KayY

In June we had the delight of visiting Ivy House Farm in Beckington, Somerset. We have been using Ivy House milk in our shops for over twenty years now and it is always fun to visit the farm and the very friendly and curious cows.

Geoff and Kim Bowles bought Ivy House in 1982. They are both from farming backgrounds and Geoff’s father helped them get started with just over one hundred acres of grazing land. They bought in a flying herd of Friesian cows and started milking. This was a difficult time in farming. The 1980s saw low prices for milk and many farmers sold their herds and land to larger farms which amalgamated into what we would now call industrialised farming. Geoff and Kim wanted something different for themselves, their family, and their herd. They wanted a manageable farm, and to produce good nutritious milk. And in the late 1990s, their opportunity to do something different came in the form of Kim’s Uncle John who introduced them to a small herd of twenty Jersey cows and a cream separator. The Jersey cows and their creamy milk helped to differentiate their product and the cream separator meant they could operate their own creamery. This in turn allowed them to not only sell milk, but also cream and butter.

We met Geoff and Kim through our oldest friends, Neal’s Yard Dairy (NYD). NYD started buying clotted cream from Ivy House at the turn of the millennium and it wasn’t long before Ivy House had a stand in the beginnings of the Farmers’ Market at Borough Market selling their butter, cream and milk. We tried their milk in our coffee and loved it. It was creamy and complemented our roasting style nicely. The milk is pasteurised, but not homogenised, which leads to some lovely globules of cream in our filter coffees. We were also appreciative of their farming style, animal-welfare standards, and regenerative approach. Ivy House committed to organic farming practices in their early days and continue to work with sustainability initiatives.

Time has passed and next year we will have had Ivy House on our counter for 25 years. Time has also passed on the farm, which is now run by Darren Bowles, Geoff and Kim’s son. The farm now has 120 Jersey cows in a closed herd. This means all the milking cows are from the farm, and they are all very much Darren’s. Darren has grown up with the herd, knows them all very well and it is apparent just how much they like him. The farm sits on 120 acres, with another 30 available for grazing.

Darren has come into farming in challenging times, dealing with the increases in costs associated with the last few years, and more extreme weather. He is using a combination of technology, and a return to some ancient methods to deal with some of these challenges. The technology helps assess each cow’s health and means Darren can intervene early at any sign of a problem. The ancient methods include planting more herbal lay and older varietals of grasses which do better in extreme weather.

Keep an eye on the micro-blog on the side of the bottles of milk, and visit the website ivyhousefarmdairy.co.uk for more information about Ivy House.

Sun’s out! Time for an iced latte!

Monmouth x

Our Annual project has been a few years in the making. Over the past few decades, we have produced copious paper newsletters that went from a one-sheet simple price list with tasting notes, to a full country list and origin profiles as we found ourselves with more to say. The one sheet expanded to some five or six double sided A4 pages stapled up and dotted around our shops. There was a lot of removing of staples for recycling when a new coffee came out and as we can have up to ten coffee changes in a month, a lot of maintenance and organisation of bits of paper. So, in 2020 we decided to retire that iteration of the newsletter and moved all of the farm biographies permanently online. And so, the newsletter started to become just that, a monthly round up of news at Monmouth. It helped us communicate our various goings on especially for our online customers who could not come into our shops to see and hear about it all for themselves. But something did feel a bit lacking, and that was when we first started thinking about the Annual.

Originally it was conceived as an almanac (think Wisden) but on the realisation that an almanac gives future fixtures as well as noting the past, we looked for another name. Journal and Collection were both considered and then, as it might (or might not) be produced annually, Annual was eventually chosen. In any case or name, we wanted to show in a tangible form the comings and goings of all the coffees we see on the counter across the year. We added farm biographies and photographs, the newsletters of the year and additional thoughts we had about some of our projects. It is a history of our year, with a bit of history of our own along the way. 

