Introducing people to new coffee and brewing methods
This weekend I went fly fishing with the members of a UK fly fishing forum. We camped overnight at a fishery in Leicestershire and spent 2 days trying to outwit the residents of the lake (Rainbow Trout).
My boat partner on each day both had an interest in coffee so I purchased a number of coffees from different roasters and brought them along to try and for them to take home afterwards.
In addition to these I had been enjoying a Cascara from Square Mile Coffee Roasters and for ease of brewing brought this along with me, knowing that 100% of the people I was camping with would not have tried this before and could benefit from a caffeine boost in the morning after a heavy night on ‘alternative beverages’ the night before.
As we were camping we had an abundance of heating devices, ranging from gas burners and hobs to Kelly Kettles (also known as Volcano Kettles – which are rapid boiling kettles using fire through the main cylinder and the water contained in an outer shell), so hot water was not going to be a problem.
I bought along my Bodum Assam Teapot which is great for brewing loose leaf tea. This had sufficient room for the dried coffee cherries to expand and rehydrate and holds enough water for at least 2 cups.
The Cascara was a hit and no-one could believe the range of flavours in the cup. Many had no idea how coffee was produced so a number of people were educated in the process.
The smell of the whole bean coffee that I had bought as gifts for my boat partners filled the car and was a talking point as many had not experienced the smell before, knowing coffee only through their instant coffee fix every day.
The look on peoples faces when they smelled both the roasted coffee and Cascara and the debate that followed about the aroma and taste was encouraging.
I can’t wait until next year when I will bring along a hand grinder, aeropress and a moka pot and give some people their first experience of coffee that is not from a jar.
Sadly the coffee didn’t help us catch any more fish than we usually would…
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Good luck. I’ve tried to get family members to give up the Folgers. Right! Their loss, I guess!