Darwin, Australia

Firstly, sorry I haven't posted in a while - last few months have been rather busy!  Been focusing on my degree, which is plenty of work...

As you can probably tell from the name, I have travelled to Australia - Northern territory,and went to Darwin and around Kakadu! This can be a proper coffee post, as everyone knows, Australians know their coffee! (in the cities anyway)

After about 24 hours of travelling, finally arrived in Darwin at 4am local time - and couldn't check in until 2PM, so decided to find some coffee shops (my brother has been here about 15 months so recommended a few!)

First up was to Parap Market, where I found Mad About Tea and Coffee.  Inside was a shop full of tea and coffee making products - everything you could think of! At the back they sell coffee, which was very popular and well made - this coffee was extremely well needed!! It was incredibly smooth and had slight nutty tastes - however I wanted a little more of a kick, but still was a great place!

Later on, we went for lunch in coffee 21 in the mall.  This had pretty decent quality food, and fantastic coffee! This coffee was also very smooth, and had a wave and tulip on.

The next day called for as much sleep as possible, but was still dragged around places by my dad for the next couple days... This meant I couldn't relax and find coffee shops (but at least have now done all the tourist crap around!) However, to my surprise, they sell quite nice iced coffee in supermarkets here! They mostly taste of actual coffee, which is more than can be said for most.... I basically survived on these for the next few days (with the odd few pints added to the mix). 

I also found to my surprise, that McDonalds actually make quite nice coffee here! So this helped survival for a bit...

The next day, I found a decent coffee shop really close to where I'm staying, which became my morning coffee stop.  It had a friendly atmosphere, with the Barista chatting to us when we came in.  The walls were colourful with some art on the walls made out of recycled products.  The coffee here always has really nice art on, being well defined.  It has a bit of a kick which is great for mornings!  Here, they also sell sailors brew, cold brew coffee (in bottles) which was incredibly useful for going into the outback! 

One other place I visited was Duck's Nuts - I had heard a lot about this place, and apparently had a barista who is extremely good at latte art, but it turns out he left to go travelling the day before I went there! However the coffee was still decent, and had a nice beer to stop the heat from getting to my head!

(sorry I forgot to post this earlier!) It was a great holiday with pretty sunsets! 

Pact limited edition - Agua Clara

- strong fruity aroma
-  creamy flat white with a fruity orange taste and some blackberry.
- quite light crema
- slight caramel / brown sugar

After the first order, I was quite impressed with Pact Coffee - The customer service, ease of use and packaging were all great, and the coffee was also nice and chocolatey - So I thought I'd try the limited edition Agua Clara 'Blackcurrant Sorbet'.  As always, it arrived very quickly in the clever packaging described in my last post, which fits through the post box.  This bag was a nicer one to the usual paper looking bag, and also came with a card telling you about the coffee.

It is a bean originated in Huila, Colombia at an altitude of 1732m, produced by Jaiber Joven Murcia by a washed process.  It also gives all of the flavours you should get (which I thought I would see if I could taste too).  When opened, it has a very fruity, berry aroma which is quite strong.  It is very different to the usual cocoa aroma that coffee generally has.  The roast is medium I would say, and quite an even roast.

The flat white was quite creamy with a definite blackcurrant flavour balanced with a nice orange citrus.  The crema was quite light, but a little golden too. There was a brown sugar and caramel sweetness in the coffee which went great with the citrus.  I drank it all way too quick, so didn't get a chance to try it with filter! (Still need to get a syphon...) 

Exeter Fun!

Since my best friend goes to uni here, and had a job interview,  I thought I would drive us both up and make a day of it! (Also been doing my bathroom up for a couple weeks, so an escape was needed!!). We were only there for the afternoon. so the post is quite short and only really visited two places. (Both great places!).

The first stop was Candos Deli, on Roman Walk.  This had a really nice feel inside - It is also a deli as well as a coffee shop.  It felt almost like a bit of a market where you can also sit down.  Everything used for the coffee is also local - Cornish milk and Bristol coffee.  They also sell plenty of wine, cheeses etc - with bottles of wine which look like they are great quality!

The coffee knowledge was great, with locations of all the ingredients on a board inside.  They use a Mazzer grinder and a Rancilio espresso machine - both great brands!  The flat white which I ordered came in a small glass, which I haven't seen before for a flat white.  These are pretty difficult to pour into well, especially one that small!  The crema looked quite dark, with a flavour or cocoa and berry for the first sip.  At points, it was a tiny bit sour - but not overpowering, and also faded as it went along.  You could then taste blackberry and cherry, with not much sweetness.

Overall, I loved this place!

