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Has Blog

the blog of Stephen Leighton

News

New views and all that stuff to do with Has Bean http://www.hasbean.co.uk

UK Weather Warning

As you may have seen in the news (or outside your window if you’re in the United Kingdom!) there’s currently quite a bit of bad weather around. Storm Emma is rolling in and meeting the “Beast from the East” to = a lot of weather warnings all across the country and 1 very cold, windy and white UK .

I wanted to update you on how things are going here in Stafford – it’s business as usual for us! We’re all here at the roastery doing our usual Hasbeany things so if you’ve placed an order, we’re on it! If you’re thinking of placing an order, do it! We’re here! Thankfully we are based on an industrial estate with a major haulier and their trucks do a very good job of clearing the roads for us and, as of right now, Stafford has not been hit too badly by the weather. For sure it’s pretty cold and white out there, but we’ve got coffee to roast!

However – I’d like you to take a moment to think of your postie or local DPD driver…it can not be nice or easy to be in their shoes with the weather like this and so I ask you to please be patient where delivery is concerned. We’re doing all we can to keep things running as normal and I know Royal Mail + DPD are doing the same, but that’s no easy task when there are severe weather warnings across a lot of the country.

Between us we’ll do our very best to get your order to you as soon as possible, but there might be some delays because of the weather.

For updates on delivery services in the UK please check the following websites…

Royal Mail: https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12556

DPD: http://www.dpd.co.uk/content/products_services/uk_issues.jsp#issue0

DPD are also keeping customers updated about their deliveries via tracking notifications so please keep an eye on your emails, text messages and/or Your DPD app for up to date news on your delivery direct from DPD.

If you have any questions about ordering or deliveries please get in touch with us at orders@hasbean.co.uk and we’ll do all we can to help.

I hope you’re wrapped up safe + warm, not too far away from a tasty + delicious coffee : )

Merry COFFEE !!

Tis the season to be jolly (and way over worked if you have a coffee website). With Christmas coming we wanted to make sure you had the widest range of coffees available. Were still adding now, but its been a real feast of new coffees, so I thought I’d share them with you. You can also keep an eye on new coffees at the link below

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new

Its not christmas if its not the cleverly names Christmas Filter and Christmas Espresso Blend. The Christmas filter is for ……. filter coffees and the Christmas espresso is for …..espresso. The confusing part is they both taste amazing in other brew methods so it makes a real mockery of it all.

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/christmas-filter

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/christmas-espresso

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There once was a time I wouldn’t buy Pacamara beans. I thought they all tasted savoury and meh ! I’d tasted other roasters ones, and I’d sample roasted a heap, and overtime mushroom soup. But I didn’t realise that if you roast them differently to other coffees you really can bring out something amazing. Now we have so many pacamaras we are spoiled.

We have 8 different types (process and colour) from just one farm. We added the latest ones in the Yellow pacamaras this month

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/nicaragua-finca-limoncillo-washed-yellow-pacamara

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/nicaragua-finca-limoncillo-pulped-natural-yellow-pacamara

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/nicaragua-finca-limoncillo-natural-yellow-pacamara

With this one causing us such a problem we couldn’t do our normal cupping notes, as we couldn’t decide if it was amazing or so different we couldn’t stock it.

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/nicaragua-finca-limoncillo-funky-natural-yellow-pacamara

First time I’ve had to issue a warning on a coffee.

You can try them all here at a special price

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/nicaragua-finca-limoncillo-yellow-pacamara-pack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we are on packs, this time of year we always release the Potero Pack

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-el-potrero-pack

5 coffees all different honeys and a super special geisha to boot, sounds like perfect christmas drinking to me.

