Coffee - your view

[benjaminty]

Hi All,

Within the next month Mrs Benjaminty opens a new venture. As part of this venture she needs to be providing refreshments to her clientele. Whilst both of us are tea drinkers, we know nothing about coffee. We are not looking to have a Gaggia at the moment but simply have cafetieres, as this will keep the coffee hotter for longer (apparently).

So with this set up the only thing to consider is which coffee to offer. All refreshments are complimentary and whilst looking to provide a quality coffee, equally don't want this to be too expensive.

Any thoughts? Have you had a business where refreshmenst were complimentary? what did you offer?

All input welcome.

N.B. Venture will not be in East Dulwich.

[bigbadwolf]

I'm not sure if they'll help being competition and all but you could ask the owners of 'Lemon grove' on London rd Forest hill as they are packed 6 days a week so they must be doing something right.

[Queen of Dulwich]

I am a coffee drinker and even when it's complimentary I never take it. Coffee needs to be made fresh and not once in the morning and reheated throughout the day (gasp).

So, very simple - if you have a group of people arriving at the same time, by all means serve coffee but prepare it when the people are there. If your guests are arriving one by one or not at all please skip the coffee.

Good Luck with your new venture (whatever it is)

QoD

[benjaminty]

Lemon Grove? Hmm I will ask in there perhaps.

They certianly aren't competition so they shouldn't have any issues divulging

Thanks BBW.

Point taken Queenie ... we will only serve with individual cafetieres for sure

[Bellenden Belle]

When you say cafetieres, are you actually thinking small single person ones which you give to the person allowing them to plunge and pour as they wish? If so, then that would work a treat and you just need to find a good coffee supplier.

But I do agree with Queen of Dulwich regarding coffee made and kept warm.... very unpleasant stuff.

Good luck with your venture.

[Bellenden Belle]

Ahhhh too slow - I see you have already answered the individual cafetieres question - sorry!

[bignumber5]

I used to be relatively confused by coffee, despite loving it, until I discovered Monmouth Coffee in Borough Market. It's not OTT pricing (though not cheap as chips either - you get what you pay for), and the staff are happy to chat and educate in the mysterious ways of coffee.

The shops do "today's coffee" which is just a different one of their supply each day, so that they don't have to prat about with different beans for the cups to drink at the time. You could do a lot worse than to get a bag of whatever that is on the day you go there (ground for cafetieres to save you a bit of hassle), which gives you something different most times, and then describe it generally as "guest-coffee from monmouth" - people who just want a nice cup of coffee will probably like the sound of it, and to anyone in SE london who knows their coffee it will be quite a classy touch without breaking the bank. They apparently do mail-order but you need to know what you're asking for.

Whatever you go for, my 2 tips would be

1. individual cafetieres beat hotplate-pot everytime for freshness

2. store coffee grounds somewhere dark and cool but not cold (ie not fridge or freezer, as some people advocate - ruins the flavour)

Best of luck Benjaminty's!

[*Bob*]

benjaminty Wrote:

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> N.B. Venture will not be in East Dulwich.

Not in East Dulwich? Well, in that case..

[Ted Max]

My favourite.

[benjaminty]

Or even Mellow Mellow Birds with Vodka? Sounds awesome thanks! aherm

Brilliant idea Big Number 5 I walk past Monmouth @ Borough on the way to work and had seen it's always rammed but had a feeling it could be expensive. I will investigate... (although you've done most of it for me)

So Illy, Lavazza and Monmouth are all options so far. Although I like the "Monmouth guest coffee" idea. A good fit for the venture I think.

Thanks

[sanity girl]

Hi,

as Illy and Lavazza are both made with espresso machines in mind, I would go for Monmouth and ask them which of their beans work best for cafetiere coffee

Good luck!

[bignumber5]

Glad to help!

monmouth is usually under a tenner for 500g. slightly more per kg if you buy less, as it's on weight so something like 20 quid/kg if 499g or less, 16 per kg if 500g or more. Like I said, not the cheapest but not a ridiculous amount either, and well worth it IMO.

(the sainsbury's own brand coffee grounds are about 8-9 per kg, as a frame of reference)

(realise I'm waxing rather lyrical about monmouth, but no I don't work there and i'm not on the take, I just spend a lot of time there! ;-))

[woofmarkthedog]

Get a Viking (yes the stationers account) & order the excellent Percol coffee in bulk through them and get it delivered or if you're a business get a macro cash & carry card.

Buy a case of 6 or 12 individual cafetiers and pre-load them with coffee grounds every morning and place in the fridge ready to use, it stops the coffee drying out & keeps it fresh....just add hot water later...

Hey Presto...Happy customer & not much hassle

W**F

[benjaminty]

Strangely enough I was on viking and makro last night but just unsure what I was looking for. Percol to be added to the list of potentials... Cheers

[AllforNun]

oh sweet jesus of nazaereth.....stick to what you know......and if you don't know really really try to find out, and that may mean leaving ED and even the UK.

fingers crossed

[woofmarkthedog]

What............but the world is flat......

*continues to colour in ED map, with all surrounding areas shown as "dark forest"*

[benjaminty]

AllforNun Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> oh sweet jesus of nazaereth.....stick to what you

> know......and if you don't know really really try

> to find out, and that may mean leaving ED and even

> the UK.

>

> fingers crossed

?????????????????????????????????????? oh and errr ????????????

[SimonM]

Monmouth is a fiver for 500 gms of beans at Cafe 2050. Illy is also available as beans from DKH Sainsbury's. slightly more expensive than Monmouth.