Food 'n' Drink – Food and Drink news |

Launch of trend-setting gourmet coffee by subscription company

What people choose as their favourite coffee can be wide ranging. We don’t mean the choices that people make between the different instant varieties but whether they prefer beans from Africa or from Indonesia – or from many of the other places around the world that are famous for making coffee.

Many people simply rely on the ranges that they can find in a supermarket when choosing their coffee, but this is usually a very poor representation of the number of coffees that are actually available. Like wine, coffee comes in many varieties and there is a huge amount to choose from out there each with its own distinctive taste and flavour.

Now there is a new way for people to get access to the world of coffee that you just can’t find at the supermarket. The company Kopi is offering to deliver coffee to peoples homes each month. It is offering a really great way for its subscribers to try out a new and very different coffee each month. The service started this month and is really good way for you to broaden your coffee horizons.

Kopi’s coffee:

• Chosen by experts from world-class estates– collectively the Kopi team has over 150 years’ expertise
• Discover one new top-notch coffee every month
• Ultimate in convenience – delivered through your letterbox
• Single-origin coffee – the best beans from just one region; no blends
• Coffee you just can’t get in a supermarket

Kopi’s coffee arrives ground – or for real connoisseurs – as whole beans; you choose. And in a chic, cleverly designed box that slips easily through your letterbox. Inside, the freshly roasted coffee is foil-wrapped for freshness in a nifty re-sealable bag that stands up by itself. Alongside the coffee is a beautiful booklet featuring fun, fuss-free knowledge on its unique characteristics and provenance.

Members also have access to an exclusive area on Kopi.co.uk, which provides brimfuls of fresh knowledge about each month’s specially selected coffee; from fascinating facts about where it grows and how it gets its unique taste to handy hints on how to serve the perfect cup.

This isn’t the domain of the jargon-spouting coffee geek however/ Kopi wants the nation to enjoy a genuinely better cup of coffee, with information presented in simple language and visuals that everyone can understand and be inspired by.

Elevate the breakfast buzz to a taste bud sensation, wow at parties with your sophisticated after dinner drinks and knowledge, or provide the perfect gift to anyone who cares about the quality of their beverage.

Subscriptions start from just £7 a month. Orders are now being accepted at www.kopi.co.uk/join1, with the first October batch of corking coffee limited to a few hundred people.

* Britons alone spent almost £1billion pounds on their caffeine habit last year. Source: Daily Mail article by Matthew Barbour, May 2011.

The difficult balance between colour and roundness

The majority of grapes are black with white juice; only the film is coloured.  The qualities of “fruity” and, especially, “roundness in the mouth” are obtained through a pre-fermentation maceration, and then in aqueous conditions, and the harvest, which can selectively extract some dandruff compounds (aroma precursors, polysaccharides, etc.).

This maceration also supports a broadcast to the grape anthocyanins responsible for the colour of grapes and therefore wine. The winemaker must therefore strike the right balance between the desired colour for the finished wine and the flavour profile (roundness, perception acid, etc.) from the same wine.

Among the factors that determine this balance, the temperature of the grapes is a powerful lever for control of diffusion of the film to the juice. Thus early harvest when the weather is cool is most often the rule, particularly in southern regions like Provence.

In summary, for the desired wine, the winemaker will have to find the best compromise between:
the level of maturity to which the colour of the potential harvest has reached, the temperature of the harvest, which determines the rate of diffusion of dandruff compounds, and the duration of the pre-fermentation maceration, which determines the intensity of these same phenomena.

Methods for obtaining juices

The pink wine can be made according to two main principles: bleeding and direct pressing.

Bleeding

Historically, some of the juice from the vatting reds was removed in order to increase the concentration thereof, by simply increasing the solid to liquid ratio. In this case, the elements of the film broadcast to a smaller amount of juice, and the red wine obtained is more “full bodied”. This technique is suitable for wineries little specialised in the development of Rosés and has several disadvantages.

