Discover a Coffee Shop Where You Can Drink on Two Wheels!

In this coffee shop, you don't need to walk. Use your wheels!

Sometimes, coffee is almost a need for the body. Every morning, we drink it to boost our energy, but some people also enjoy it better at night, because it helps them to relax before getting in bed. What would we do without coffee?

Today's entry is dedicated to people who love coffee as much as us! Coffland Corp celebrates the International Coffee Day featuring a very particular shop that has become a unique place in London. Keep reading and get ready for a ride!

Look, Mum, No Hands

In 2010, a group of friends decided to start a business that combined two of their favorite things in the world: coffee and bikes. Since then, Look Mum No Hands is a reference to these sort of places because is one of the first coffee shops, but also a workshop.

When you enter in this shop, a new world opens your eyes. The flags hanging in the roof, the pedals as a part of the espresso machine, the many wheels decorating the walls. Everything in this place is related to bicycling.

Look, Mum, No Hands works as a craft place. You can eat a delicious tower of pancakes in breakfast while the staff is fixing the brakes of your bike! Once per month, they organize a cycle hack, where bike lovers reunite to discuss their passion while they're drinking a yummy cappuccino.

Although they serve a fantastic arabica coffee, this shop also sells bike parts and accessories for cyclists: from protective clothing to customizable items like colorful pedals, and lovely handlebars!

A very peculiar thing in this shop is that while baristas have their tampers and grinders, the cyclist keeps their tools! There is no difference between the coffee and the cycling world.

If you're in London, don't miss the chance to visit this unique coffee shop. Even if you're not related to bikes, try to imagine yourself in a universe where you have to drink your coffee in two wheels.

Coffland Corp is glad to celebrate the International Coffee Day offering you a new experience to drink your favorite beverage! Is there a better way to celebrate coffee than drinking it? Share with us your coffee mugs cheering this special day!

Look Mom, No Hands! is the perfect mix of a bike workshop and a coffee space.

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Meet Sunalini Menon

In a tea-growing country, Menon was the first coffee taster in her continent!

Coffee is not just a delicious beverage sold around the world. It has had an impact on many lives, which makes it hard to count how much this industry influences worldwide.

A perfect example of this, is Sunalini Menon, a woman who is considered one of the most influential people in the coffee universe!

The first lady of coffee

Sunalini Menon was born in India, a place where coffee culture didn’t exist until some years ago. On that time, people in India only drank tea or related drinks. Menon was graduated as a dietetic specialist, and one day she saw an opportunity that changed her life.

But many years ago, a child Menon was visiting her uncle in Munan. He had a job as a tea taster and every day he spent most of his time watching tea decoction and taking notes.

Menon was so interested in her uncle's job that she tried for herself. When she spit the tea product, she was amazed: that was horrible! What kind of people enjoy a drink that uses a disgusting source? Due to this taste experience, Menon realizes the importance of the tasters to improve the products quality.

While she was looking for a job in dietetics, she saw a casting for coffee tasters in an Indian coffee company. Such a rare announce! Who loves coffee more than tea in India? Intrigued, Menon decided to take the test.

On the first sign, she was the only female candidate, but that didn’t decrease her confidence. Menon was brilliant, and since then her professional office is related to coffee tasting, making her the "First Woman in Coffee" in whole Asia.

Sunalini Menon today

Since then, she trained her senses to evaluate the quality of Indian coffee against the European one. Menon was convinced that Robusta coffee could lead the coffee market even when Arabica and other coffee products have an advantage.

After 20 years as an Assistant Coffee Taster in the Indian company, she assumes a role leading the Cupping department. But on that time, Menon discovered that she had enough experience to start a new way in the area. That's why she started her own coffee tasting business to support Robusta coffee. She attended to many courses around the world, winning some important partners.

Nowadays, Sunalini Menon is one of the big bosses in coffee tasting. As the only female in this charge, she becomes a coffee star, being an example of excellence and hard work for other women who want to join the coffee business.

Here at Coffland Corp, we support this kind of coffee stories because of their passion and integrity. Would you like us to share another inspiring story? What's yours?

Sunalini Menon is an example in the cupping profession.

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Cup of Excellence: An Award for the Best in the Coffee Industry

In the Cup of Excellence, the best coffee farms around the world are tested!

This week we are dedicating our entries to cupping: the science behind tasting your morning cup! Coffee tasting is a way to evaluate the quality of the beans before it passes to the last production management when it's sold to the client.

Farmers work too hard bringing only the best harvest, and the roasters select the beans due to its natural properties. Because of that, the coffee market is still fussy about the product consumed by the drinkers.