Later on, we went to Artigiano on High Street.  This place has a really friendly inside - having been to this one in the past, as well as one of the Cardiff stores.  It has a modern, retro feel inside.  It also has a nice amount of space inside, with also wine deals (which are needed a lot!).  The people inside are always extremely friendly - One of which was chatting to me about download festival (Which I went to).  These places make you feel welcome, which helps you have a nice night out if you like one.

The coffee had great definition, with a multi layer tulip and pretty decent symmetry! It has a smooth and nutty crema and first sip. and tastes like freshly roasted coffee.  After this, there was a little cocoa and berry, which was well needed before my night drive back home (100 miles...).  But found some great places, and I will probably be back, so may well update or write a couple more posts! 

Cold Brew attempts part 1!

This post is about my attempts to make a cold brew - some were good, some were okay, some were absolutely horrible! But that's just because I've never made it before, so had to experiment plenty! I thought I would try to make cold brews after trying an amazing one in The Plan, after a pretty decent one in Caravan, Kings Cross branch.  They were all brewed by French Press first, with cold water and then put through filter paper to make it nice and smooth.

Best cold brew I have had, from The Plan

Department of Coffee, Stargazer blend
This was my first attempt actually, and had some nice results!  It had a nice citrus lemon flavour, mixed with hints of orange as well as a slight caramel flavour.  It did also have a slight dirty cocoa flavour, but partially probably because the grind was very inconsistent (as my grinder was acting up a bit).  This was made using around a 4:1 or 5:1 water to coffee ratio, and brewed it for around 12 hours with quite a coarse grind.  After it finished brewing, I did also put it in a Fanta fruit twist bottle as it was the only empty bottle I had - though I think this gave it a little extra fruity taste!

I then tried another coarse grind (slightly less so than the last), but brewed for about 16 hours with around a 5:1 water:coffee ratio.  It had a little bit of an earthy taste, but then there were also slight hints of lemon and green apple citrus, then with a bit of a brown sugar taste.  It was a little acidic, but still think I have a long way to go!

Moka D'or Espresso Blend (Drury) 
This is an espresso blend, but on the website it also says it goes well as filter so thought I'd give it a try!  Trying as a flat white, it was nice and fruity, suggesting it could be great as cold brew.  It was a reasonably coarse grind, which was brewed for around 12 hours in the french press, followed by filtering.

Caravan Market Blend
This blend is a much lighter blend, but I possibly rested it a little too long (in hope that it would bring out more flavours).  I brewed this for 16 hours about with a coarse grind.  This gave a bit of an earthy base, but then had a slight orange citrus and brown sugar or caramel hint.  However, all I have tried so far have had this earthy taste (and have been a little bitter), which I need to try to remove.

Since writing this, I have tried a couple other coffees - Pact Coffee and a couple other Columbian ones, but can't seem to get that great sweet flavour with no bitterness that I got in The Plan.  Most that I have managed to get have been orange or lemon citrus flavour with an earthy or cocoa base.  If anyone can help with this, that would be awesome!

(Also, Been decorating my bathroom, hence why there haven't been posts for a while!)

Lastly, saw this when I was in London and it amused me, so why not put it on here!

East India Company Review

7 Conduit St, London W1S 2XF
http://www.eicfinefoods.com/

This tea and coffee shop is great for high quality drinks, situated just off Regent Street. It has quite a posh feel inside, with lots of different brew methods and products - such as chocolate covered coffee beans! (And free samples, always great).  It seems like most of their products are tea's, though they also have plenty of coffee!  The staff were really friendly and helpful, talking to me about the tins which they used to sell and also suggesting which coffee would be best for me.  

I bought the Red Dragon Mocha Java, which is the strongest bean they sell. (http://www.eicfinefoods.com/products/red-dragon-mocha-mysore-coffee-beans-250g/)  It is a blend of Ethiopian and Indonesian beans with quite a strong blend.  The packaging is quite nice, with the one way filter and labels telling you about the coffee.  They have their logo, and a really nice design on the front - Simply a coffee bean and leaves, but it being simple is what makes it stand out.

There is quite strong a cocoa smelling aroma when opening the beans, with a medium roast it seems - The colour is nice and even around the bean, except for the split around the middle.  

The espresso had a lovely dark golden brown crema, and mixed great with milk to make a flat white.  The first sip was quite strong with a cocoa flavour, followed by a caramel after-taste.  As you get through the drink, there is a lovely flowery flavour, balanced with orange and green apple citrus - fruity yet also chocolatey and strong! Can't go wrong with this mix! Nearer to the end, there's a dark cherry taste - This kind of makes it taste like black forest.

