Blas na hEireann is often described as the Oscars for the Irish Food Industry and included over 3000 submissions from a wide range of artisanal and specialist food producers.

Of the two categories for coffee (multi-origin and single origin categories), our Green Ocean Carrickwee won the Gold with a 1^st place win for the multi origin coffee. The Green Ocean Dorinish, which is a single origin from the Mutwiri coffee plantation in Kenya, won the silver medal with a second place win, and our Woodland Tibradden, which is also a single origin from Kenya came in with a 3^rd place win.

Speaking about the result, David Lawlor of Watermark Coffee said “We are really delighted that these wonderful coffees have performed so well.  In a very competitive market, with a lot of contenders in the competition, winning 3 out of 6 possible coffee awards is a fantastic result.”

The Green Ocean Carrickwee blend is a medium roast of speciality grade arabica beans sourced from Central America, Brazil and Kenya.  We designed this coffee recipe to reflect the increasing sophistication of Irish consumers but also to ensure it has maximum appeal.  It is not a huge surprise that it received the coveted first place win.

The Dorinish single origin from the coffee estate of Charles Mutwiri is a medium light roast but the earthiness of the Kenyan coffee gives more body with a nuanced sophisticated citrus and herbal flavour.

The Woodland Tibradden single origin coffee from Mt Kenya is roasted to medium light.  This speciality grade coffee has been a huge success since it was launched in 2022.

Producing fantastic coffee with a meaningful environmental purpose is the essence of what Green Ocean Coffee and Woodland Coffee stand for.

If you would like to find out more about these excellent coffees, or to arrange a coffee tasting for your business or office, then please let us know by calling 01 4666 000or dropping us an email on info@watermark.ie

New from Gaggia Milano is the La Dea 1 group traditional barista coffee machine. This is a smart looking coffee machine  aimed at premium locations that want to make their coffee a star of the show.  La Dea, meaning ‘Goddess’; combines tradition, innovation with a refined retro style.  Ideal for locations such as concept stores, cocktail bars, offices and small restaurants and if you’re lucky enough, your house!

The functionality of La Dea includes a 1.5-liter boiler, a 120-cc heat exchanger and a 2 litre internal water tank.  These ensure lots of steam capacity as well as boiling water for Americano and tea.

Other features include a touch screen colour LCD display that allows the machine parameters to be displayed and adjusted.  These include setting and checking the boiler performance as well as timing the length of coffee extraction. Another convenient feature of La Dea is a programmable on / off switch.  No more waiting for coffee in the morning!

Design and functionality are the two cornerstones of La Dea. This is revealed both in the meticulous and uncompromising choice of its materials – mainly stainless steel – and in its avant-garde technological solutions, which guarantee the optimum performance of La Dea and the unrivalled quality of the coffee it produces.

Aficionados will recognise the subtle nuances that are reminiscent of Gaggia’s iconic 1950’s models, such as the old fashioned knobs that activate the steam wand and the hot water spout; the stainless-steel group head and  a classic  manual levetta for measuring the espresso pour. Elegant, robust and functional, La Dea impresses at first sight.

The  insiders view

So that’s the sales pitch. I have used the La Dea every morning for the past 6 weeks to make my cup of joe (Americano made from Woodland Crone for me) and….. I like the machine.  The coffee is brewed softly, no burning or over extraction which to me is the most important thing.  The shot timer is dead handy and the digital reading of the boiler is also very useful to know when the machine is ready. There is also ample power from the steam wand for silky latte art milk and the commercial boiler system allow simultaneous steaming and espresso brewing.  The group head is positioned a little low down so if you want to use a mug you’ll need to brew into shot glasses or a normal coffee cup.

If you’re into coffee or just want a mega stylish piece of kitchen furniture, it is definitely worth a closer look.

Find out more about the Gaggia La Dea at our showroom in Citywest, Dublin or call us on 01 4666000

1 Origin

There are over 70 counties that produce coffee and these are located between the tropics Capricorn and Cancer and the largest producer is Brazil at 2.6m tonnes followed by Vietnam at 1.5m tonnes.  The coffee that ends up in our espresso based drinks is principally grown from the two plant varieties of arabica and robusta, for the most part high end speciality coffee tends to be dominated by beans from arabica plants.  The most recent addition to the Woodland Coffee family is Tibradden coffee which is a single origin arabica coffee from Kenya.  Crone and Djouce coffees are blends that includes arabica beans from Brazil, Honduras, Costa Rica Sumatra and Ethiopia.

The methods of farming coffee impact the colour of coffee, for example our Tibradden coffee is prepared using the washed method, which gives it a crisp feel, a bright and fruity flavour with a sweet aftertaste.

Indian malabar coffee beans have the unique attribute of being allowed to dry under the humid monsoon winds which lightens the coffee bean and reduces the acidity giving it a spicy nut flavour.

Brazilian coffees on the other hand tend to be grown at lower altitude which gives it an earthy, rustic taste and brown colour.

