 20 and 30 seconds to brew will either taste bitter and burnt, or alternatively just watery. If you're grinding your own coffee, keep an eye on those blades.

4. Cleanliness - Well they say that cleanliness is next to Godliness, and the same is true of great coffee. Always ensure that the group head, group handles and steam wand are cleaned regularly with appropriate detergent; the grinder too if you have one. If you don't you end up with a coffee that can have a stale, bitter taste, or a taste of burnt milk, the flavour combinations are endless, but sadly have little to do with great espresso!

That's it in brief - There are many other issues to consider, however if you get the above right you are at least in with a fighting chance of creating a great cup of coffee.

A new After Dark coffee creation

Because we try always to be consistent in our offering to our customers we don't tend to change our coffee blends that often. Today, however was one of those days. I had decided some time ago that we needed to improve on a line of coffee we call "After Dark". The decision had already been taken that this coffee should become a certified sustainable coffee.

The coffee we reviewed was from the Daterra farm in Brazil, all of whose coffee is both Rainforrest and Utz Kapeh certified.

I tried three different coffee selections from this farm, and roasted them up on our sample roaster to anything between 210 & 220 degrees centigrade.

Now that doesn't sound like a huge difference, however the result in the cup shows marked distinctions. What it did highlight is that here in Jersey we struggle to achieve a great tasting coffee at roast temperatures around 210 degrees centigrade. I think it must have something to do with the local water and the way in which it reacts to our coffee. It could also of course be nothing other than our own particular preferences.

I ended up with 6 samples which I tasted with Anya and Stefan. The coffee has a wonderfully sweet aroma, however we found that the lower temperature roasted samples didn't have the fullness in the cup that we were searching for.

We whittled the selection down to 3 coffees, funnily enough each was a particular pick from Daterra, and made up three cafetieres (French press) of coffee, this being the most popular domestic coffee maker in our Island.

Having gone into the tasting thinking that we would choose a medium roasted coffee, we came away most impressed with the darkest roasted sample. It had a rich chocolatey smoothness that really fitted the bill, and is a great contrast to our "Morning Coffee" offering.

It's great that even after 18 years in this business, the coffee can still throw up such wonderful surprises.

When you get a chance give our new sustainable After Dark coffee a try, your guests will still be talking about it long after the party's over!

St Helier - A vision for tomorrow?

Last Friday (22nd September 2006) I attended an all day seminar at the Town Hall that considered how the town (or is that city?) of St. Helier might develop architecturally over the coming 20 or 30 years. Ambitious, yes, but maybe it's what is needed given the piecemeal approaches that have taken place in the past.

The presentation was given by dare I say it an "outside" consultant who come under the suitably anonymous name of "EDAW", I'm not sure however for what exactly these initials stand, but I'm sure some wag could assist.

What I found a little depressing though was the lack of representation of the private sector, whose numbers you could count on one hand. On the other hand there were more politicians and civil servants in attendance than you could shake a stick at. I guess it's not unreasonable given that a business person taking a day off work is quite a commitment. Clearly the same sort of discomfort is not felt in the public sector, alternatively it could just reflect the degree of complacency that pervades our Island where we are lucky enough to have full employment and a high standard of living.

However, back to the point of this Blog and that of the structural future of St. Helier.

As a business person with a shop in the heart of the town I clearly have a vested interest in how St. Helier develops in the future. Seeing the real estate value of my property disappear as St. Helier retail moves seaward is not what I want to see, and clearly the same is the case with other businesses in my area.

So it was with some relief that EDAW recognised these concerns and that traffic and parking issues have been clearly identified as a problem to be solved, something Transport and Technical seem to have great difficulty in sorting out at present.

I was also cheered by the recognition that the redevelopment of Fort Regent is a high priority and also that it should remain a focus for our community. The solving of the perennial problem of accessibility is the clever bit here.

There was also acknowledgement that whilst there remains 6 lanes of traffic between the town and the waterfront, the chances of the waterfront becoming a part of town are a little less than nil. It is such a shame that when this was highlighted by some local architects a decade or so ago so little importance was given to this obvious problem.

