Hampshire's Craft Coffee

11 April 2018

Latte, flat white, cappuccino, espresso, macchiato – we have all become fluent in the language of coffee. The high street chains can take much of the credit for this infiltration of coffee terminology into our daily lives. The number of coffee shops continues to grow[1], as does our thirst for the latest coffee trends.

The way we drink coffee is reportedly changing with many consumers drifting away from the bigger brands in favour of independent and boutique chains selling artisan and speciality coffee. This new era has been referred to as the ‘fifth wave’ of coffee drinkers by the Allegra World Coffee Portal.

“The big high street stores opened people’s eyes to the wonderful world of coffee and once opened people have started to search for different tastes, brands, stories and experiences” explains Grant Lang the founder of Hampshire-based Mozzo Coffee.

Hampshire is ready to meet the changing tastes with a band of passionate local roasters committed to bringing unforgettable flavour to our coffee cups and sharing their love of coffee. Anvil Coffee, (pictured below) located near Basingstoke, recently celebrated with three stars at the Great Taste Awards for their Anvil 1 Espresso Blend.

“Overall the quality of coffee available in the UK is definitely on the up, which can only be a good thing for everyone,” explains Tony Phipps from Anvil. “With the growing number of independent coffee shops, each adding their own unique style and approach to the coffee bean and what ends up in the cup, people have great choice.”

Tony believes the coffee shops that will survive are the ones which work to meet and surpass the increasing expectations of customers. Anvil Coffee offers training courses for professionals and regular free tours of the roastery. “We don’t mind if we are talking to the owner of a chain of coffee shops, or a student who is thinking about possibly becoming a barista in the future…” says Tony, “everyone learns from everyone, which is what we really love about this whole business.”

Training is something which the founder of award-winning Moonroast Coffee (main picture), Fran Bradshaw, recognises as vital to a quality end result. “The main challenge in the current market, as we perceive it, is barista training and conveying the importance of barista training when serving speciality coffee. Getting the extraction right is the difference between a delicious well-balanced coffee and one that is too weak or too bitter and not very enjoyable. That's why we insist on barista training for all staff."

For many coffee drinkers, it is not just the flavour that ranks as a priority but also how ethical their caffeine purchase is. This is something that has always been a key factor for Grant who founded Mozzo in 2005 using his student loan to buy a coffee cart. Since the business began, Mozzo coffee drinkers have contributed £34,000 which has been donated to the Muungano Cooperative in the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

“I had a passionate belief that businesses in the 21^st century should and could be built differently. I wanted to balance the commercial, social and environmental inputs and outputs, which is why I set up The Community2Community (C2C) Fund. We invest 1p per capsule sold and 5p for every kilo of coffee sold into the fund which supports the communities where we source our coffee,” explains Grant.

With such creative and dedicated coffee roasters in Hampshire, coffee fans on the hunt for their next fix should explore the artisan options being lovingly roasted locally. With roastery tours, coffee festivals and masterclasses all happening in Hampshire there is the opportunity to become not only a craft coffee drinker but an expert. This week is UK Coffee Week, the perfect excuse to dip a toe in the trend for caffeine. 

 

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[1] Allegra World Coffee Portal, ProjectCafé2018 UK, shows the total UK coffee shop market added 1,215 stores over the last 12 months January 2017-January 2018) to reach 24,061, representing 5.3% growth.