2 Quality

There is no uniform standard grading framework across the coffee producing world; different countries govern their own grading system and these include aspects such as screen size (size of coffee bean), altitude, number of defects, or botanical variety.  All of our Woodland coffees are made from 100% arabica coffee of speciality grade., As our coffees come from several different coffee producing nations, we continually monitor the consistency of the coffee bean size to ensure uniform roasting, a low level of defects (such as broken beans).   Most importantly though is by the constant tasting of our coffees on a daily / weekly basis.

3 Altitude

Altitude has a powerful impact on the quality of coffee, typically most high quality coffees are grown at altitudes of over 3500 feet or 1060 meters above sea level (masl).  The reason why elevation matters is that the beans grow more slowly creating more flavour.  Unfortunately, the higher the altitude, the more difficult it is to farm and consequently the more expensive the coffee tends to be.

4 Roast

The roasting process has the largest impact on the colour of the coffee and the longer the coffee is roasted the darker it gets.  A Lighter roast retains more of the original flavour that the coffee has to offer. It contains multilayers of flavors with acidic brightness that gives fruitiness and sweetness to the coffee. It also has a lighter body because it hasn’t been roasted long enough to produce caramelized oils and sugars.  The key here is getting that balance right, coffee without body can taste bland and overpowered by milk and added water in the case of Americano.  Our Woodland coffees are a combination of light to medium roast coffees but with enough body to work well in espresso based beverages.

If you would like to find out more, please drop us a line on info@woodlandcoffee.ieor call us on 01 4666000.

Research conducted by the John Hopkins Institute (as well as a host of other studies) points to the positive impact of antioxidants in coffee as well as the effect caffeine has on our body’s health.  In summary, some of the findings are:

You could live longer

Having 2 cups of coffee daily reduces inflammation in the body which reduces the instances of heart failure, kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.

Parkinson’s disease

Regular intake of caffeine also reduces the instance of Parkinson’s disease and improves mobility with those who suffer from the condition.

Coffee helps to protect your liver

Research shows that coffee drinkers are more likely to have liver enzyme levels within a healthy range than people who don’t drink coffee.

Alzheimer’s disease and dementia

2 coffees a day may provide significant protection against developing the condition. Research has found that women aged 65 and older who drank two to three cups of coffee a day were less likely to develop dementia in general.

Stronger DNA

Research shows that darker roasted coffee strengthens DNA reducing breakage which helps to ward off cancers and a host of other nasties.

Coffee makes us feel good

Feeling good helps prevent suicide, depression and other neurological conditions.

Research from Harvard School of Public Health recommends that coffee should be considered as part of a healthy diet rather than as a prescribed cure to a medical condition.  So how much coffee is enough or too much?  Personally, I think that when we listen to our bodies, the answer becomes clear.  For me, 2 double shot coffees a day before midday is good for me.  For others that might be less or more.  Our body’s ability to process caffeine seems to vary considerably with some people happy to drink a double espresso before heading to bed for the night.

The Tibradden blend is a single origin coffee sourced from the Kirnyaga region of Kenya on the slopes of Mt Kenya.  The coffee is a high grade ’85’ Arabica coffee bean.  This coffee has been sourced ‘direct from farm’ which is located 1,600–1,700 meters above sea level.  Here the temperature is cooler allowing for a slower growth of the coffee cherries, and with less interference from pests such as coffee leaf rust and coffee berry bore makes for better quality coffee with less inherent defects.

The acidic soil in the highlands of central Kenya with just the right amount of sunlight and rainfall provide excellent conditions for growing coffee plants. Coffee from Kenya is of the ‘Colombia mild’ type, and is well known for its pleasant aroma with notes of cocoa. High grade coffee from Kenya is one of the most sought-after coffees in the world.

Sourcing the coffee ‘Direct from Farm’ bypasses the large coffee exchanges to ensure that a better price is paid to the farmer as the coffee is less commoditised.

The roast profile of the Tibradden blend is light and the tasting notes feature a good body with winey, milk chocolate and floral notes and a slight citric acidity.

We are very excited about this new blend that gives a different dimension to our range in the form of a single origin light roast coffee.  If you would like to try, let us know by dropping us a line at info@woodlandcoffee.ie

Cinnamon

A classic Christmas aroma and flavour, simply sprinkle some ground cinnamon to your ground coffee before brewing and voila.

Whipped Cream

This adds a decadent texture to coffee as the aerated cream melts into the coffee to give a truly luxuriant flavour, dust off the top lightly with hot chocolate or ground nutmeg.

Wild Peppermint

Peppermint adds a zing to coffee or hot chocolate. Simply add a 15ml dash of Shott Peppermint syrup to get amazing results as the peppermint and coffee flavours stand out and become more vibrant.

Flamed Orange

Shott is a New Zealand Company that specialise in making the most vibrant syrups without adding artificial flavours, colouring or sugar.   Pump 15ml of Shott Flamed Orange into your coffee and hot chocolate and garnish with finely grated orange zest.