Once again a solution will need to be found to "tie in" the waterfront to the main town. Projects such as sinking this main road have already been put forward in the press, and seem almost inevitable. A few more millions to swallow.

Overall I came away with a sense of positivity as to the potential future of St. Helier. My fears that one part of town was being given prominence over another had been allayed. There was also the first public recognition of the totallity of the problems faced, and although solutions still seem to be a little thin on the ground one can't fault the overall concept.

Of course it's one thing to have a vision and strategy, another to implement it successfully.

The question was asked, "where would you start?". I boldy said the Fort. It lies at the heart of St. Helier, and the people who live and work here would be able to see on a daily basis the progress of the new vision for St. Helier as it emerged before their eyes. Everybody could see the progress being made, no need for spin.

However my group thought this too high profile, "what if something goes wrong?"

Doesn't that just sum it all up. Things have been going wrong for years and the fear now is such that even with this vision people are already looking for the escape hatch. What chance then does this project really have if it doesn't have the full and unconditional support of the council of ministers?

For once in their lives those in Government empowered to make these kinds of decisions must step up to the plate and acknoledge their responsibilities, failure as well as success. You get used to doing that in the private sector, why can't it be replicated in Government?

Now there is a vision!

Coffee Grinders - Their maintenance, another key ingredient in the delivery of great coffee

I was reminded today following a visit to one of my customers just how important it is to have a programme that ensures that your coffee grinder is regularly maintained.

Today most if not all coffee shops have a coffee grinder alongside their espresso machine. We have a few customers in the food service business who even grind their own coffee for their filter and cafetiere coffee.

This is all great stuff when it comes to ensuring that the coffee is fresh, however coffee that is not correctly ground can itself be a problem.

The issue I came across today was the bluntness of the grinding blades.

As coffee roasters this is all second nature to us. We carry out regular tests to ensure that the particle size of our ground coffee is consistent. There are many commercial tests, however the one we carry out involves using a series of different sized sieves and establishing what weight of product remains in each sieve.

The result is then plotted on a graph using the mathematical technique of standard deviation and the theory is you get the classic "bell shaped" curve. In layman terms this reflects the spread of the different particle sizes and how much variation there is from the mid point.

This all sounds like very clever stuff, and it is, as an understanding of the average particle size directly impacts the flavour of the coffee.

Let me explain further; The water that infuses with the grounds needs to be in contact for a certain period of time in order for the coffee to give up its flavour. This fact is true of all coffee makers, however appears most critical in espresso based drinks.

The correct particle size will hold the water up just sufficiently to ensure a perfect extraction, however it is reliant on the spread of particle sizes being correct.

This is where the damage done by blunt grinding discs can be so disasterous for the final beverage.

When grinding discs become blunt, rather than "chopping or slicing" the coffee bean the blades break up the beans by crushing them. This has two effects:

1. The ground coffee will become much warmer during the grinding phase. This can result in a burnt taste coming through in the cup, as the essential oils are effectively cooked by the grinding process.

2. The spread of the particle sizes becomes much greater. This affects the ability of the ground coffee to "hold up" the water during the infusion process and means that it becomes increasingly difficult to deliver a good espresso drink.

It's always difficult to answer the question " how long will discs last?", however a ball park figure for espresso coffee grinders is of the order of 300 kilos. After this volume, wear should be carefully monitored, checks include "is the ground coffee becoming noticeably hotter?", or is it taking a lot longer to grind a given volume of coffee than it was when the blades were new?

Grinders are often the forgotten cousins of the espresso making process, however they are a vital element when it comes to delivering great coffee.

Vindication!

I like to think of my blog as primarily a learning tool for people who aren't immersed in coffee quite as much as I am, but who are still interested to read and learn and improve their hot beverage offering, or better understand what they are drinking.

Today I visited a number of coffee shop customers in St. Helier which is always taking a bit of a chance, however I have to say the coffee I tasted on all of these sites proved to be of a very high standard.