As a way to inspire the coffee industry, every year it celebrates the Cup of Excellence. In this competition, tasters around the world reunite to test the selected coffee products. Here at Coffland Corp, we want to invite you to follow this brilliant event where your favorite beverage it's the only starring. Keep reading and find out how this works!

What is Cup of Excellence?

This competition was born in 1999 when it was necessary to improve the standards of the coffee industry. On that time, in Brazil, producers around the world picked the best coffee samples, discovering a new possibility on the market.

Every year, regarding harvesting, the coffee producers from almost any coffee-grounding country meet to prove that their coffee is the tastiest and fragrant of all. Cup of Excellence is a challenge for both farmers and tasters due to the strict quality score established in the industry.

To enter in this competition, farmers, roasters, and producers must choose the best harvest considering all factors that can change the final product like climate, soil conditions, etc. On the other side, tasters have to sniff and drink every sample without knowing which products are from, in a game where they are practically blinded.

When all the ceremony of cupping is complete, the tasters certificate every sample according to the standards in a score between 1 and 100. Only the coffee products that have more than 86 points pass through the second round.

The second part of the competition is worldwide. The Cup of Excellence get together the highest score product for every coffee country and compare them according to a judging panel with the most recognized tasters around the world.

Thus, all the 150 samples of the national jury become 90 and then, in the international competition, these 90 become only 40. On the final day of International jury, the top 10 is scored to determinate the final countdown! The winner has the honor to hold the Cup of Excellence and the chance to introduce itself to the purchase market.

Here at Coffland Corp, we celebrate the integrity and transparency of these types of contests. If you're lucky to attend this event in your country, don't lose the chance to drown yourself into the other side of the coffee world: the one behind the espresso machine and the cute mugs!

An award for the best coffee maker!

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Chicory As a Coffee Replacement?

A long time ago, chicory was used as a replacement for coffee. Nowadays, they meet each other in the same cup!

For some coffee drinkers, the flavor of their favorite beverage improves by adding some tasty spices. Also, baristas know that to reach a perfect score in the most distinguished palates, it's necessary to combine coffee with other ingredients.

But many years ago, people mixed their morning cups with a particular root that was even more valued than coffee. Surely you have heard of chicory. If not, Coffland Corp will show you what it is all about and how this ingredient almost vanished the coffee industry!

Brief history of chicory

Around the 16th century, Holland farmers started to use the raspy root of chicory flower as a sweetener for their drinks. Later, it was sold as a coffee-like beverage due to its natural properties and its cheaper production.

Chicory root recipe traveled around the world to France, where Napoleon Bonaparte, the French emperor, wanted to make its nation less dependent on other countries. Back then, chicory grew freely in French fields, and after that, it was used to adulterate coffee due to the costs of importing process. French people drank chicory with their coffee until they replaced the green beans completely.

After that, in the middle of the 17th century, this root was imported to the United States, starting a big campaign of production in New Orleans. In the time of the Great Depression, New Orleans economy was sustained thanks to the chicory trade.  

Chicory was so popular back then that several countries used it in their coffee recipes, as the German Milchkaffee or the famous Cafe du Monde, that rapidly developed a big franchise until nowadays.

How to drink chicory

First, you need to bake, roast and cut its root. The final result is a fine golden rind that has to be brewed after it's ready to drink. Its appearance is lighter than grounded coffee, but its taste is very similar.

Chicory is a decaf drink, and it's commonly combined with coffee to improve the body's beverage. To prepare a chicory drink, add one teaspoon of ground chicory and coffee for each cup and brew it using your favorite method. In New Orleans, it’s a tradition to mix this drink with hot milk or even roasted cacao powder for a sugary result.

Nowadays, chicory has a considerable production rate, probably not as profitable as coffee, but it heckles its heels! Here at Coffland Corp, we don't care how coffee is prepared while it's delicious and high quality. But why not to try something not-that-new? Explore all the chances making a chicory-coffee beverage and tell us how it was!

Chicory is a great companion for coffee. Try it for yourself!

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How to Test Your Coffee Cup Properly

Making a perfect cup is possible only with the best coffee products.

Cupping is a delicate technique in the coffee industry. This tough job requires studying the proper coffee profile by training your five senses.

Although this career is reserved only for experts, here at Coffland Corp, we can teach you some methods to test your brewed coffee. That way, you'll know how to choose the best quality option. Surprise your friends with the most delicious coffee mugs!

Cupping: the science behind likeness

While coffee tasters prepare themselves for a cupping session, coffee producers put on a table multiple cups with samples of their product in a triangle shape.  

At the top of the triangle, they put a sample of the green beans. At first sign, coffee tasters evaluate oiliness and aroma. Then, the roasted version of these beans is placed on a side. The roasting process is made 24 hours before cupping. That way, the grain rests just enough to test its properties.