Richard (our graphic designer) caught up the thoughts and sketches and turned all the ideas and information into something presentable. GF Smith helped us with our paper choices and Pure Print held our hands through the printing process. Speaking of which, the print is a CMYK Litho print, and is in itself intriguing. CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black – the four inks that are used in the print. Physical plates are made on aluminium sheets, these are laser cut for each page, and on each plate one colour is spread. The ink covers the plate, the plate prints to a blanket (usually made of rubber) and the blanket prints to the paper. Each sheet of paper goes through each plate, and the colours combine to form the images and text that you see. It is a stunningly simple process that belies the skill involved to make it all work. Litho printing was invented over two hundred years ago and still has some unique advantages over digital printing, notably in the quality of imagery print. Our Annual has a lot of photography from our travels to origin, our roastery and our shops. The quality of the print highlights beautifully the equatorial light and our more subdued equivalent. 

So, three years in the making and here we are with our Annual. They are available for sale in our shops and online here. It’s a diary of our 45th year, an aide-memoire, and a photo collection. It is lovely to hold a year and see it all in one place.
 
Best wishes for your year ahead, Monmouth x

It has been a busy few months and we have an exciting Christmas coming up. Let’s get into it with our traditional counter round-up.
 
Regular readers will know that we begin with our most balanced coffee on the counter and this year it is no surprise that Malacara A (El Salvador) continues to run with that mantle. This is a terrific coffee if you’re at your wits end already and need something that everyone will enjoy.
 
Next up Mutero (Kenya) returns to the counter. We have saved this coffee for a few months waiting for Christmas to arrive. It is full of fresh fruit flavours and has that little something special about it. It is a small lot which we hope will last through to Christmas.
 
If you’re looking for something less fruity and more chocolatey, you can’t go wrong with the Capetillo (Guatemala). Even more chocolatey again and IP (Brazil) is a good suggestion. Both coffees are warming to the body and soul during the short days of the season.
 
Natural process lovers need look no further than La Linda (Bolivia). This Caturra is full of bold flavours and will give you a good wake up before that new puppy has had a chance to chew your new slippers. It’s the kind of coffee to keep the buzz on, now that you’re settling down.
 
Talking of buzz, some of us are just looking for a nice rest and a good night’s sleep and so the IP Decaf is waiting for you. We have plenty of this coffee into the New Year so no need to stockpile.
 
If you’re still undecided what you’re choosing for Christmas, remember you can taste any of the coffees in our shops. We have a few coffees coming and going over December but the range in flavour profiles is vast and if we have run out of something you’ve had your eye on, we will be able to recommend an alternative.
 
It’s a brief coffee chat this month as we get onto what everyone has been waiting for, the panettone. We are delighted to have it back in stock this year. We also have two bars from Chocolarder (Öko Caribe and Maleku), and new to us chocolate covered almonds as well – what a total treat.
 
And lastly, just hot off the press, we have our first Annual. This book is a collection of profiles from every farm we have had on the counter over the last year, all the newsletters we wrote, and additional commentaries illuminating the bits and pieces we have found interesting during this time. The Annual is numbered 45, for our 45th year. It’s a beautifully put together book and is available in our shops and online. Hugo is delighted with it.
 
That’s it! This is Christmas! Have a good one!
 
Monmouth x

The new coffees we selected on our recent visits to South America are on the way.

From Bolivia we chose coffees which reflect the range of processing methods from the Los Rodríguez farms and Sol de Mañana programme. These coffees have been graded, bagged and put into a container which has travelled overland to the Chilean port of Arica. The coffee is now on a ship and will arrive to us this month.

After our trip to Bolivia, we stopped in Brazil to select coffee from this year’s harvest. Brazil had ideal temperature ranges during the cherry maturation period which has meant a large crop from the country this year. The ideal combination of hot days and cool nights locally known as amplitude térmica gives the cherry the best opportunity for an even and full development. The cherry needs the heat during the day for growth with the cooler overnight temperature providing respite. The coffee is now being prepared for shipment and will be on its way to us over Christmas and the new year.

In contrast to Brazil, Nariño (Colombia) has had a difficult main-crop harvest—there was frost damage earlier in the season and the crop volume was very low. We have a small amount of coffee coming from this crop in Nariño as well as from the mitaca (mid-season crop) in Huila. As mentioned previously (September 2023), each producing region has a main crop and a mid-cycle crop (mitaca). At the time of writing, we are finalising our plans for buying from the main crop in Huila. This coffee is just starting to be picked and we will be tasting the results just before Christmas.