I loved this coffee - only let down by the expensive price tag (£9.95 for 250g).  I rated this 4.9/5!  

(Sorry I haven't written any posts for a while, been in Birmingham starting my guide for there - not sure when it will be ready, will visit plenty of places to try get a great list!) 

Pact coffee (Fruit & Nut)

www.pactcoffee.com
Pact coffee is a London based coffee subscription site.  It works by picking a frequency of how often you would like coffee, and they simply send you a bag of freshly roasted coffee (with free postage) that normally comes the next day.  The latest they send you coffee is 7 days after roasting, keeping it nice and fresh - but if you go for pre-ground, it also means you can get it to rest for a few days before getting it ground and sent.  This should help bring as many flavours out as possible.  The packaging is also quite clever, as the bag of coffee fits in a large cardboard envelope - This fits through most post boxes, meaning you also don't have to wait in all day to get your well-needed coffee.

The customer service of this company is better than what I have received from various other companies.  I cancelled my subscription after a few bags last year, as I simply couldn't afford it - This year, I got a call from them asking if I wanted a free bag! So obviously I accepted, and thought I would give it another try.  This first bag was lost in the post, but after telling them, they straight away sent a second bag and recommended how long to rest the coffee for.  The customer service team reply very quickly and seem to also know a lot about the different coffee's that they sell. (Had a couple fails, but Ruth Smith helped! Some great customer service!)

There is a decent range of coffees, with 6 caffeinated and a chocolaty decaffeinated blend.  These range from sweet and fruity filter profile coffee's to fruity espresso's. to dark chocolate espresso blends.  I am pretty sure that all of the blends are from Brazil and Columbia - These are often chocolatey but also often sweeter or fruity,  These can often also lack flavour however.  I did order a bag around a year ago of Marmalade Espresso blend from Brazil and El Salvador. This was quite sweet, though didn't have massive amounts of flavour in my opinion.  However, I will not rate this or focus much on it, as this time last year I didn't have quite as good of a machine as now, and I was less experienced with flavours of coffee.  Thinking back about this blend, it would probably have still been nice as filter brewed.

The Fruit and Nut espresso has quite a dark crema, which as a flat white is quite nutty and a tiny bit earthy at first, mixed with a gorgeous creamy milk chocolate flavour.  As the coffee goes along, there is a slight citrus orange hint.  The second flat white that I made with this was a little more chocolatey I think, with a slight almond hint.  I could taste very slight hints of grape and berry, balanced with a slight lemon citrus hint.  For Flat White, I would rate this 4.4/5, as it was really tasty, but just couldn't taste enough of the fruit! There were definitely slight hints, just could do with being a little stronger in my opinion.  

Science Cream (LIQUID NITROGEN ICE CREAM)

28 Castle Arcade,
Cardiff,
South Wales,
CF10 1BW
www.sciencecream.co.uk

This place isn't necessarily a coffee shop, but as I am doing a Physics degree, it amazed me! They do also sell coffee (and affogato!), which will be reviewed later in this post.  As you walk in, and even in the sign, it looks partially like a chemistry lab (just with KitchenAid mixers instead).  It had a real modern feel to it, and was definitely an experience.  The workers were very friendly and knowledgeable about the ice cream, recommending what they taste like.

The outside

A nice touch that they have is that they actually make the ice cream while you wait - meaning you will always get extremely fresh ice cream! (Plus, it looks pretty awesome being made).  The liquid nitrogen is poured on the mix, while being mixed, and by the time the ice cream is made, all of the liquid nitrogen has evaporated.  This means that it is completely safe too, as there is no liquid nitrogen left inside! Plus, since it is made quickly, it makes it insanely creamy.

Where the magic happens!

The next time going here, I firstly thought I would have an affogato, but with pina colada ice cream, because why not?! I like espresso, I like pina colada and I like ice cream! They use James' Gourmet Coffee (same as the plan, Ross on Wye roasters) formula 6 blend.  I forgot to get a picture, but the ice cream and espresso is served separately in modern glasses.  At first sip, it was a little strange (because obviously, pineapple and coffee), but after a little bit it mixed really well, and was weirdly tasty! I think I might start a pina colada and coffee cocktail or something and revolutionise coffee... Or not.. But it was actually really nice - super smooth and creamy ice cream as always, and good coffee, with a nice dark crema!

Following this, I tried their Salted Caramel Snicker-doodle ice cream - Salted caramel ice cream with chocolate fudge sauce and salted peanut brittle.  This was also pretty epic.  It was so sweet, but so nice! This has to be my favourite ice cream place by far!

Snickerdoodle!

P.S. - If anyone knows where to get liquid nitrogen (with not too much difficultly), please say!