After that, coffee producers grind the same samples to examine its characteristics before putting it in the espresso machine. Producers let two or three empty cups for the next cupping steps.

How do I test my coffee?

At this point, to evaluate the quality of coffee, tasters can score these principal features:

• Aroma: coffee tasters sniff the dry samples to assess its fragrance. Then, they add hot water and check the immediate aroma right from the cup. Depending on the product's properties, coffee tasters smell the fruits, flowers or spices mixed with the coffee beans.
• Flavor: once the drink has a normal temperature, the tasters slurp it strongly, using a spoon. This technique allows them to recognize the coffee flavor. At this point, its aroma and body are heavily evaluated.   
• Acidity: generally, they classify acidity according to coffee's sweetness and its fresh-fruit character. This feature depends on the roasting process and the beans natural properties: The "darkest" the toasting, the less acid the drink will be.
• Sweetness: tasters can search the percentage of some carbohydrates due to the coffee’s sweetness. This property can change the final beverage once is mixed with other ingredients.
• Body: coffee's body can be perceived once is tasted. Its intensity scores the heaviness of a coffee drink: The lightest coffee has less presence for palates than others with highest bodies.
• Balance: the balance of a coffee sample is tested according to the taster's impressions of acidity, aroma, and flavor. These features must complement the final result. If not, coffee will receive fewer points.

As you may see, cupping is an inexact science. Coffee professionals aren't always agreed with their final scores. This office accredits the quality of a product according to the profile that the professional prefers.

Besides well-trained senses, coffee tasters are the specialist of reviewing the beauty of a great coffee cup. Now, here at Coffland Corp, we also appreciate the aesthetic of the coffee world, both from production to consumption. But now that you know a little more about cupping why not teach us your exercises? Remember: practice makes a master!

Coffee tasting allows you to measure some aspects of your brewed coffee.

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Unicorn Café: A Magical Coffee Shop

Unicorn Café is the pinkest coffee shop in the whole world.

Thailand is known as the cradle of many culinary innovations. Bangkok, its capital, is the heart of its modernization: with high-rise buildings between ancient palaces crossing the water canals, it's also recognized for its cultural diversity.

It is said that there's not a boring place in this city. It doesn't matter what you like, everyone in Bangkok has where to go according to their preferences. One example of this is Unicorn Café, the perfect place for people whose favorite color is pink.

Unicorn Café: where friendship is magic!

Unicorn Café is a unique coffee shop where the first guests are magical creatures from fairy tales. Its rooms are comfortable and decorated with rainbows, glitter and fluffed sofas. And if it was not enough, wherever you see, there's a unicorn jumping over clouds or riding in candy-made fields!

The most particular thing about this coffee shop is its menu. Anything served at Unicorn Café it's heart-shaped or has a horse horn. You can have strawberry waffles with creamy pies for breakfast, order colorful noodles as unicorn hair in lunchtime, or a yummy cupcake with glitter and little wings if you want a cute dessert.

Among its coffee drinks, you can enjoy a cotton milkshake or the pinkest version of a traditional Oliang coffee, with condensed milk, cardamom, and a grounded mix of Arabica beans with soy and sesame whenever you feel dizzy because of Bangkok's intense heat.

The customers in this coffee shop can dress up as magical beings, or even have a rest cuddling with unicorn plushies. If you talk with the manager, it’s okay if you want to purchase some of the colorful decoration (except, of course, the biggest unicorn you'll see in your life at the coffee shop showcase).

Unicorn Café is probably the most sparkling coffee shop you'll ever see on your coffee journey. Here at Coffland Corp, we may be missing a bit of glitter, but we can offer you our best coffee shops options around the world. Tell us what other crazy places to drink coffee you already discovered!

You may start believing in magic because of this colorful coffee shop!

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Explore the Coffee-Growing Countries

The influence of coffee goes further beyond than any other drink!

The way coffee beans are roasted or even how good they are packed influence the quality and tastiness of your drink. That means that you can evaluate the final results from the coffee farms, for example, while you're checking how farmers treat coffee beans before the roasting process.

Coffee beans grow differently according to the harvest and soil condition. On this entry, Coffland Corp will explain to you how coffee varies according to the country where it is harvested. Travel with us without needing your passport. Just enjoy a great coffee cup of these wonderful coffee-growing countries!

Colombia

Colombia is at the first rate in coffee-growing production because of the high quality of the final results. Drinking a Colombian espresso means to take advantage of the work of small families in charge of an intensive care of coffee farms. Colombian roasted coffee is worldwide famous. Its acidity, fruity flavor and taste are unbeatable!

Brazil

Brazil is the second coffee-growing producer worldwide. Its soil is reinforced by the tropical sun and sporadic rainfall of the climactic season. Contrary to Colombia, the secret for a café muito gostoso are the broad terrain and a large number of workers taking care of coffee beans.