All our Central American coffees landed in the UK over the last few months, and we have already talked with the producers about our requirements for the following crop next year. We are expecting there will be some problems with the amount of coffee available from the harvest as the flowering season was quite dry and there have been some pollination problems. However fortunately, in the last few weeks, there has been some rain which will help the cherry over the next few months. Costa Rica usually crops first, followed by El Salvador and then Guatemala.

And finally, a quick update from Descamex in Mexico. Descamex are extending their decaffeinating capacity with the increased demand (not just your writer’s) over the last few years. There are a lot of moving timeframes in organising the decaffeination process. Our slot must be booked well in advance, often before the coffee cherry has set on the tree so it will be great to have a bit more wiggle room in the process.

Here at Monmouth, we are getting ready for Christmas. The counter is starting to take shape, we have an exciting addition from Chocolarder this year, the panettone is maturing, and we have a fun project in the works which we hope to have available soon.

Monmouth x

Well, we have another month of a lot of changes happening on the coffee counter so here is a round up on recent occurrences, current goings on and future happenings.

The new crops from Central America have arrived and we have already seen La Bugambilia (Guatemala), Las Gravilias and Telia – Herbazú (both Costa Rica) make their way on the counter in the last couple of weeks. Perennial favourites Malacara A and La Divina Providencia (both El Salvador) will be arriving soon.

From South America, we continue with the rotation of our smaller lots of washed and naturals from Bolivia. Cuchi Gonzales has just arrived and from Las Alasitas the Java varietal will be replacing the Caturra varietal. As mentioned previously, this is a super opportunity to taste the impact of varietal from the same farm.

Also from South America, we have our Colombia crop change from Nariño to Huila. These two regions sit on counterpart sides of the Cordillera Central – the mountain range that runs down almost the length of Colombia like a spine. Nariño sits on the western slopes where this range meets the Cordillera Occidental, and Huila on the eastern. This topographical feature has such an effect on weather and climate that the two regions have their main crop season around six months after the other. From Huila we have Finca Altamira and Finca La Piragua on the counter now. And in the Monmouth Espresso, we have our combined lots from Huila (Lo Mejor de Huila) taking over duties from Lo Mejor de Nariño.

Decaf fans amongst you will see our Decaffeinated Finca La Bolsa (Guatemala) replaced by Decaffeinated Fazenda IP (Brazil) over the next few weeks. The full malty notes of the IP make a nice contrast to the fruitier tones of the La Bolsa just in time for the weather to start its autumnal turn. Your writer has been experimenting with a low-caff lifestyle lately and has been enjoying blending decaf coffees with regular coffees in a 50:50 mix just to keep it a bit more chill and a little less buzzy. We’ll see how that pans out.

In the shops the florentines will reappear as soon as the weather starts to cool a bit. And we are hoping to have our next delivery of pods at the end of this month or beginning of October.

Please remember, especially if your current favourite has been replaced by something new, that all the coffees are available for sampling in our shops. The team would be delighted to make up a sample of whatever has just arrived or has caught your eye. If you shop online, you can always order a 100g bag of coffee before making a full commitment to something larger.

That’s it! Here’s hoping you have all seen some sun and are good and ready to get into it.

Monmouth x

We have had a bit of a rearrange on our food counters so let’s get to it.

First up is the financier. These perfectly sized, almond-flour cakes are French in origin and made for us by the Sally Clarke bakery. They are moreish little cakey bars flavoured with pistachio bits. A perfect little something to go with a coffee when a pastry is looking a bit intimidating. 

New biscuits have also arrived from Sally Clarke – a chocolate chip cookie, and an oat and raisin alternative. They are delivered to us throughout the week so one or another will be on the counter on any given day. The chocolate chip cookie is more biscuit than cookie with a pleasing thinness belying its actual size, and the chocolate bits are definitely big enough. 

The oat and raisin have a good chewy-oaty-thing going on and if you enjoy a flapjack style cookie, this is a good option. 