The first disadvantage is that the juice is also sweeter, so the pink is often “alcohol” developed, that is to say that it has a “burning” characteristic and the related strong-tasting alcoholic strength by volume obtained after fermentation. On the other hand, a high maturity of the harvest is generally sought for the development of red as the colour and quality of tannins are often higher, which further accentuates the problem for the development of Rosés from bleeding these same vessels.

Another disadvantage is the maceration and the juice that is made can be more colorful, which is not compatible with the style of some current rose wines.  Also, the extraction efficiency is limited, and a maximum of around 20% of the collected juice does not have a specialized rose to the level of a full cellar.

The principle of “bleeding” is perpetuated in the pink regions oriented by the use of “tanks techniques” called “drains” (made by Fabbri or Elite, for example) in which the winemaker can mace vie rate the grapes, taking more or less time depending upon the goal. In practice the time is between two and twenty hours. These tanks are used to extract up to 60% juice, especially if the harvest is enzyme. It can also serve as a buffer vessel to absorb the inflow of harvesting, which may be supported in the case of mechanical harvesting, until the presses are available.

Vimto Halloween Bottles

A fiendishly good limited edition of the nation’s favourite fruity drink is set to hit the supermarket shelves this Halloween, as Vimto launches a range of specially designed bottles, perfect for themed parties and other Halloween fun.

The spooky limited edition haunted house designs are available across all 2L bottles of Fizzy Vimto, No Added Sugar and Cherry Vimto. These party sized bottles are great for sharing, so Vimto has designed a special range of creepy cocktail recipes that will add some seriously mixed up fun to your fancy dress frolics.

Here are their yummy Halloween themed Vimto cocktails to keep your little ghouls, goblins and guests entertained this Halloween.

The limited edition Halloween bottles are available in all major supermarkets from early October, so start practising your creepy Vimto Halloween cocktails.

Vimto’s Creepy Cocktail Recipes

Vimto Eyeball Surprise

A supernaturally simple concoction that every stylish spectre will be drinking this Halloween. Use an ice cream scoop to make two ‘eyeballs’ of ice cream and press jelly sweets into each one to create the pupils. Place them in the bottom of a tall chilled goblet and recite a witches incantation. Fill the glass two thirds full of devilishly delicious fizzy Vimto and watch the fiendish foam froth over the top of the glass.

No Added Sugar Vimto Spooky Strawberry Heart

This is a great drink to serve to a scare to your guests. Swirl some No Added Sugar Vimto in with some cranberry juice and pour into individual glasses. Keep up the fear factor with a ‘Bleeding Heart’ made out of a bbq stick speared strawberry. Simply dunk the ‘heart’ into the glass and serve chilled.

Cherry Vimto/ NAS Cherry Vimto Blood Curdling Brew

The perfect cauldron concoction for witches and wizards everywhere! Put the flesh of one chopped melon along with 10 crushed red seedless grapes into your cauldron (or glass if cauldron not available) and blend until they form a ghoulishly bloody pulp! Strain into a glass and top up with fiendishly fruity fizzy Cherry Vimto to create your brew.

Witches tip – Half-fill an ice cube tray with water, add a halved grape to each section and press a raisin into the centre and then freeze to create eyeball ice cubes!

For more fun Halloween recipes, party tips and more visit the Vimto Facebook page at www.facebook.com/vimto or on Twitter @RealVimto.

Tea comes in many varieties and the most widespread of these is green tea. Green tea is the least processed tea and tastes fresher. Despite this, black tea has become the most popular type in the West after its introduction at the start of the 19^th Century.

Tea has many health benefits and this is true of both the black and green varieties. Black tea is the more processed variety and has the same benefits as green tea just in lesser amounts. These benefits are reduced further when milk is added to the beverage. A recent study has shown that tea will help you maintain better cognitive function as you age.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer has stated that black tea is a group three carcinogen – there is no proof of it causing cancer in humans, but it has done so in mice. Something most people do not realise is that black tea leaves are produced by leaving the leaves to rot for a while.

