Syphon Coffee is Coming

Syphon coffee is coming. from Small Batch Coffee on Vimeo.

Small Batch @myhotel

We've been hatching a bit of a plan for a while now which some of you will already know about, but now that work has begun we can officially announce the impending opening of our new shop in myhotel Brighton on Jubilee Street.

Work is underway and we will be opening the doors bright and early on Monday November 7th. We're stoked to be working with a great independent company like myhotel and to have a central Brighton location. The shop will become our flagship store with more space than ever before and room for 60 covers.

We will be roasting on site in a little 1kg roster, brewing syphon coffees on a dedicated brew bar and rocking two different espresso machines, one for blends and one for single origins. Coffee cupping (tasting) and barista training will be a big part of the new shop for both professional and recreational coffee heads.

In conjunction with our catering partners The Flour Pot the food offering will be much expanded from our other outlets. I saw a sneak peak of the menu the other day and all I'm gonna say is lamb harissa and almond sausage rolls (and maybe passion fruit tart with soft meringue!!)

All in all it's gonna be awesome and I'm very excited about going to work there for the next few months, we've got some great new additions to the Small Batch staff alongside some familiar faces and we can't wait to see you down there.

We'll be keeping facebook and twitter updated as the fit out develops so keep an eye out and in the meantime get ready to come see us next month.

Al

New Coffees

A week of new arrivals at Small Batch with new retail and espresso beans rolling in from Peru, El Salvador, India, Kenya and Guatemala

From India, an outstanding coffee from the Balmaadi Estate in Nilgiris. This is one of the best Indian coffees I've had and is a lot lighter and more subtle than the rich heavy Indians we are used to.

Balmmadi is one of India's most ecologically sound coffee farms carrying both organic and biodynamic certification.

The owners pay great attention to the localbiosphere ensuring the coffee is shade grown next to indigenous plant species and that the estate remains a natural haven for local wildlife including panthers and monkeys.

This is a fantastic coffee that we missed out on last year as it sold so quickly and we are very excited to offer it.

From Guatemala we have another great Central American coffee from the 2011 harvest, this one a bourboncillo or Dwarf Bourbon varietal from Finca Santa Clara in the Antigua Valley. We bought some of Santa Clara's main crop last year and are very excited to offer the Bourboncillo microlot this year.

The dwarf bourbon offers the classic sweet citrus flavours of a good Guatemala bourbon but is gentler and more delicate than its big brother with a lighter fruit flavour and overall mouthfeel. This is a great little coffee and if you liked last years Santa Clara or the recent El Retiro you'll love this.

From Kenya we have the first peaberry we've had for a while from our old favourite the Gethumbwini Estate. This is super fruity and full of life, I think it will be a love it or hate it coffee, but personally I think its delicious.

We have several more coffees arriving over the next few weeks including a great coffee from Peru which we will be offering as a single origin and some new component coffees for our winter espresso blend which is on its way very soon.... In the meantime all the new retail coffees are available from the roastery, Wilbury Rd or online at www.smallbatchcoffee.co.uk

Al

LONDON TRIATHLON RAFFLE

Roll Up! Roll Up! It's Small Batch Raffle time! 4 of our baristas, Mike, Mel, Pete and Nick are taking part in the London Triathlon on July 30th. The guys are competing in aid of the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign a cause that is very close to a lot of us at Small Batch. To help them raise funds (and to inspire Nick to do some training) we are offering up a pretty sweet raffle prize.

The guys took part last year and looked very fetching in their Lycra Mantards

We are giving away a hand made Hario cafetiere, an 8oz KeepCup, a bag of our Nicaragua Finca Santa Maura and 10 free cups of coffee worth a grand total of £70... All you have to do to be in with a chance of swiping this booty is make a donation to the guys JustGiving page

http://www.justgiving.com/cduncs

and leave the note 'SmallBatch' next to your donation. There is no minimum or maximum donation, give what you like. The draw will be made on Monday 1st August. Good Luck!

New Coffees

Some great new arrivals this week at Small Batch with fresh crop coffees from Central America flying in alongside some mid crop Brazil and Rwanda.

Fresh from the mountains of Santa Ana we have an awesome Red Bourbon from Finca El Retiro in El Salvador. I love coffees from El Salvador and they are bang in season at the moment. We used El Retiro in our espresso blend a few years ago so we know this is gonna be good. You can expect big juicy sweetness from this one especially in espresso or on a stovetop. The World Barista Championship was recently won by Alejandro Mendez from El Salvador, the first champion ever from a producing country. El Salvador, it's so hot right now.

Our second new arrival from Central America is a pacamara varietal from Finca Santa Maura in north central Nicaragua.

Pacamara is one of the famous varieties of Central America renowned for its large bean size and delicate sweet flavours. This lot from Nicaragua cupped really well when we sampled it and we are very excited to be offering it.

I'm sure many of you will be sad to hear we have run out of the Brazilian Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama, it's been our most popular coffee to date, however we have another outstanding pulp natural Brazil from Fazenda Rainha, a neighbouring estate just a few miles from Cachoeira, with a similar taster profile and quality.

(and if you're desperate for more Cachoeira we're using the last few bags in this years Filter Blend)

Finally we have another Red Bourbon from the Musasa Co-operative in Rwanda. This is another outstanding example of bourbon coffee at its finest with strong juicy fruit flavours and a big tangy body.

Musasa is one of many co-operatives in Rwanda that has benefited from the help of the PEARL organisation, a non-profit organisation set up to aid the restoration of the coffee industry in Rwanda. Before the civil war that raged in the 1990's coffee was Rwanda's most lucrative export crop but many coffee farms were destroyed and many workers killed or displaced during the conflicts. Through careful reconstruction and with the help of organisations like PEARL many farmers are now making a sustainable living and growing outstanding coffee in Rwanda once again.

These coffees will be available at Wilbury Road and the roastery in the next few days and in the webshop on thursday.

Enjoy.

Al

drop4drop in India

Our charity partner drop4drop just got back from trip to Hyderabad in India, building new wells and bringing clean drinking water to people that need it.

Check out the video diary below

For more info or to donate check out

www.drop4drop.org.uk

www.twitter.com/drop4drop

Homebrew 2: Aeropress

The second video in our series of homebrewing guides, this time it the Aerobies little brother, the Aeropress.

Homebrew 2: Aeropress from Small Batch Coffee on Vimeo.

Recap:

-Rinse Filter

-16 grams coffee medium coarse grind

-135 grams/ml of water

- Invert Aeropress

-Brew time 90 seconds

-Stir coffee for first and last 10 seconds

-Revert and press

Ps. Aeropresses coming to the webshop soon....

Al