Why? Well of course it must be the quality of Cooper's coffee! That's a little bit of wishful thinking on my part, because once the coffee beans are out of our reach, what is delivered into the cup is very much down to my customers.

This can be a very frustrating part of my job. I carry out many training sessions, during which I try to encourage people to make coffees themselves and to share some of my passion. Getting passionate about coffee isn't very easy if you're only paid the minimum wage and it's perceived as a job of little worth.

However today I was really proud of all my customers. My first taster was a customer of ours called "The Taste II" The Polish girl Ania who made the espresso did an excellent job in ensuring that the "portafiller" was full of coffee prior to making me an espresso, not easy when you are using a single shot measure, as coffee grinder dispensers usually come up short.

My second customer, Jonathan at "Simple Simons" is a regular traveller to London. One of his favourite places is the ATM chain. In fact he tells me that he even asked one of his favourite haunts to "lend" him some coffee beans to try in Jersey. When he got back he found that our coffee was of at least an equal standard - a pleasant discovery for both him and me.

My next destination was the Jersey Pottery cafe on King's Street in St. Helier. Probably the busiest coffee shop in town. The manager there told me of an Indian gentleman who had recently come to the Island and who having tried many other establishments was interested to know which blend they used and from where he could purchase it.

This is a blend we have created uniquely for the Jersey Pottery and so sadly from this man's point of view he's just going to have to keep going back to their shop.

Finally I visited a very new customer of ours, "Cafe Society" in what is commonly called French lane at the back of the Central Market. Not only was the coffee great, but what I really appreciated was the cleanliness of the coffee making area. Everything was immaculate and as a customer inspires confidence in what is being produced.

What's really great from my perspective is that each site really cares. I have trained staff at many sites in the past only to see them fall back into bad habits a week later. I've seen so many sites, and this includes some leading London names who boast loudly about how great their coffee is only to be let down in the delivery. The most common one is to serve an espresso without the glimmer of a crema on its surface - a rudimentary error.

And finally given that we create all our own blends, sometimes with customer input, it was great to get a direct comparison with coffee roasters with a far greater reputaton than ours and to be compared in a favourable light.

It doesn't always feel this good, but it proves the value of perserverence and belief in that what we are doing may not be perfect but at least I am reassured that we are headed in the right direction.

Vindication!

Small Hotels - How to improve coffee quality in a tough environment

It's really tough delivering good consistent coffee in a hotel that has anywhere between 40 and 60 rooms. If you're in Jersey and probably for that matter anywhere in the UK which relies on tourists for the bulk of their business, most guests are on half board, which means that you shift a lot of coffee at breakfast time, but after that only the odd cup or two for the rest of the day.

The result is that in your kitchen you will have what is known in the trade as a "bulk brew" coffee machine which will hold at a minimum 5 litres of coffee, which is the equivalent of 40 to 50 cups. If you've got a full hotel therefore you're probably going to need to make up two batches of 5 litres of coffee to accommodate the assumed demand, and here is where your problems begin.

In the first instance, the breakfast staff are going to want to get the coffee ready early, simply put it's another job that can be done and forgotton about. Niceties such as making coffee some 10 minutes before the first guest appears go out of the window in the real world, where staff numbers are cut to the bone.

So by the time the first guest shows up, the coffee has been brewed probably for around 1/2 an hour. This isn't a problem - yet! The problem is with the guests who show up not unreasonably a little later (after all they are on holiday!), say a whole hour after the first guests. By now said coffee has been brewed for 1 1/2 hours and yes you've guessed it, now you do have a problem.

That wonderful brew the first guests drank, is now turning dark and bitter, and may even start tasting a little burnt. The problem is that the longer heat is applied to coffee, the more water evaporates, the stronger the brew becomes and the whole chemistry of the coffee starts to change.

The solution - Well why not stagger coffee production? Maybe buy two sizes of coffee pouches from your coffee supplier, one that will make just 2 litres of liquid, and another that makes a full 5 litres. This will allow the staff to make up a smaller quantity of coffee for the first brew of the morning.

If this isn't possible, then don't make up two containers of coffee in the first instance, wait for one to start getting used, and then look to make up the next container.

