Perky and Punchy!

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Two youngsters enjoying a full fat 'laughtee'!

Perky and Punchy, that's how I like my coffee and numerous other things now I come to think about it, but that's another story.

Monmouth, roast coffee from single farms, estates and cooperatives. The company have built their reputation on their thirst for knowledge. They know where every coffee bean has originated from and possibly even who has picked them. They travel exhaustingly throughout the world of coffee to find new producers and cooperatives.

Building relationships with exporters and growers is vital to helping their cause in delivering great coffee from around the world, including Africa, Central America and South America to name just a few. 

For the coffee aficionado's amongst us their espresso is one of the best and I quote. Using Fazenda Sertao (Brazil) as the base of the espresso, adding Lo Mejor de Narino (Colombia) for high notes and complexity and Finca Las Nubes (Guatemala) for cocoa notes. Organic espresso is also available. 

They no longer roast coffee at their Covent Garden shop but receive daily delivery of freshly roasted beans from their Roasting site in Bermondsey. 

NOTE CAKE!

Just a few hundred yards down the road heading towards St Martin's Lane you'll find NOTES who specialise in coffee but also provide food and wine. The type of place where you can spend the whole day eating and drinking. Bliss!

As they say in their introduction the guys and girls at NOTES take their coffee seriously. This is certainly the place to go for a coffee experience. Highly trained baristas perform on the brew bar providing a sense of theatre. Freshly brewed coffee can take up to 10 minutes to arrive at your table but, it is worth it. 

A cup of espresso will set you back £3.00, served with iced water flavoured with fresh mint and orange. A bag of Kenyan beans will set you back £11.00 for 250g or £44.00 per kilo. A delicious fruity and light coffee ideal for some afternoon escapism.

Some V60 action that hits
all the right NOTES!

In August 2013 they opened their own roastery allowing them to source fresh harvests from across the world ensuring great flavours. An atmospheric, enlightening and educational afternoon.....what could be better.

Brand Southwold

Helping Londoners feel at home....

Why is Southwold so successful? Why are other seaside resorts failing? It's certainly not short of a few quid, just look through the estate agent windows lining the high street.  There are very few houses or should that be beach huts under £500,000. How do the locals manage? 

Porsche, BMW and Range Rover are the preferred modes of transport. The Chairman of the Southwold and Reydon Society recently stated in the Daily Telegraph that Range Rovers were hardly ever seen in Southwold....What? Southwold attracts all classes not just the filthy rich, famous and celebrity culture. 


Like swallows heading to warmer climes city dwellers head here in their droves to take up their billets for the pre-requisite two weeks in this seaside resort. Who actually lives in Southwold once all the holiday makers disappear? I have been to Southwold for over 40 years and I've never seen so many properties that have become holiday lets. Many moons ago even the dustbin men owned houses on the green. Ginger was a typical example and local trawler skippers graced the Red Lion keeping a beady eye on the outsiders. Nowadays, the majority of workers travel in from the outlying areas much like those in Korea who travel from the South into the North.


A few months ago the good folk of Southwold got very hot under their ever so well starched collars when the council announced that Costa Coffee was about to set up shop! Anybody would have thought that the Martians had finally arrived based on the not so complimentary feedback. For those of you who have not ventured into the untamed backwaters of Suffolk For many years Southwold has re-buffed any attempt by 'high street' retailers to even make it up the beach let alone up the street. Some such as Fat Face, Co-Op and unbelievably Tesco Express have made it over Gun Hill.

Soon to be replaced by SeaLink

Unlike the majority of seaside destinations Southwold is blessed with so many exclusive brands and an overwhelming range of points of interest including Adnams, The Swan Hotel; a lighthouse; a pier; a putting green; a boating lake; a golf course; a tennis court; a theatre; a cinema; a harbour; numerous pubs; fish and chips; pricey antique shops; numerous coffee shops and restaurants.  

Why should the people of Southwold be so upset by the introduction of Costa. Is it anything to do with the 1,200 stores across our country or the fact that they might attract the wrong type of person to the town? Interestingly, it has nothing to do with quality, ethics, training of baristas and shock horror it has nothing to do with price. It is all to do with the brand and protecting that brand as much as possible. The majority of us like a bit of variety and what could be more boring than having the same group of shops repeated in every shopping centre. Nothing to do with blinkered, snooty opinions. Just good business sense. I have to admit that I didn't step over the Costa threshold to enjoy a Flat White. Nothing to do with my conscience....Costa just isn't my brand.....honest. It will be interesting to see how long Costa will remain in the town. 

For me a good cup of coffee is like a good bar of chocolate and I'm affraid to say there are very few places in Southwold that actually provide a good coffee. Prices and quality of said beverage vary alarmingly. Surprisingly the best cup of coffee is to be found at The Black Dog, Walberswick. Probably the smallest deli in Suffolk. They also sell the cheapest croissants in the area.

