Tag: buy wholesale coffee online

Coffee goes into the space age

Posted on by Sara Walker

coffee-international-space-stationTwinkle, twinkle, little star; how I wonder what you are. Next time you look up into the night sky and see a bright star, it could be the International Space Station, where astronauts have just succeeded in making coffee that’s literally out of this world. The problem with space coffee up to now has been that a normal coffee machine can’t function in zero gravity. There’s also been the danger of rogue coffee grounds finding their way into sensitive, expensive equipment and also boiling water being spilled and wreaking havoc in the cabin. The problem has been solved by a specially designed machine that’s a collaboration between engineers Argotec, the Italian Space Agency and coffee company Lavazza. The machine’s been named the ‘ISSpresso’, and has proved a big hit with caffeine-starved astronauts. Italy’s first female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti, took pictures of herself with the world’s first space coffee, alongside the new machine, and posted them on Twitter.

We can’t blame her for being excited – the coffee machine was delayed for months after the rocket carrying it from earth exploded. Unfortunately coffee was deemed to be ‘non-essential’, so its arrival was delayed until a replacement ship could be sent. The astronauts aren’t home and dry, though – they currently only have a starter pack of 20 capsules for the machine, so we’re imagining squabbles over the space breakfast table! NASA is still working on how to dispose of the used capsules ecologically.

Now the espresso machine’s up and running, NASA hopes to develop the same technology for other applications, such as consuming medicine.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we can’t promise space age coffee – but we do have some great tasting, high quality beans at wholesale prices. For more information about our products or to shop online, just visit our main website at www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Growing your own coffee part 3

Posted on by Sara Walker

konaIn the first and second parts of our series on growing coffee, we discussed getting started and how to plant both coffee cherries and green beans, and how to raise them to seedlings.

Once you’ve got your plants in pots and starting to flourish, you can sit back and watch them being to grow, although you could have a long wait!. Feed them with orchid food during the growing season and water them carefully, making sure they’re neither too dry nor too wet.

Coffee plants mature slowly, and a commercial plant takes three to four years before it’s fruiting properly. Unfortunately, with a plant grown in the UK, while it may possibly flower it’s unlikely ever to fruit properly as the plant prefers high altitude and other growing conditions that aren’t easily available here. Coffee plants can be grown successfully in the UK though, with the Royal Botanical Gardens having several healthy examples.

To try and encourage your plant to flower, wait until the beginning of winter and reduce watering significantly over the cold period for two or three months. Once the warmer weather starts in spring, start watering the plant well and continue to do so throughout the summer. If you choose an Arabica variety of coffee, the plant is self-fertilising so there’s no need to think about pollination,

Don’t forget that while it’s not possible to grow coffee commercially in the UK, you can certainly order it easily in the UK, and get the best quality beans from global suppliers. Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of blends and beans from green beans to espresso, all at great wholesale prices. In addition, we stock coffee ingredients such as flavoured syrups and accessories like cups, lids and stirrers. To find out more, visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

 

Growing your own coffee part 1

Posted on by Sara Walker

konaCoffee needs a very specific climate to grow, and for the most part the UK is too cold and damp, so growing your own coffee beans for consumption isn’t really practical. It may be possible to grow your own coffee tree in a greenhouse or conservatory as a novelty, though.

For the best results, you should start by planting a freshly picked coffee cherry, which for most UK gardeners isn’t a very practical option.

If you do manage to get your hands on a coffee cherry, make sure it looks bright and healthy with no diseased areas. Wash it, and put it, still damp, into a small container. Leave it for a few days or even weeks, until the fibrous outer coating starts to deteriorate and open. Rub the cherry in your hands until the husk comes away, then remove and wash the coffee beans, which will be pale green in colour. Put them in a bowl of clean water, and discard any beans that float.

Soak the beans in water for 24 hours, then plant them in a container of potting compost, watered until it’s just damp. Make a small hole, put the bean in flat side down and cover it with a light layer of soil. The germination period is normally around three months, but could be as long as six months. Water the seeds daily, but be careful not to over-water as coffee dislikes a wet environment.