The most drastic action is to put a timer by the coffee brewer. Once a container of coffee has been made up, start the timer. Set it so that an alarm sounds after 45 minutes. Any coffee left gets thrown away and a fresh brew is made.

This last suggestion may be wishful thinking on my part, however it does tend to focus the mind at management level and helps to better organise coffee production.

After breakfast any coffee left should either be put to one side for members of staff, or it should be thrown out. Please do not leave the remnants of breakfast coffee in the brewer. In the first instance it will tempt a member of staff to give it to a customer who might be demanding a cup of coffee mid-morning and secondly all that coffee is doing is coating the container with a bitter layer of stewed coffee. What chance will the next batch of coffee have?

So we've got the breakfast coffee under control, now what do we do about the rest of the day?

Well there are a couple of things -

You might have an espresso coffee machine behind the bar, why not make one off coffees from here. My experience is that these machines are hugely under utilised in this environment. This in turn causes another problem, namely stale coffee beans.

So why not help improve the turnover of coffee beans by ensuring that any coffee sold to a guest during the day comes from this espresso machine. As a side note, if volume through your espresso machine is a problem, then you should consider using "pods" (please see my previous blogs on this matter), here you know the coffee will be reasonably fresh, as the sachet will only be opened upon a request for coffee.

An alternative idea is to use Cafetieres (French press) for all periods after breakfast. It is possible to use the filter coffee you use in your bulk brew coffee machine in these coffee makers, just ensure that when a sachet of bulk brew coffee is opened it is stored in an air-tight container and is used up within 4 or 5 days maximum (sorry purists!).

Again the coffee is made to order which means that your guest has every chance of getting a decent cup of coffee.

As a coffee roaster I would say it's about respecting the coffee. It's also about staff training, and having proceedures in place that ensure that when new staff are hired, coffee training is simply not left as an afterthought.

Everyone knows how food should be prepared and handled, so why not coffee?

Here's to better coffee!

Sustainability of the greedy few

An article was published in the Financial Times on the 9th September 2006, written by Hal Weitzman about workers being paid below the minimum wage on co-operative coffee farms that claim to be "Fair Trade Certified". Effectively he was questioning the intregrity of the Fair Trade Logo and how easy it is to fool the consumer.

I have both visited a Fair Trade co-operative in Brazil (namely Poco Fundo) and my company is also a member of the Fair Trade Foundation and I have to say that the level of auditing carried out by the organisation is in my experience second to none.

There will always be those out there who seek to abuse the system for their own gain to the detriment of the rest of society. We see it everywhere, a few individuals who never seem to have enough and whose only interest is in how much money they can make today at someone elses expense.

I'm sure the gun runners in Darfur are currently making a tidy profit on the back of a poverty stricken majority. In his book "When the rivers run dry: What happens when our water runs out by Fred Pearce" , Mr. Pearce lists no end of examples where the greed of a few is literally killing those who have no choice but to use the polluted waters pumped out by upstream factories.

Every organisation that endeavours to make the life of those less fortunate than our selves better, no matter how small, should be applauded and encouraged. Whilst I welcome criticism it would be nice if Mr. Weitzman also spent some of the time he spent researching his article to also offering some real solutions to overcome this abuse.

Too many people spend their time talking about the problems of this world rather than trying to find ways to solve them in a way that benefits the whole of mankind.

Perfectly made Cafetiere (French press) coffee

Mrs Beeton, the 19th century cook and writer, famously started her recipe for rabbit pie with the line, “First catch your rabbit”. Well as I'm on the subject of coffee, rather than rabbits, I'll paraphrase Mrs. Beeton by starting with the line "first choose your coffee!" and if I may say so I would suggest that for starters you give our Daterra "sunrise" a try.

The most important elements about the coffee are 1. that it is fresh; in an ideal world this means buying coffee that is as near to its roasted date as possible (in the trade we call this its "born on date) and using it within a couple of days of opening the packet. If you're not lucky enough to have a speciality coffee roaster nearby, then your local supermarket will I guess have to do! The main thing is that you use the coffee as soon after you have opened the packet as possible, even a week is stretching it.