Truffles, yes, we have new truffles made for us by our friends at Chocolarder. We are delighted with how these have turned out. Now, we know they are not exactly the same as the Sally Clarke ones, it would be a bit weird if they were, but they taste great, and we are super pleased to have them on the counter. We have gone with a darker chocolate that really highlights the quality of the cocoa. 

Chocolarder are an interesting company to work with, they focus on quality ingredients, with traceability, sustainability and ethical trade at the heart of their decision making. Coffee and chocolate share so many commonalities, but the cocoa and chocolate industries are still run by the big players, and making true bean-to-bar, traceable chocolate is still a radical proposition. Becca and Will from Chocolarder recently visited our roastery and we had good chat about the similarities and differences in our two industries. We came away from that conversation inspired by their commitment to change in chocolate – these people are seriously walking the talk. 

There are three main ingredients to the truffles: cocoa, sugar and cream. The cocoa comes from the Femme Virunga Cooperative in DR Congo. This cooperative has 1500 members who grow and harvest cacao within the Virunga National Park. The cacao is grown sustainably within the rainforest which helps maintain the eco-system. The raw cane sugar is from the Green Harvest Project in Brazil where the crop is harvested using the cut and carry method. And finally, the cream is from local dairies in Cornwall. Please visit chocolarder.com for more information about the methods they use with innovative repurposing of antique machinery.

That’s all the changes on the sweet treats counter! There are plenty of changes happening on the coffee counter over the next few months as well. We are coming to the end of our Colombian coffees from Nariño and will have old favourites Finca Altamira and Finca La Piragua from Huila soon. If you are a natural process fan keep an eye out for the Finca Las Alasitas. We have two varietals from this farm this year, a caturra and java. If you get your timing right it’s a super opportunity to taste the difference that varietal can make to the cup where growing conditions and processing are the same.

Monmouth x

We have some new neighbours at Spa Terminus. 

Spa Terminus is where our roastery and offices are based. It consists of four sections of railway arches: Voyager, Spa, Discovery, Apollo and an annex, Dockley. We moved to this site along with our oldest, bestest, friends Neal’s Yard Dairy in 2018 but planning for this site started long before that. Since both companies started in the Neal’s Yard area in the 1970s the businesses have looked for a larger spot to call home that has the kind of space and layout conducive to a food production business – somewhere we could spread out a bit and get comfy. Our respective sites in Borough Market were our first foray into larger space but as the retail market was successful beyond anyone’s imaginations, we both continued to look for somewhere else to roast coffee, and mature cheese. 

We found that space, for a time, along Druid Street and Maltby Street in Bermondsey. And for about ten years we were pretty much all set. But by and by we needed some more space, and we also wanted to help other food businesses in the area that were having the same space and rent problems as us. So, in 2015 we (Monmouth Coffee and Neal’s Yard Dairy) joined forces with James from property development company Matching Green and took on the lease for the group of arches known as Spa Terminus.

We were joined by a clutch of food companies that liked what we were trying to do, and this has formed the basis of a great community of people focussed on high quality food. Kappacasein, The Kernel Brewery, The Ham and Cheese Company, The Little Bread Pedlar, and England Preserves, all moved into the area in those early few months and Spa Terminus as a food production neighbourhood was established. Bermondsey has a strong history of food businesses, from the original spice warehouses in Shad Thames, to the biscuit factory, an old vinegar distillation, and the rest of them. There were associated businesses too, our old site in Maltby street used to make biscuit tins!

Onwards a few years now and we have more butchers, bakers and literally candle makers in the Spa Terminus arches. It’s a terrific spot to be, and during the Covid times it was encouraging to have the support of similar businesses right next door to talk through the challenges all the companies were facing. It is a collaborative and inspiring place to be.

Over the last year the Dockley section of the estate has sprung up and is starting to get populated. Gimlet Drinks has arrived with cordials, vinegars and cider, and the Little Bread Pedlar has set up a bakery and cafe that is open throughout the week. Natoora have also opened their new site on Fridays and Saturdays for fresh produce. Please see spa-terminus.co.uk for a full list – and check with each company for their opening hours and contact details. 

