# Choosing a house espresso



## lukej

Hey everyone,

So aside from the odd bit of consultancy work I'm doing here and there, and the digital magazine/reviews site that's launching imminently, I've also decided to open up street trading outlets here in South Wales.

There's plenty of opportunities for me to expand the offering from just street trading, I've had baristas ask for work already and there's the opportunity to start dropping into regular monthly events with a van or Ape and serve great coffee too (Uplands Market in Swansea runs as a monthly affair, Cardiff Street Food is another regular event).

Amongst all of the fun things like costing the whole exercise out, business planning and spending time sourcing investment, I actually get the occasional moment when I stop looking at the numbers and start thinking about what it is I want to serve. This is the fun part.

Where I need you lovely lot to help me, comes in the choosing of the all important "house espresso", it's my intention to have guest roasts pop up from time to time, but first I need to find the go-to beans for the operation.

Hopefully, you can all point me at some suppliers you like, because, well I respect your opinion on good coffee more than I would the regular consumers', and if you all come back with a handful of roasts to look at then I can sample them all before picking out what seems to work best.

Of course your help will be greatly appreciated, and at some point I might find a way to reward your service









Cheers

Luke


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## froggystyle

Jeez, you want everyone to do the leg work for you!

Google, find roasters in your area, buy some, speak to them, see what they advise.....


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## Eyedee

Maybe if you sponsored the forum or paid for some advertising you might get a more favorable response.

Ian


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## Mrboots2u

There are plenty of forum sponsors on here to start with all will do wholesale

Some will be more appropriate for you , depending on the level of orders you are looking for and how often

Perhaps approach them with an idea of what you are looking for in a blend or bean and the volume you are looking to commit to

Chocolate and Nuts ?

Fruity and Light ?

A bespoke blend ?

Predominantly for milk based drinks?

How long do you want to keep this blend or bean for ?

Cheers Martin


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## lukej

Froggy, I'm not sure if you're just playing with me or are just being slightly snappy. If the latter is true however, perhaps you've missed your afternoon coffee and in that case your grouchiness is quite warranted.

For clarification, I'm merely asking what people on here like as market research. Whilst I have ideas in my head of what I think may work, I don't want to provide a steer to those who might offer suggestions whilst inadvertantly taking the minds of those same people away from companies or roasts that could fit the bill.

Cheers

Luke


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## lukej

Hi Martin,

I'm struggling with my own bias here, and with flavour preferences being highly subjective I got to a point where I wanted to take my opinion out of it. For me I prefer a central South American coffee, with nice, smooth cocoa notes and a hint of nuttiness, I know that's not everyone's bag though, so realistically, it really was just finding out what you guys like to narrow the field a little.

In terms of the drinks, the aim was to be serving at either 6oz or 8oz for the most part. From the outset, the vans will have quite a streamlined menu, and I'll be focussing on the quality of the beans in their own right rather than the higly adulterated syrupy affairs of certain global brands.

Of course, once the outlets are up and running, there'll be some support for the forum through the brand, and the other channels I'll be operating will assist in that too.

Cheers

Luke


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## Mrboots2u

Hi Luke

ok so what are the places you are competing against good at or bad at? Do you want to better what they do or be different ?

For a broad based appeal and something easy to extract you may want something medium roast style blend that will deliver a traditional chocolate , caramel taste that will cut through milk ..thats not my personal choice but hey .

Personally id be looking to make drink with something you like , and can be passionate about rather than what we think. This may be a naive opinion from though , i don't run a cafe , just drink stuff i like ...

This could be say a Brazilian single origin or a nice blend put together for you

Really you want to be talking to roasters about this though ...


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## jeebsy

Maybe a little bit far from home but Dear Green's Goosedubbs is a rock solid house blend http://deargreencoffee.bigcartel.com/

As is Papercup's Superior Blend http://papercupcoffeecompany.bigcartel.com/


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## Mrboots2u

two from me then.....

http://www.foundrycoffeeroasters.com

the El Salvador is knock out in milk, chocolate , caramel, delicious ....

