All posts tagged: Coffee

A beginners guide to ‘cupping’ coffee

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Coffee cupping is very much a labour of love with many rewards. Even after seven years of cupping, I am still like a kid in a candy shop when approaching the cupping table. The ritual of inhaling aromas and slurping on flavours like a little boy with no manners brings a smile to my face and an excitement of the mysteries that are about to unfold. Cupping coffee can transport you to a farm half way round the world or lead you to exciting new origins or offerings you never knew about. What and why Cupping coffee is a system of classification based on a handful of learned skills – skills that once learnt can reveal many answers to roasting and brewing questions not to mention can be a lot of fun too. Whatever your level – you need to develop a good vocabulary in order to understand and communicate the sense or feelings you get from a coffee. Don’t be afraid to invent your own words and phrases – it is important to write …

A great little farmer’s market with a big offering

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 Last weekend FNND took a trip down to the farmer’s market on the balcony (next to the car park) of the Emirate’s Towers, she left the house wondering as to the potential of this alternate version set up by Baker and Spice. And what a lovely surprise! There are few things nicer on a weekend that lazily browsing through a market, however small, with an abundance of fresh vegetables, eggs, breads and pastries, delicious coffee straight from Ethiopia’s farms, pure cacao and lucuma (who ever heard of that? it’s a very delicious source of vitamin B) and spiced Yemeni honey. Each vendor had their own story to tell, the founders of the companies were there to tell you about their food, including the owner of Baker and Spice who set up the market. Fat Nancy spent the morning talking food, coffee, herbs and honeys, learning about Ethiopia, farming in the UAE, Yemen and South America. It was great. Coffee Planet with their range of speciality coffees. The Indonesian was FNND’s favourite after a tasting of all …

The truth about Kopi Luwak coffee

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FNND finds the truth about the worlds most expensive coffee… The civet cat poo coffee (kopi Luwak) – It tastes bad, it’s a stupid idea, it’s a waste of money, and its completely unethical – stop this madness and invest in coffee that is properly produced by a farmer and an agronomist… Kopi Luwak: Cut the Crap! is a social media campaign designed to create sufficient weight of public opinion to lead to the ban on the sale of kopi luwak throughout the world. The campaign targets everyone one involved with the coffee trade, from those who buy a cappuccino on the way to work all the way back to the coffee estate or plantation. Above all, Kopi Luwak: Cut the Crap! is promoting awareness: It believes that if consumers know the truth about the trade, they will probably never buy kopi luwak / boast about it / joke about it or drink it… And certainly no-one would pay the super-premium prices that are demanded for it. Prices that reflect the supposed ‘scarcity’ of the coffee and the ‘difficulty’ collecting it… …

Designs for city cyclists

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Top of the list. The bicycle coffee cup holder Swedish bicycle accessory brand Bookman has created a cup holder that snaps onto handlebars so city bikers can cycle with their takeaway coffees. The Bookman cup holder is constructed out of two rings and a steel spring, completely free of screws and glue. “The Cup Holder sits firmly in place never losing grip even during rides over bumps and potholes,” said Bookman. The rings are different sizes so cyclists can flip the cup holder over depending on whether they ordered a small or large drink. The cup holder comes with a little storage cube that fits inside the spring, holding the two rings together to keep it neat and tidy when not in use. It is available in black, white, red and green. These magnetic bicycle lights by Copenhagen Parts turn on as soon as they come into contact with the steel frame. The magnets mean it’s easier to take the lights with you when leaving the bike chained up and also enable them to be …

In search of the perfect Negroni

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The Negroni is a classic cocktail combining a balance of bitter, sweet and flavours of pine, rhubarb, citrus and botanicals. The base spirits are all made from herbal element. Therefore, it’s a healthy drink with medicinal qualities – It sounds perfect for a complex cocktail… A cupboard should never be short of sweet vermouth, bitters and gin because the delectable Negroni is easy to make. We will impart some extensively researched knowledge to provide you with some ultimate Negroni recipes and alternative ingredients too. History The Negroni was born out of a search for a drink with potency … Tired of the Americano (Campari and soda) a customer of ‘Caffe Casoni’ suggested replacing soda with gin. To signify the different drink, the bartender added an orange slice instead of lemon. The drink was nearly born. It needed a name … The customer was Count Camillo Negroni, et voila! The  Basic Recipe This drink is built in a rocks glass, fill the glass with ice and combine 1 part gin – FNND prefers ‘Monkey 47’ gin for this …