The companies here work primarily as appointment-only production sites but most of us open our doors on Saturday mornings for retail customers. Our own roastery is open on the Discovery South side, and Neal’s Yard Dairy are open around the corner and through the tunnel in Apollo North (each area has a north and south, the railway line acts as the equator). We’ve both managed to spread out and fill our respective spaces and it really is wonderful to have the room to do that! 

Enjoy the sun!

Monmouth x

We’ve had a busy start to the spring with lots of happenings over the last few months!
 
In April we were pleased to join Ecoffee Cup at their stand at the London Coffee Festival. The festival was on for four days at the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London. We joined Ecoffee Cup on the two trade days and while making coffee and general chit chat, we got to talk to a lot of café owners about our experience in moving over to reusable cups. It was fun! There are more programs for reusable coming out and it is an exciting time.

Also in April we went to Guatemala to visit Pedro Echeverría from Santa Catalina and Capetillo in the Alotenango region, and also Teo Engelhardt at Finca La Bella in the misty Sierra de las Minas. It is coming to the end of the harvest there and we tasted through the new crop samples and confirmed our containers which should start shipping soon.

Visitors to our Covent Garden shop will have noticed our new outdoor seating area. During the Covid times, the local council relaxed outdoor seating rules around Seven Dials and since then we have been able to make our area more permanent. The new area was installed a few weeks ago and as the weather gets better it is a lovely spot to be!

At the end of April our latest delivery of pods arrived. We have appreciated the feedback we have received and have made a couple of adjustments which has improved the flow rate of the capsule and the mouthfeel. We have sent some new coffees to Dualit for trials, and we hope to have the next batch in soon. Capsuling coffee is an interesting endeavour. Not unlike other brew methods, some coffees take to the process better than others, so we are experimenting which of our single origins work well.

At the beginning of May we had our organic audit. We have talked before about the importance of this certification to maintain integrity in the organic label and the process. We have noticed over the last few years though that more farmers are beginning to decertify their farms. Most of them continue to grow coffee organically but can no longer afford some of the more stringent policies such as extending the required land barrier at their farm borders which restricts the amount of land that they can have production. We continue to support farms we have bought from for many years, regardless of their certification choices, but we also hope to see changes in the rules which could help farms struggling to continue with the program while maintaining organic standards. 

Now onto the truffles, let’s not forget them. We hope you have all managed to have many of them! Thank you to everyone who responded to our plea, and we have enjoyed a lot of samples over the last month. We hope to have something on the counter again soon!

And lastly, we have also returned from a trip to Huila, Colombia. While we were there we had our delayed end-of-event lunch with the farmers we buy from. It was wonderful to see everyone we have been working with over the last few years and meet new farmers as well.  
 
Enjoy the sight of the sun and its promises for summer,
 
Monmouth x

Buckle up it’s going to be a bumpy ride! Not only have we had all the news about the coffee pods, but it’s also now February which means that even in the coldest part of our winter, one eye is on spring and who isn’t looking forward to that? Before we get there though, we have A LOT of changes happening on the coffee counter over the next two months and to keep up with it all here is a summary of recent arrivals and the almost-heres.

Our new crop coffees from Brazil – Irmãs Pereira and Santa Inês – are on the counter now. We buy these to share a similar profile of sweet chocolate and nutty notes. They have both landed tasting delicious.

From Costa Rica, El Chinito is back on the counter and delighting us with its marmalade citrus notes. In the next few months keep watch for La Esperanza which has stolen a little piece of our hearts for the sheer tenacity and ambition of Oscar Junior. It is a natural process coffee and his very first export to the UK.

The first of our latest coffees from Nariño (Colombia) will arrive in the next few weeks. We have Finca Galeras and Perla del Valle up first. The Nariño farms are small, so this means small shipments. If you have a favourite, then get in quickly as each coffee will only be on the counter for about six weeks.

From El Salvador, La Divina Providencia will make way for La Bendición soon as well. Just like La Esperanza, La Bendición marks the beginnings of the next generation’s foray into the coffee growing world. It is exciting for us to have been around long enough to see this happening!