At the supermarket, green tea may seem expensive compared to its black counterpart. Even when you pay this greater amount you are still purchasing an inferior tea product. The leaves are often old and therefore cheaper for the big tea companies to sell. Essentially the big tea manufacturers are selling you an inferior product at a higher price. Furthermore this ‘green’ tea may just be black tea mixed with a bulking agent, giving a yellow appearance when brewed, which is not exactly what the buyer would expect from a green tea product.

If you go to a Japanese shop you will get a real idea of what green tea is supposed to be like. The first thing you are going to notice is the price, it starts at £4 for 100g and the cost will rise with better quality products. In Japan the most commonly consumed green tea is Sencha, this is a highly recommended product. There are many excellent online retailers where you will be able to find this sort of tea.

There are ways to tell if you have purchased a good, high quality, green tea. This will require a little skill in the brewing however, as green tea can easily spoil in the brewing process, something that cannot happen with a black tea. If you have brewed the tea correctly then it will be a dark green colour if of a high quality, it should also taste very fresh and have a sweeter aroma than black tea. If it is brown or yellow then you have purchased a low quality green tea.

A major part of Ben Shaw’s birthday celebrations is a tour of the country, visiting fairs and shows to encourage the visitors to share their memories of this famous brand of pop. Ben Shaw’s celebrates its 140^th birthday this year and the company who brought Dandelion and Burdock to the masses is making a big deal of this milestone.

Ben Shaw created his soft drinks company in 1871, the same year that the Royal Albert Hall was opened on the shore of Lake Tanganyika the immortal words were uttered by Stanley; “Dr Livingstone I presume?” By the time that Dr Pepper and Coca-Cola made their respective debuts in 1885 and 1886, Ben Shaw’s was a teenager and by the time Pepsi arrived on the scene in 1898 he had four established favourites with the British public.

These iconic flavours, which are still favourites today, were Dandelion and Burdock, Cream Soda, Cloudy Lemonade and Bitter Shandy. Ben Shaw himself drove around delivering his drinks on the back of a cart pulled in turn by the 4 shire horses belonging to the Shaw family; Cherry, Blossom, Dick and Bonny.

Years later, when the famous pop vans made their first appearance and the drinks were now sold in glass bottles, canny kids clicked onto an easy way to earn some pocket money. For the princely sum of a shilling an hour, Shaw’s grandchildren and their friends watched the bottles as they came off the production line, making sure they were perfect and had no dirty marks on them.

A spokesman for Cott Beverages, Sundeep Gill, said that it was a remarkable achievement to still be in business after 140 years, and it was also amazing to think that the same 4 original flavours were still the nation’s favourites. He added that the brand had truly stood the test of time and was still popular and relevant today.

Lots of other landmarks events took place in 1871, including the formation of the British Rugby Union, the birth of the F.A. Cup and the first ever Bank Holiday, Whit Monday; the year when a young Ben Shaw left his job in the textile industry in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire and set up his own business bottling and selling natural mineral water from the nearby Pennine Hills. The move proved successful and he soon expanded his business introducing traditional soft drinks made with only the finest ingredients, in his purpose built factory.

Today Ben Shaws’ drinks are more popular than ever; in fact, many celebrities have mentioned their particular fondness for the taste of the good old fashioned flavours, including Sheridan Smith, star of the West End hit “Legally Blonde” who recently tweeted: “Could murder a dandelion & burdock now! As a kid, I even wrote a story called Dandy the lion and bird Doc.”

Part of the brand’s birthday celebrations includes a tour around the country, visiting shows and fairs and encouraging visitors to share their Ben Shaws’ memories.