2. that it is ground correctly. Too fine and you're liable to take all night plunging the coffee and do yourself an injury, too coarse and the coffee will be like dish water; which is a great shame if you have paid a lot of money for your coffee.

The next thing is to ensure that you have warmed both the glass and metal elements of your cafetiere. Do this by pouring freshly boiled water into the cafetiere and raising and lowering the plunging part in the water. Pour the water away when done.

If you have a brand new cafetiere it's a good idea to make a pot of coffee first and throw it away. This will get rid of any metalic taste that you tend to get with new cafetieres.

Remove the plunging part of the cafetiere, and measure in the desired amount of coffee. This is always a difficult one, and you should experiment with different amounts to help you determine your preferred strength. A rule of thumb is around 7g for a decent sized cup, or 14g for a large mug. But remember this is only a starting guide.

Now boil some water, remember use freshly drawn water, the more oxygenated the better the infusion with the coffee.

Let the water calm down a bit and pour over the grounds in the cafetiere. We're looking for a temperature of around 88-92 degrees centigrade. Ensure as you pour that all the grounds are covered in water. Leave enough room for the plunger to rest on top of the coffee.

With truly fresh coffee you may need to tap the cafetiere gently on the surface to break the crust of coffee that forms, and then pour on more hot water.

Now place the plunger carefully on top of the coffee in the cafetiere, leaving the plunging handle fully raised. The clever bit here is to make sure that all the grounds remain beneath the plunging mesh. This, I can assure you is sometimes easier said than done!

Wait for around 4 minutes to allow the coffee to infuse properly. For larger cafetieres, you might like to stir the grounds around in the water to guarantee a proper infusion, prior to placing the plunger on the top of the coffee.

Once the time has elapsed, press down the plunger handle so that the grounds are taken to the bottom of the cafetiere.

Serve immediately into slightly warmed cups. If you take milk, ensure that it too is warmed. For a bit of luxury try some single cream.

With regard to sugar white or brown depending upon personal preference.

Enjoy!

Kenya - The finest coffee growing country in the world?

I always think that people who drink estate Kenya coffee are the kind of people who can afford and appreciate the good things in life. Fine wine, haut cuisine, fast cars etc.

I was reminded, however today in our shop that this isn't always the case. I served a man whose overalls were covered in paint and who clearly was a painter and decorator by trade. He bought a pound of our great Kenya AA estate coffee and asked for it to be ground for cafetiere (French press). It's the most expensive coffee we sell and rightly so.

I said to him that this was my favourite coffee and what a great taste and aroma it has. His eyes lit up and he couldn't agree more. It shows you, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

It reminded me of a time a number of years ago, when my Grandfather used to come to Jersey. He always demanded Kenya coffee and it always had to be made in one of those stove top espresso coffee makers (his was a well used copper coloured version that he had had for years).

The milk had to be warmed, and we always used these rediculously impractical blue china cups. We didn't always get it right, but my abiding memory was of one of those days when everything was perfect. The aroma was fantastic, and when we both tasted the coffee, silenence reigned and we just smiled at each other. Perfection!, I'm not sure what it was, but then again even after 15 years in the industry, a truly great cup of coffee is still just as illusive as ever and requires a life time of searching.

But to get back to Kenya coffee for a moment. The tags of AA, AB, C, Peaberry refer purely to the size of the coffee bean, with AA being the largest, and Peaberry having the form of a Pea.

All demonstrate the wonderfully unique acidity you get from a Kenya coffee. I always describe the taste and aroma as that of brambles; imagine tearing the leaf of a blackberry bush and you won't be far away. As the coffee gets colder in the cup, so this taste becomes more pronounced.

Having tasted many origins over the years, this classy coffee holds up extremely well year on year with its distinctive flavour. It is however not all of my staff's favourite, Anna wouldn't give it house room! But then again she's still young!

Kenya makes great filter or cafetiere coffee. However as I said earlier my Grandfather enjoyed it from a stove top espresso machine, and it also makes a good espresso, but beware, it bites!