Coffee is a very important part of life in our cafe at Harland Works ☕
When we first opened, the decision about which coffee we would use was a big one. We went with Dark Woods. Their award winning coffee tastes amazing (it's stocked in Harrods & other posh places), they are reasonably local (outside Huddersfield) and they make big efforts to be ethical.
All those have turned out to be excellent reasons for our choice and we are very happy. But the best thing for us about using Dark Woods has turned out to be their lovely Head of Training, Tom .
Ever since we started buying from Dark Woods, Tom has visited us regularly as our team has grown, training everyone on making delicious lattes, cappuccinos, moccas, flat whites and answering all our questions about coffee ... He is immensely knowledgeable, and a hugely experienced barista in his own right, but he wears all that top coffee know-how lightly and is a fun and encouraging trainer.
Now he is bringing his expertise to John St Kitchen with a series of training sessions. These are open to anyone who wants to learn more about coffee and perfect their technique at home. If you have an expresso maker at home, this even includes an invitation to bring it in and get Tom to check out it's set up to make sure you have the perfect dose, temperature and timing to make your perfect expresso!
It's a subject that attracts huge interest and when you scratch the surface there turns out to be a lot to know about different kinds of coffee and different ways to make the perfect cup at home - and the ethics about coffee supply.
These two hour sessions with Tom are an ideal chance to bring all the questions you have about coffee - and get his help in making sure you can have the very best tasting coffee at home.
In celebration of these workshops (the next one is Thursday 16th February, 6.30 - 8.30 pm) this weeks newsletter is sharing some top tips about coffee. To learn more, and experience one of the best trainers around, book onto one of our Coffee-making workshops.
WORKSHOP DATES: 16th February, 16th March, 20th April
Sourcing coffee
Dip into the Dark Woods website for a wealth of information on where they source their coffee from and how they choose and build relationships with producers - some of whom are quite small. Process, country, altitude and roast all have a bearing on the flavour of the coffee, but buying from smaller producers opens up a world of different tastes, if you know what you're looking for: "Though it's helpful to have an idea of what countries coffees you may have enjoyed in the past, speciality coffee is really more interested in representing coffee from small producers that display unique or very specific examples of style or flavour"
How to make your coffee
The website offers notes on the best practice for using a variety of different ways to brew your coffee... not everyone likes to drink the expresso based coffees we make in the cafe at home. Your skills can have a big impact: "No matter how good the coffee is, to get the best from it it needs to be made well. There are many different brewing methods to choose from, most are relatively straight forward but a few tips (backed up with some science), can make all the difference. You can click to download their 'Brewing Notes' on each of these methods.
