Barista Skills - ignore them at your peril The vital ingredient in a successful cafe ? Answer : barista skills. Its that simple.  There’s no point opening a cafe unless you have at least one trained Barista or several Baristas on your team. Coffee is at a level now where you simply have to invest in your baristas skills.  This helps you to offer higher standards in presentation, taste and customer engagement. The bottom line is if you have the best [...]

It’s time to give your coffee a taste-lift. People are more discerning.  It’s a fact. We are more educated, we can access vast amounts of information at our fingertips and we simply have more answers. In the coffee world there is always something to learn, you never stop learning. This month we have been looking at coffee harvests, how different countries harvest at different times of the year and how the flavours vary from region to region.  For example some coffee [...]

Did You Know…Recycling coffee grinds can be re-used and recycled in sustainable, fun and innovative ways? We’ll tell you how But first, here’s why it’s worth your while to start messing with those Coffee Grounds. Sustainability, Green Marketing Halos & The Eco Savvy Consumer If you are a café owner or thinking of investing in the business, one of the key concerns is reducing waste and sustainability. From the coffee beans you select, to the branded takeaway cups you stock  right through to [...]

Disposable takeaway cups bad? Reusable keep cups good? Well, it’s not that simple. Read on to find out why. There’s more to it from a Cafe-owner’s point of view….and let’s face it, we care about what cafe owners deal with day-today.                           But How Do People REALLY Consume Coffee? Reusable cups are handy to some – those with a routine and a 9-5 office job around the corner from [...]

I get asked this question a lot. Where can you get good coffee ?It’s such a hugely subjective topic. When answering, i feel some people are considering the cafe or restaurant environment, as opposed to evaluating the coffee as a single entity. They consider service, the price, the comfort of the seats etc etc. and these are all worthy contributors. So should the question be ‘what makes a good coffee experience ?’ Now we’re into a whole new ballpark. I have [...]

Going round the blend From York Press – The Press in York A brilliant article on the current standards of coffee (namely independent cafe’s) in the states, and how their focus is artisan roasted and boutique coffee. This is where Ireland is headed in coffee standards, and certainly some cafe’s are there already. It’s all very exciting. Read the article here http://goo.gl/E6ZE2.