The yirg is a different kettle of fish but equally lovley in a different taste direction

link isn't working when i paste it here sorry

http://www.thecoffeehopper.com/product/215/the-archetype.htm

Solid wholesale comfort blend


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## lukej

Thanks both,

Medium to medium dark is definitely the maximum on roast for me, any further and you start losing the subtle notes from the beans. I'll look into the one's you've suggested, its probably going to end up with me buying a few hundred quids worth just to test things out (that'll go down well with the boss, she's already unimpressed that my personal stash is approaching 6kg :s)

Cheers

Luke


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## coffeebean

I have run an Ape in Aberdare for nearly 7 years selling coffee I have roasted myself - seems to go down well here - you are welcome to try some!!

Andy


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## froggystyle

lukej said:


> Froggy, I'm not sure if you're just playing with me or are just being slightly snappy. If the latter is true however, perhaps you've missed your afternoon coffee and in that case your grouchiness is quite warranted.
> 
> For clarification, I'm merely asking what people on here like as market research. Whilst I have ideas in my head of what I think may work, I don't want to provide a steer to those who might offer suggestions whilst inadvertantly taking the minds of those same people away from companies or roasts that could fit the bill.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Luke


Not playing, or lacking caffeine.. I believe the best way to source a bean for your house 'blend' is to get out there and speak to roasters, plenty of them about and they will advise you what will be the best bean to offer on your pop up things, asking on here will get you a lot of suggestions as everyone has a favorite roaster or type of bean.

You and only you should decide what bean you set up as your house bean, you need to believe in this bean, you need to enjoy this bean, if you dont then you should not sell it...

Basics!

Speak to Andy at the coffee bean, he is a stones throw away from you.


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## Spazbarista

I think asking for recommendations of what we like is a legitimate question.

I'd say give Rave Signature a go as a good all-rounder at a sensible price.


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## gingerneil

Spazbarista said:


> I think asking for recommendations of what we like is a legitimate question.
> 
> I'd say give Rave Signature a go as a good all-rounder at a sensible price.


I'd second that. Its a great bean, and easy to work with.


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## lukej

Thanks for the input guys, I've about 5 to try so far









Andy, I'll be in the area tomorrow so could always pop by and chat if you're open?

Cheers

Luke


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## coffeebean

Course you can! Hope the weather is a bit better - got a bit of a soaking this morning! I'm outside Aberdare RFC from 7.30 til midday!

Andy



lukej said:


> Thanks for the input guys, I've about 5 to try so far
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Andy, I'll be in the area tomorrow so could always pop by and chat if you're open?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Luke


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## froggystyle

coffeebean said:


> Course you can! Hope the weather is a bit better - got a bit of a soaking this morning! I'm outside Aberdare RFC from 7.30 til midday!
> 
> Andy


Do you do Saturday Mornings Andy?

I usually blast down the heads towards Swansea about 7am once a month.


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## coffeebean

Not if I can help it! Just Monday to Friday!


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## lukej

Froggy, blasting down the heads is the only way to go isn't it? Great roads.

Luke


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## froggystyle

It was, not now they have put those average speed cameras up...


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## lukej

Well that shows how recently I've been down them then doesn't it







When did they go in?

Luke


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## froggystyle

Quite some time ago, over two years i think.


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## emin-j

Hi lukej , I think maybe visit local independent *successful* coffee shops and sample their coffee in espresso,Americano,cappuccino etc I have found its not that easy to find a bean that tastes great in all coffee types. The beans with a 'bright' flavour taste great when used with milk such as cappuccino or latte but as an espresso or even Americano can taste a little bitter ! (Bright I think the term is !)

Once your happy with the popularity and coffee of a particular coffee shop it's easy then to find their supplier and the bean(s) they use.


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## CamV6

Luke, look no further than the Brighton lanes blend from coffee compass. Its just what you need. I won't bleat on about it here. Please please take the following advice which is to call richard at coffee compass, ask him about it, have him tell you the story of how the blend came to exist and tell you it's virtues, and get a sample to try. It's an excellent espresso yet still a very good performer in milk, indeed one of the best.


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