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We’re big coffee lovers here at Chateau Rouge, as well as liking a good cup of tea! London just celebrated its Coffee Festival and in honour of this week’s #UKCoffeeWeek, running until 16th April, where UK coffee businesses raise funds and awareness for the communities of coffee growers, we thought we’d take a closer look at coffee – what makes it good, bad, indifferent, or just plain ugly?!
Chateau Rouge was created after our founder was inspired by experiences on his travels around the world: the sights, smells, tastes, and above all, the people. Every product has been sourced and created following international gastronomic inspiration.
Good or bad?
When deciding whether you think a product is any good or not, you need to turn to your senses to guide you.
Ugly?
To decide if the product is ugly, it’s not the looks that you need to focus on – it’s the people. You also need to factor in the provenance of your product – where and how was it made? By whom? Is it sustainable? Are the growers and makers of the product happy and fulfilled?
So many questions…
We think good coffee should be smooth and silky – the beans and the coffee texture when it has been ground should reflect this.
When your coffee has been made and poured – is it the right temperature? It shouldn’t be too hot or too cool, just right (as Goldilocks advises!) Good coffee should be the right temperature to be able to take a sip straightway.
We think you should be able to smell that smooth, silky coffee aroma straightaway. Does it waft from the cup or mug as soon as your hot coffee is poured? Does the smell make you feel happy, warm comforted? If so, it’s a winner! The smell of good coffee is hard to beat…
Coffee shouldn’t be bitter, no matter how strong. The taste should be smooth and sultry, still giving you that caffeine-fuelled kick and depth of flavour. It should never be watery or taste bland. Depending on your preference, can you taste a toasty, roasted finish, or do you prefer a sweeter, smoother sensation? Taste the acidity and the crispness and how it balances with the sweetness of the coffee. If it’s too acidic and you don’t get other flavours and undertones from your coffee, that’s not a good sign.
There shouldn’t be an unpleasant aftertaste – if you get that “back of the throat” feeling for a while after drinking your coffee, it’s just not a good coffee roast.
Coffee beans and roasts come in many different colours and shades of brown. Italian, Spanish and French roasts all tend to be a darker brown, as they are longer, richer roasts. Generally speaking, the darker the colour, the more roasted the coffee. Coffee roasts should never be black, however – this means they are burned and can’t be used to brew coffee.
The Chateau Rouge Italian Barista blend coffee is made by an Italian family who have been blending coffee for five generations – people who are truly passionate about the quality of their coffee. We believe this rubs off on the coffee and is why (in our humble opinion!) it tastes so good! Read one of our customers detail review here.
We’re also passionate about giving something back to our growing communities. That’s why we support Weforest.org with every purchase of Chateau Rouge products, providing vital support and amenities for the lives of growers and their families.
Proceeds from every Chateau Rouge product go towards planting trees in Zambia withWeForest.org and1% for the Planet. Supporting the planting of one tree over a five-year period costs £0.40 to £0.70 a tree. By supporting these projects, which are designed to not only plant trees but help communities out of poverty and support them for the long-term; to not just to do our part to combat climate change, but to genuinely help the communities that give us so much - now and for generations to come!
Please let us know how we are doing. Have you enjoyed reading this article and what would you like to see more about? When we're not busy in the kitchen: discovering and making new gourmet foods, we're very busy with running a small artisan food business. So to ensure we keep on providing excellent value to you, we'd appreciate if let us know.
The coffee bean is thought to have been first established in Ethiopia in the 15th century. By the 16th century, it had made its way to the rest of the Middle East, including South India, Persia, Turkey, and Africa. A short while later, and after the benefits of its use was realised, coffee spread to the Balkans, Italy, and finally, to the rest of Europe and America.
Are you trying to cut back on the alcohol or planning to go completely teetotal this summer? Going alcohol-free does not have to be boring and forget boring old iced-tea... We’ve put together a list of some tasty alternatives to the old classics, with guaranteed hangover-free drinks that everyone can enjoy. From family-friendly punches that everyone can drink to mocktails and virgin non-alcoholic cocktails, we’ve got it all.