Butterscotch

A flavour that brings memories of childhood.  Like caramel, butterscotch is a cooked sugar and the sweetness of butterscotch paired with coffee makes for a great combination.  Just add 15ml of Shott Butterscotch to your coffee and finish off with whipped cream.

If you’d like to find out more about our range of Shott syrups just drop us a line or give us a call on 01 4666304.

In the meantime, we wish you a safe and happy Christmas from all of us at Watermark.

It seems that just about every cost is rising around us at the moment, fuel, electricity, milk, flour – you name it; it’s going up in price.  It looks like a good dose of inflation is on the cards for everyone but what, if anything, should you do about it?

Dealing with a rising cost base is a little frightening because you’re always left with the niggling feeling that if you raise your own prices then you’ll loose or alienate those loyal customers you try so hard to please.  Unfortunately there is no hard fast rule as to the correct course of action but there are a number of things you can do to help you arrive at a conclusion that suits your business.

• Your business produces sales data every day, capture this and understand how your margin is performing.  Focus on the higher margin lines but understand the relationship and interdependent items on your menu.
• Coffee is an inelastic luxury good, we don’t strictly need coffee to survive and we can definitely make it at home more cheaply, but we still choose to buy coffee at a café.  Visiting a café is about lifestyle and experience meaning that the actual price of the coffee is secondary to the experience. So if you need to put up the price of coffee, then do it.
• Visiting a café is about the customers’ experience not yours as a café owner or your barista.  Beware of faux coolness, trend setting or my pet hate ‘educating the customer’.  The experience should be meaningful to them, understand what this is and you’ll be able to deliver in spades.
• Quality is key, it doesn’t matter what menu item you’re selling if it doesn’t deliver on quality then you’ve missed a trick.  Continually taste the coffee as this practice will help to make sure the grind is set correctly, the machine is clean or if it needs servicing.  It is our experience that deterioration in coffee quality more often arises due to poor calibration of equipment, pour execution in coffee preparation and equipment in need of a little TLC.
• If you are looking to put though a price increase, consider a product bundle so that you can soften the blow for the more price sensitive as well as increase your average spend.

My thoughts on whether to put a price up or not: Squeezed margins give rise to poor cashflow in later periods.  Over doing a price increases is not such a good option either as we all know when someone is having a laugh at our expense.  If you choose to do nothing, run your numbers and make a conscious decision to do nothing. Perception matters, it may be abundantly clear to you why you are changing a price just make sure your customers understand your situation too.  There is a balance in determining the right course of action that can be found with a little enquiry.

At Watermark we have years of extensive experience in advising the cafe sector, please drop us a line or all us on 01 4666000 if you would like to have a chat on how we can help you grow your business and make it more resilient.

Using freshly ground coffee beans delivers freshness, a great aroma and most importantly, a vibrant flavour.   Grinding coffee just before using it helps to reduce the oxidisation process allowing you to get the best flavour from the coffee beans.

How should coffee be ground?

There are lots of different ways to grind coffee, from bashing it up with a pestle and mortar, to throwing it into a food blender or preferably using a burr grinder.  Ideally we are looking for uniformity of grind size to allow the water react in the same way with all of the coffee being brewed.  This makes the burr grinder the preferred choice as each coffee bean must pass through the blades which are set at the same distance from each other which gives that uniform grind profile.  Whether you choose a manual hand burr grinder or a fancy electronic one, that’s a matter of personal preference and hand strength!

Why does grind size matter?

The coffee grind affects the time the water is in contact with the ground coffee and hence the length of time allowed for the chemical reaction between the two.  The grind profile will affect the speed at which the water passes through the coffee picking up flavour.  A fast extraction of coarsely ground beans will result in nothing more than tasteless coloured water and a slow extraction through very finely ground beans creates burning and an over extracted flavour, so it’s a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, we need to get it just right!

What size should the coffee be ground to?

Now, it really depends on how the coffee will be brewed.  For espresso machines, a good rule of thumb is that the  grind profile needs to deliver an extraction time of approximately 25 seconds including pre-infusion; so from the time you press the button to the time you have extracted a 40ml shot of coffee.  As the water is forced through the coffee at pressure for a short amount of time, the coffee grind needs to be fine so that all of the flavour is extracted.  A useful guide is comparing the coffee grind to the texture of fine table salt.

For a French Press or Cafetiere, the coffee is immersed and steeped in the water for up to 6 or 7 minutes so a coarser coffee grind is acceptable to avoid getting an over extracted flavour from the coffee and a build up of coffee ‘silt’ in the cup.  For me a useful guide is a texture similar to that of granulated sugar.

For other types of filtered coffee like V60 drip or aeropress there is good scope for experimentation but I like a fairly fine grind similar to or a little courser than what I would use for espresso; something like fine sea sand.

Coffee that is freshly roasted or has a different roast profile will react differently when ground in a grinder so there are no hard and fast rules which leads to loads of scope for experimentation and fun!

Aswell as wonderful performance, what really makes the Radiosa something special is that it’s “A” rated for energy efficiency. Enjoy a coffee without compromise!