Category: Low Carbon Coffee Roasting

Blendly has produced a handy guide to pairing coffee with all types of food. It’s been common in the past to pair wine with food, even chocolate… well coffee is exactly the same. By pairing the various flavour notes and nuances in coffee with certain foodstuffs, you can bring out the best in both the coffee, and the various ingredients!

 

Clearly there are many more different types of artisan coffees around nowadays, with tastes in coffee becoming even more sophisticated. Foodies now want to know how to make the very most of their blends, to bring out every flavour.
Here is our simple to follow guide:

When trying to pair coffee with food, a good rule of thumb would be to match the intensity of the flavour of your dish.

§ Heavier, more intensely flavoured foods are best matched with stronger coffees to match their richness. Kenyan or Rwandan coffees might work well here, just like coffees from New Guinea or Indonesia.
§ Lighter foods are best paired with lighter, more nuanced coffees. Try balanced coffees from Central or South America or a floral, fragrant coffee from Ethiopia.

BREAKFAST

 

 

Wake up in style with a smoky, heavier coffee if you’re having a traditional fried breakfast with bacon and sausages. Try Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or a coffee with beans from Guatemala.

Sweet dishes like pancakes and doughnuts go well with coffees that have higher fruit notes. Try a Kenyan Peaberry.

Light breakfasts such as cereals, croissants and toast go well with light, balanced coffees. A Guatemala Fresh, or a Fairtrade Costa Rica might be the ones to go for here.

CHINESE & ASIAN

Chinese or Asian dishes, with their often nutty and spicy flavours, go well with nutty and smoky coffees. Try a Sumatra Roast or beans from Papua New Guinea.

Smoked meats go well with equally smoky coffees.

Soup and salads, as light as they are, are best paired with dry and lighter coffees. Suggestions are Ethiopian Sidamo and Kenya AA.

 

 

FRUIT – here are some suggestions:

Berries – Kenya Peaberry, Ethiopian Sidamo, Harrar Longberry

Tropical fruits (mangoes, papayas, etc) – Cuban, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe

 

 

CHEESE

Young and creamy cheeses go well with bright flavours. Try Costa Rica and Cuba.

Milky cheeses like Ricotta help balance bittersweet cocoa notes. Monsoon Malabar will go perfectly.

Lemony, slightly sour cheeses are balanced well with acidic, sweeter coffees. Suggestions – Kenya AA and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe.

Sharp cheeses like cheddar match the pleasantly bitter bite of coffee and espresso. Hence why they go so well with Italian Roasts and delicious Mocha Javas.

 

 

DESSERT – it’s coffee heaven!

Creamy desserts like crème brulee work well with smooth, full-bodied coffee.
Mocha Java
Sumatra
Dark chocolates help accentuate the bitterness of coffee.
Mocha Java
Italian Roast
Light pastries and scones work well with light, well-balanced coffees.
Espresso Milano
Illy Style
Fruity and tarty desserts go well with bright coffees.

Kenya AA
Harrar Longberry
Kenya Peaberry
Spiced desserts, such as those with cinnamon and nutmeg, go well with equally spicy coffees.
Cinnamon Sticks Flavoured
Cinnamon and Hazelnut
Espresso Caledonia
Nutty desserts go well with winey coffees, with balanced sweet and sour tastes.
Amaretto
Costa Rica

 

 

 

It’s true to say that there is a science to pairing flavours, but the best combination is still the one that works best for you. This list is a rough guide to starting on your own pairing journey. Follow your palate and enjoy the process of pairing your coffees with your favourite foods.

 

It began with him seeing his first Blendly Facebook advert, to getting in touch and having a meeting with Managing Director Mark Wilson. Blendly then showed Frenchman Richard Macien that the sky was the limit for bespoke coffee! And Covid 19 is certainly not going to stand in his way!
Richard, who was born in Port au Prince in Haiti, but moved to Paris when he was five years old, is a new Blendly Barista Distributor for the South East of England.

Having been involved in the coffee industry since 2001, when he moved to Britain, Richard progressed from Starbucks Barista to managing a number of their outlets, along with fulfilling supporting roles in developing coffee brands.
“Through Starbucks, I learned about making a coffee shop more productive,” he said. “We were serving up to ninety-five customers per half an hour with our morning trades in London City. In 2005, I was awarded “Customer Service Manager” of the year following the Basic Behaviour Change Program.”

From Starbucks, Richard, whose nickname is The Ayitian Coffee Dude, moved to private catering at the Barclays HQ in Canary Wharf. Due to his past coffee expertise from Starbucks he supported the development of new coffee shops, both set up and operation, within the thirty floor HQ.

 

“After Barclays, I fulfilled a number of other coffee related roles, from Retail Manager at RBS, Area Manager for Sodexo, to Business Development Manager for Paper & Cups, running my own coffee shop Kafe 1788 in East London.”
He clearly now has a love affair with coffee.