For more information, visit either the Ben Shaws website or its Facebook page

Sponsored Feature

Many of us see ourselves as coffee connoisseurs these days; no longer do we always want to settle for a spoonful of freeze-dried instant granules when we’re in need of a caffeine fix. The boom in High Street coffee shops has led to a growing awareness of the different types of coffee and different ways of making it, from low-fat skinny lattes to supercharged triple espressos or fancy frappuccinos. “Frothy coffee” is no longer an exotic option available only in Italian cafes with Fifties formica tables, and you don’t have to wait for ages beside a plug-in or stove-top percolator, either.

But can you be a barista in the comfort of your own home? When you’re keen to get going early – or having a day when you just can’t face getting dressed up to go out for coffee – can you replicate the taste of the best brews in a domestic kitchen, at a reasonable price?

Different types of machine

One of the cheapest way to enjoy a good cup of coffee is to buy a glass cafetiere with a plunger, or use filters which sit on the top of your cup – but this limits you to just the one type of filtered coffee. For something stronger, you could try an espresso machine, which mixes the coffee with the water under high pressure; generally speaking, the higher the pressure, the more expensive the machine. The test of a good espresso machine is the ‘crema’ it produces, which is the rich froth on the top.

Larger and higher-pressure machines may use a pump system with a separate water tank and heater, and can heat the water to higher temperatures. And to make cappuccinos, you’ll need a steamer module as well for the milk. This usually comprises a nozzle to place in a jug of milk, and should allow you to create a frothy foam as well.

To help you choose which type of machine is best for you, you’ll need to decide whether you want to use ready-ground coffee or work from scratch with roasted unground beans, which can give the ultimate taste quality. A beans-to-cup machine will grind the beans as well as make the coffee – but they’re generally more sophisticated and expensive than a straightforward coffee-maker using grounds.

Some coffee machines use Nespresso-system ‘ESE’ (‘easy servicing espresso’) pods, which are clean and simple to slot in, or capsules. These mean less cleaning-up afterwards, and you won’t need to ‘tamp’ or compact the dry coffee as this is ready-done. The downside however, is you’re less able to control the strength or adjust the dosage according to your taste. These machines are often installed in offices or shared facilities as they’re well-suited to places where no-one wants to take responsibility for clearing up and disposing of used grounds (which can actually be composted, if you’re a gardener).

Buying into a brand-name

Coffee machines may be a strong style statement in a kitchen, and many come in shiny chrome, bright colours or fashionable retro designs. If money’s no object, then £600 buys you a Bugatti, or a large professional-level device; £200-£300 or so buys a high-quality Italian creation from the likes of Gaggia, or De’Longhi , and £100-£150 is enough for a decent coffee machine from the usual mainstream brand-names in the kitchen appliance world. There are also plenty of good buys for under £100, including supermarket own-brand machines and the entry-level models from the ‘designer’ brands. Do your research online to pick out the best and the one most suitable for your needs.

However much you intend to spend – or end up investing – you could make your purchase less painful if you buy by credit card. This could be a way to help you spread the cost.

The latest celebrity joining the campaign Make Mine Milk is Alexis Jordan the pop star. She is the front for a new competition online, 2% Fashion focused towards those that love milk and aspiring want to be fashion designers. She is promoting milk helping the campaign by letting everyone know the majority of milk is lower than 2% fat.

The campaign that has cost millions of pounds has been supported by many high profile performers and Alexis Jordan is just the latest of many that followed the leads of Pixie Lott and Gordon Ramsey who helped in April of 2010 launch the Make Milk Mine campaign.

Others that have joined in the fun are Jenson Button, Usher, Tess Daly, Elle Macpherson, Ryan Reynolds and Rupert Grint. Milk Marketing Forum created the campaign and is a consortium of the larger dairy companies like Arla Food UK, First Milk, Dairy Crest Limite, Robert Wiseman Dairies and Milk Link, with additional support from The Dairy Council and Dairy UK.