However, Southwold is in danger of killing off the proverbial goose that laid the golden egg. Many restaurants in both Walberswick and Southwold are in my opinion are overpriced and provide indifferent levels of service. Well, that's another story. Long live the brand!

Coffee Affair

It has been a very, very frustrating week so far, in terms of computers and blogging.  Nobody told me that moving a blog from Blogger to WordPress would be so difficult!  Why do they have to make it so complicated.  It's all very simple they explain. Give permission here there and everywhere and 'hey presto' your blog has been transferred. Ok, that's good but hang on where are the pictures?!  Oh, we forgot to mention that you have to have a PHD in nuclear physics before this can happen. Grrr! While I count to a million and one, my new WordPress site is looking very sorry for itself and it will probably remain that way for a while until I can summon up the strength required to start again.  If anybody knows of a simple way to transfer the whole blog and nothing but the blog then let me know.  I might even send you one of my very own chocolate bars!


Ok, we're talking chocolate and already the endorphins are kicking in, lifting my mood!  Thank goodness for chocolate! 


The Chocolate: "Coffee Affair" from Chocolate and Love is dark, organic and contains 100% Fairly Traded ingredients.  Don't confuse this with the Fairtrade organisation.  Packaging looks fantastic!

Naked Chocolate:  A well made bar of chocolate (apologies for the crack but somebody broke it..not me). The bar is bright and has a good snap which demonstrates that it has been well tempered.  The bar is made by a Swiss company for Chocolate and Love.  I've noticed this with several chocolate providers that they farm out their chocolate bar production to somebody else so they can concentrate on other parts of the business.  I did overhear at Chocolate Unwrapped that they were looking to start home tastings which would be a fun way to start a dinner party.  You might also be interested to know that Chocolate and Love are running a competition.  Not just any competition they're giving away a £10,000 diamond, click here for information.


This particular bar won a Silver Award at this year's Academy of Chocolate for 'Best Flavoured Dark Bar'. They were up against Amelia Rope and Paul A Young to name just two. 

The cocoa content of this bar is 55%, so not very high for a dark chocolate.  I can't pick up a big coffee aroma from the bar.  The bar is well balanced in terms of cocoa and coffee which makes a pleasant change.  Coffee is not a flavour I would always choose as I've tasted some horrendous offerings in the past.  This is all very mellow with a hint of espresso in the background.  No nasty bitter flavours coming through at all, which for me, is good.


Overall a good bar of chocolate with pleasant enough flavours and at £3.20 for a 100g not a bad choice. I liked the bar and presentation and I think it deserves 7/10. To buy this bar click here.


To win a massive diamond click here. 

Bean Machine with Coffee - Dark and White Chocolate

Coffee with chocolate...bottom lip is quivering a bit at the very thought. Yikes! This bar has been sitting at the bottom of my chocolate tasting bag for a few weeks now. Mainly because I'm not a fan of coffee and chocolate. Coffee and Chocolate cake yes, chocolate on top of my cappuccino yes, but not on my chocolate bars. I don't know what happens when chocolate makers put coffee beans and chocolate together. I did have a go at making it myself using just white chocolate but the coffee beans were so bitter it made my toes curl. It just doesn't work for me. Well now we've got off to such a good start let us see how Montezuma have done with their innovative "Bean Machine".


The Packaging: Imagination and creativity go hand in hand when one thinks about Montezuma. For me their marketing philosophy is very simple, effective and the message is not lost with over clever advertising.

The Chocolate: Combining dark and white chocolate from the Dominican Republic this bar has an interesting marbled look about it and you'd be forgiven for thinking that you were about to eat a milk chocolate bar. A dark chocolate with a 60% cocoa content has been mixed with white chocolate and coffee to produce this effect. The aroma of coffee is subtle and I can't seem to get milk chocolate out of my head. As the first chunks of chocolate melt on your tongue there are numerous flavours coming through. Firstly the cocoa from the dark chocolate then the sweetness of the white chocolate and mixed in with this are instant coffee granules which crunch ever so slightly releasing their flavour. It reminds me of a strong milky coffee with chocolate which I suppose can best be described as a Mocha. You know the just like the ones served in tall glasses but in a bar of chocolate.

BEAN MACHINE!

I've now eaten half the bar so I must like it. I don't think I could eat it all the time but it makes a change from those coffee nib covered chocolate bars which are so astringent. Overall I give this bar 8/10 for the clever use of dark and white chocolate which works really well. I'm going to be up all night now!


Priced at £7.17 for 3 bars (100g Each) plus postage and packing is good value.


If you like the sound of this bar click here.