Our new crop from Bolivia should also make it onto the counter in March. We are starting with coffee from Finca Don Carlos. This is the first of ten washed-process coffees we have from Agricafe this year. This coffee will replace Thiriku from Kenya. The new crop from Kenya will land in the UK later in the year.

The latest decaffeinated coffee from La Bolsa (Guatemala) will arrive soon. Its flavour notes of plums and honey is a contrast to the outgoing Fazenda IP (Brazil) with its heavy malty notes. A nice decaf with which to go into spring and summer.

The only coffees not changing around this time are Tessema Edima and Suke Quto (Ethiopia), and Santa Catalina and La Bella (Guatemala)! We expect the new crops from both countries later in the year.

While we all like variety in life, this is a rather lot of coffee to change during a couple of months. Even with all our planning and forecasting it can be this way from time to time, so if your current favourite is no longer available and you need some help choosing your next, just let us know we would be happy to help! In our shops you can sample any of the coffees you like the look of, and online we have a terrific chat function that connects you to a real-life person who knows the ins and outs and can make a recommendation. The chat function is only live while they are at work, so if it is out of hours, please look at the tasting notes on the coffees. Compare them with the tasting notes of your current choice and you will be able to make a similar like-for-like decision.

April should be a lot calmer on the coffee counter!

Monmouth x

As we start 2023 in the depths of our UK winter it’s warming to think about what is happening on the coffee farms around the world and anticipate all the great coffees coming our way.

Coffee is now being picked in Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica. Some of the farms will be in full harvest by now, and others will be welcoming seasonal workers and training them on the farm systems and new equipment. Coffee picked and processed over the next couple of months will be ready to ship to us in our spring and will be on our counter as soon as we have the space. We’re excited to hear how Oscar Junior at La Esperanza (Costa Rica) is getting on, in what will be his second harvest for export. Santa Catalina (Guatemala) will be at the beginning of their harvest season; the farm will be abuzz with people and the beneficio humming with coffee cherry being pulped and washed – it’s an exciting time to be on the farm.

In Huila (Colombia), Ethiopia, and Kenya the harvest is starting to taper down. At the higher grown farms like La Piragua, the cherry is fully ripe and being picked, with the earlier pickings already processed and drying on patios, screens, and rooftops. In Huila we will be finalising our container for milling, grading, and shipping at the end of this month. You will recall we couldn’t hold our Colombian Lo Mejor competitions during the covid times, this crop from Huila is our first time back. Keep an eye out for these coffees arriving onto our counter in summer along with more information about the competitions.

Farms in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru are in their post-harvest tidy up phase. Most of the coffee coming from these countries has been shipped and is on its way onto our counters. Fazenda Irmãs Pereira is first up from Brazil, and we are expecting Finca Don Carlos (Bolivia) at the end of January, and El Morito (Peru) in the spring. Post-crop tidy-up sounds like a bit of a come down after the full flush of the harvest, but it is an important time. Farmers will go through the trees, implementing their pruning and feeding schedules and plan for the start of the next crop in around six months.

In Nariño, Colombia, we are at the opposite timings of the Huila crop. The coffee trees are in a growth phase and farmers like María Fanny Guerrero Cañar at La Perla del Valle will be spreading fertilizer and keeping an anxious eye on the weather to try to determine when the flowering will likely start. The flowering is a farmer’s best indication of the strength and timing of the coming crop. It’s a great time also to prepare the micro-beneficios and carry out maintenance. The processing facilities will have been cleaned down and assessed at the end of the last crop and the work required for any improvements will be done now. Fermentation tanks for washed process coffees usually need broken tiles replaced and patios often need resurfacing where water accumulates and causes damage.

Here at the roastery we are coming out of our Christmas coma and reminding ourselves of that 2023 to-do list we created when we had a glass of wine or two at the end of the year and anything seemed possible. Outside of preparing for the upcoming harvest from Central America there are quite a few things on the list!

We are coming up to our 45th year of buying, roasting, and retailing coffee. Not much has changed in that time – we still want the best we can find, we want to pay good money for it, we want to roast it well and sell it with our heart on our sleeves. So, here’s to 2023, one foot in front of the other for the tricky times ahead of us all, and may all your coffee be just as you like it best.

Monmouth x