Mexico

Historically, coffee represents between 5 and 8% of total cultivation work in Mexico. This country is an old coffee-growing in Central America, since 1800 when it arrives from the colonial conquers. The most representative coffee states in Mexico are Oaxaca, Veracruz, and Chiapas. This three produce at least the 40% of organic coffee of the world. Café de la  Parroquia, one famous coffee product, is used for baristas to make the traditional Mexican coffee drinks.   

Puerto Rico

This little island has the most flavored coffees around the world! Puerto Rico's coffee is not a firmly commercial source because of the hard weather due to tropical storms, but it contains a very well proportioned characteristic.

United States

In Hawaii, coffee seeds are planted around the Manua Loa and Hualalai, both active volcanoes. Because of the intense sun, coffee farmers make artificial umbrellas and take care of the irrigation of the trees due to the volcanic rocks around the harvest. The final product says aloha in August, leading to the most expensive coffee in the world: the Kona coffee.

Ethiopia

According to coffee history, these seeds were discovered in Ethiopia, an East African country where Arabica trees grew freely. Nowadays, its fame comes from the quality of their coffee beans. At Harar, the roasted coffee has a shiny oil and its taste is rough but delicious.

Indonesia

Coffee from Indonesia has that exotic touch of the Asian island. The coffee beans’ body is mild acid and has a good balance. Arabica trees grow in a damp climate, making the final price too high because of the cost of production.

Which coffee bean is your favorite? Here at Coffland Corp, we enjoy drinking coffee without questioning its national flag. Tell us what other coffee-growing countries you already visited while drinking their national coffee beverages!

Coffee varies around the world. Learn how to appreciate the versatility of this drink!

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Why Is a Good Roasting Process Important?

Your product quality depends on the quality of the roasting.

Before you can brew and grind your coffee, coffee roasters make sure that the harvested beans are suitable to make your morning cup delicious. A good roast can influence more the quality of a cup of coffee than the chosen mix!

The roasting process serves to produce a tasty coffee. Also, the method used to roast coffee affects its final taste. Do you want to know why? Here at Coffland Corp, we will teach you the importance of a good roasting, not only because it influences your morning cup: the whole coffee industry depends on this process! Keep reading this post to understand a little more the coffee world and what happens way before you start your espresso machine.

Roasting: the secret for a perfect coffee cup

Roasting is a science, but also it’s like art! Being a coffee roaster means you have to know how to distinguish the quality of the beans and know how much heat it needs for a perfect roast.

After the preview selection, the beans are known as green coffee beans. Yes, they’re called like that because of its color, but also because it contains all natural properties of coffee untouched, untapped.

Green beans can be consumed as a drink, but its taste it’s not similar to the roasted version of coffee. To explore the flavor, acidity, and essence of coffee, it’s necessary to put the beans into roasting process. That way, the beans are roasted equally, at the perfect temperature and roasting time according to the bean's properties.  

If the roasting is neglected, the seeds can lose all their natural touch, killing the flavor and natural fragrance of the drink. Some coffee roasters mix coffee beans with other spices to create a more fragrant and delicious product. For example, in India, they combine green beans with pepper, cinnamon or curry for an exotic coffee cup. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Mexicans prepare their café de olla roasting piloncillo (a sweetener spice).

Types of roasting

Roasting can be classified according to four categories named by color. Most of the coffee drinkers think that the “color type” is related to the quality of the beans, but the truth is that these divisions were made to tell apart the color of the beans based on the time of roast.

• Light roast: while beans are in the roaster, their size expanded because they “cracked.” Lightly roasted beans are not dark, but their taste is way better than green coffee drink. The final drink is a little more acid than the other roasted coffee beverages.
• Medium roast: its taste is stronger than the light roast, but the color is more roasted than the regular one. Medium roasted coffee has more balance in acidity, aroma, and flavor, but it contains less caffeine than darkest versions.
• Medium-dark roast: these beans produce a spiciest drink, and contain more oil than lightest coffee roasts.
• Dark roast: the final product of roasting is dark roasted coffee. The beans look like they are burned, but their properties are on point. Dark roast is the most marketed in coffee industry because it’s more oily, and the flavor is closer to the coffee lovers’ demand.

A good roasting process leads to a good coffee cup! Roasted or unroasted, coffee is still our best choice for a great morning cup. Here at Coffland Corp, we support coffee in any of its presentations, varieties, and recipes. For us, the most important thing while you’re drinking coffee is your pleasure. Tell us how do you like to drink it. You can share your recipes to contribute to the coffee love vibe!

There are many ways to do it, but the coffee essence is always the same!

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