Don’t forget that while it’s not possible to grow coffee commercially in the UK, you can order it in the UK. Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of blends and beans from green beans to espresso, all at great wholesale prices. In addition, we stock coffee ingredients such as flavoured syrups and accessories like cups, lids and stirrers. To find out more, visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.

Decorate a mug for Father’s Day

Posted on by Sara Walker

decorated-coffee-mugsIf your father’s a coffee addict, one present that would really be appreciated this Father’s Day is a personalised coffee mug. Whether you choose a humorous design, something nostalgic or just his name to stop anyone else using his mug at work, it’s a unique present that useful too.

To decorate your own mug, you’ll need:

  • A white or plain-coloured thick pottery mug
  • An oil-based paint pen, or ceramic paints and brushes (available from hobbycraft, Amazon, Staples and other leading retailers)
  • Paper and pen
  • Tracing paper, sticky tape, pencil and family photos (optional)
  • Whiteboard marker (optional)
  1. Start by working out your design. If you’re not entirely confident in your creative ability, it’s best to choose something very simple, such as a name, the word ‘DAD’ or a simple handwritten slogan.
  2. Simple designs or patterns can be drawn directly onto the mug. Practice first with a whiteboard marker, then draw the design over the top with the special pen or paints. Some brands of paint require that the mug is ‘fired’ in the oven to set the design, and this normally involves putting it in a cold oven, then turning the heat to 180 degrees Celsius and waiting for 30 minutes. Check your paint instructions to see if you need to do this, and how. Any residue from the whiteboard marker can be wiped off after firing.
  3. For more complicated designs, practice them on paper first. Line drawings taken from photos work well. Select a photo, and put some tracing paper over the top. Draw round the outline of the figure in the photo using a soft pencil, then tape the tracing paper to the side of the mug with the right (pencil) side innermost. Scribble over the design with a pencil, then remove the tracing paper. A faint image should remain, and you can go over this with the special paint or pens to make it permanent.

Why not finish off your gift with a presentation pack of coffee beans? At the Wholesale Coffee Company, we stock a wide range of coffee beans including sample selections, all at great wholesale prices. To find out more, visit our coffee beans page.

Coffee comes to Europe

Posted on by Sara Walker

676187766_1357111206Nowadays, coffee is such a big part of our social culture that it’s hard to imagine a time without it. It came to the UK in the 17th century, well after sugar first made its appearance here but before tea reached our shores.

European travellers to the Near East (an area roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East) discovered coffee, and brought back travellers’ tales of the energising drink.

When coffee first arrived in Europe, it caused some controversy. Its opponents called it the ‘bitter invention of Satan’, and tried to get it outlawed. The story goes that when coffee was first brought to Venice in the early 17th century, local clergy tried to persuade parishioners not to partake. The conflict raged so hard that eventually Pope Clement VIII was asked to make a final ruling on whether or not coffee was acceptable to drink. Before making a decision, he tasted a cup himself and enjoyed it so much that coffee got the full Papal seal of approval, and it quickly became an Italian staple.

Elsewhere in Europe, coffee houses were quickly springing up as meeting places and information exchanges, with the first recorded one being in 1645. England’s first coffee house opened in Oxford in 1652, and another famous Oxford landmark, the Queen’s Lane Coffee House, was established in 1654 and is still serving coffee today. In England the coffee shops came to be called ‘penny universities’, as a penny bought you a seat at a table and a cup of coffee, and meant you could join in the lively discussions taking place on every side.

Only a few decades after coffee first appeared in the UK, there were more than 3,000 coffee houses in London, some of which started to operate like early prototypes of gentlemen’s clubs, attracting patrons with shared interests. In 1698, Jonathan’s Coffee House was frequented by bankers and stockbrokers and eventually evolved into the London Stock Exchange.

Here at the Wholesale Coffee Company, we’re keeping up with the proud tradition of coffee in Britain by supplying top quality coffee and coffee accessories at great wholesale prices. For more information, please visit www.wholesalecoffeecompany.co.uk.