“Maybe it’s because coffee was something I was not allowed to have until I was eighteen years of age,” said Richard. “I would have coffee in the morning with my Mum before leaving the house, it was our little tradition! Then I was hooked!”
Now he lists his favourite coffees as Brazilian, Guatemalan, and Colombian.

 

 

He also loves cold brewed coffee with some Kenyan or Yirgacheffe, and lately he has been drinking some nice Haitian Blue Mountain as well.

“As I have all the brewing equipment at home, I love experimenting with the different brewing methods. I particularly love a nice Oat Flat white when I’m out and about!”

 

 

“The current Covid19 climate is certainly making it hard for the hospitality sector,” continued Richard. “But with Blendly’s online platform you can create your own coffee blend and develop a distinct brand for it. This is the future for coffee shops and coffee lovers. We must embrace the technology tools to support the coffee industry in the future. That’s why I have been so impressed with Blendly – it provides all the tools you need.”

“I’m confident that I can grow the Blendly name in this crucial territory. I know plenty of potential new outlets for Blendly coffee. I can earn an income from distributing this coffee, which could include blends I will develop myself,” he said.

In his spare time, (if he has any when he is not promoting Blendly), Richard is a keen cook, and as he is lactose intolerant and newly vegan, he’s working more on baking delicious vegan cakes. Sweet!

Further details www.blendly.co.uk.

Somers Cafe, in Haywards Heath, is a Blendly customer, with recent reviews listing its coffee as “the best for miles around!” We’re very pleased about that!

Run by Madeleine Somerville for the past four years, Madi, as she is known, has worked with Blendly for a year now, developing her own bespoke coffee blend called Somers.

 

The consistent pricing from Blendly is something Madi is really happy with, having found that previous coffee suppliers were not only erratic when it came to pricing, but were also guilty of real dips in standard of the quality of the product.

“When you’re really busy running a cafe, you want to know that your coffee will arrive on time each time, be of the same high quality each time, and be at a price you were expecting each time – not get any unpleasant surprises! Blendly ticks all the boxes in these important points,” said Madi.

“They are a very realistic supplier, easy to engage with,” she continued. “Their ethics in business really impressed me, and their approach to the task. That’s why I’m delighted to be one of their customers, and to recommend them to others.”

“My coffee is often mentioned in reviews, and we get positive comments in the cafe when serving it to customers – they love it.”

“Researching different types and blends of coffee at various other cafes in my area is so important to me – I spent a bit of time visiting other businesses to see what I think of their coffee,” said Madi.

“We do a lot of afternoon teas here, but of course , some customers prefer to have coffee, not tea, with it. For me, it’s the whole experience, the hot drinks must be as good as the sandwiches and the cakes.”

“We’re really pleased to have found Blendly, and look forward to a long relationship with them. I certainly want to go on and develop more blends when I can, as it really makes your cafe stand out from others.”

We’ve applied to the Government’s KickStart Scheme to use our existing online platform which taps into a vibrant COVID19-proof food & drink infrastructure!

We’re hoping to become the first online coffee business in the world to offer a digital training environment to Coffee Baristas who have lost their jobs in the ongoing covid19 pandemic.

Under the Government’s KickStart Programme we hope to train and employ up to thirty Baristas, over a six month period, to become Blendly Distributors, learning more about the vibrant new digital food and drink infrastructure, in which coffee, as a valued commodity, is a major player. These Baristas will be chosen from candidates throughout the UK.

We’ve recently secured a five figure Scottish Government funded Digital Development Loan from DSL, a Glasgow based Responsible Finance Provider, to be invested in Sensor Technology & Predictive Ordering. This is an important step for us, meaning we are now perfectly placed to facilitate and run a digital training school. It will give the unemployed an opportunity to convert, upgrade, and develop new skills!

 

Blendly is growing into new markets, with new digital technology playing a huge part. We look forward to helping those in the hospitality sector gain new employment, and knowledge, which will see them running their own coffee businesses. We need to focus on a more positive future.

 

Helping Baristas to add greater value to customers is at the heart of Blendly. They can enjoy an extended choice of distribution, product flavours, and tastes that they can then access and pass to customers. Our existing Baristas manage a network of coffee drinkers. Their businesses grow based on their own expertise, commitment, and knowledge of the coffee industry. We all must now engage with the modern digital economy.

Under the KickStart training, those taking part will be paid for twenty five hours of work per week. Topics covered will include sales, account management, IT, and marketing, with our new employees given ample time to find roles which fit with their skills and experience. At the end of the training they will achieve an Accredited Company Certification in recognition of their skills, which also provides access to ongoing skill development and opportunities.

Our new Barista Graduates will have the option to stay with Blendly as part of our inhouse team, or as a Barista Distributor. Or they can make their own way into the business world, equipped with the skills needed to succeed in a modern digital economy. We’re waiting to hear over the next four weeks when this can start – keep you posted!