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-el-potrero-yellow-honey-bourbon

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-el-potrero-red-honey-bourbon

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-el-potrero-black-honey-bourbon

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-el-potrero-natural-bourbon

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-el-potrero-white-honey-geisha

While I have your Geisha attention how about another. A brand new farm this year for us Costa Rica Dona Daisy finca Don Pepe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-dona-daisy-finca-don-pepe-red-honey-geisha

Ever heard of a farm called Finca De Licho ? Then why have you not been listening to me as I rave about them every year. We got offered just one bag of another pacamara from them and we jumped at it, not something you see every day

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/costa-rica-finca-licho-honey-pacamara

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you came to The Manchester coffee festival in November, you will have witnessed the bromance of Alejandro Martinez of Finca Argentina in El Salvador and Brian from Kiriga in Kenya. It got us thinking what if we took both their coffees and made a blend, and here it is.

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/when-brian-met-ale

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You think I can’t top all these right ? Well lets have a go. One of my all time favourite coffees and producers is Neto from fame such as La Ilusion, Los Brumas, Alaska, Los Andes, and I’m always happy when this coffee arrives. Last year we had little to no natural, this year Neto did a little more for us, because for me, this natural makes the best cappuccino I’ve ever drunk. If you have never tried this coffee, you 100% have to !! Its amazing.

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/el-salvador-finca-la-ilusion-washed-bourbon

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/new/products/el-salvador-finca-la-ilusion-natural-bourbon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How crazy is this, all in a week we have added these coffees. But I’m still not done.

Every year we like to do something a little special for the very special Has Bean Fans. The die hards who trust us and like to have fun at the same time.

This year we have decided to do something really different. You have to trust me. I’m going to send you 2 x 125g bags of coffee. One marked 1 (for Christmas day) and 2 (for boxing day). You won’t know what they are, how they are from until I social media it on both days.

What I can tell you about them is one of them is a very special coffee you wiped out in just a couple of days because it won something, and one is a coffee we have had washed from Africa and we luckily fell upon 1 bag of natural from there that blew our mind. Both of them are not for sale now and one of them we never have sold it. And trust me this is what I will be drinking on both days, special coffees I want to share with special friends.

The fun part is they come in a lovely presentation box, and inside two christmas crackers.

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/steves-coffee-he-wants-you-to-drink-on-christmas-day-and-boxing-day-crackers

So you can see we have been busy. Trust me theres more too in the coming weeks, always exciting times around the corner, but I’m enjoying this corner very much.

You could always just buy my book

https://www.hasbean.co.uk/collections/books/products/coffeeography

Coffeeography, at last !

Have I told you I’ve written a book ? If I’ve met you I know I have because I can talk about little else.

 

To say I was not very academic at school is a little bit of an under exaggeration. I sucked at school, and was often told that I wouldn’t amount to much. Well they were right, but at least I have a book to go with my amounting to little.

 

The book is called “Coffeeography the producers” and is launched on the 5th of November at cup north event in Manchester, followed by an extensive book tour with events across five countries. Inspired by the relationships built over the past 18 years through Hasbean Coffee,

 

“Coffeeography: The Coffee Producers” shares hidden stories and breaks down common misconceptions about those who farm the cherries of the world’s most popular beverage.

 

40 coffee producers across 11 countries were interviewed by using an approach that brings their own words and experiences to the fore.

 

Each profile began with a list of 20 questions, anything from ‘do you prefer espresso or filter?’ or ‘if you could farm anywhere else, where would you?’

 

From there, it was using their answers to those questions, the stories they chose to share, and my own understanding of our relationship to put together a multifaceted glimpse into the complex people behind the future of specialty coffee

 

In addition to these profiles, the book also features a number of my favourite travel photographs from the last 12 years.

 

Alejandro Martinez (Finca Argentina, El Salvador) and Dr. Brian Gakunga (Kiriga Estate, Kenya), two of the producers profiled in “Coffeeography”, will join Team Hasbean as a part of the inaugural book launch activities, taking place on the second day of the Manchester Coffee Festival, to share their stories in person. Attendees will also have the unique opportunity to cup both Finca Argentina and the Kiriga Estate’s coffees during special afternoon cuppings led by Martinez and Dr. Gakunga, respectively.

 

After the book’s official launch in Manchester, I will go on whirlwind tour as I launch the book featuring stops in:

Click the links for Ticket information

Seoul, KOR (11-12 Nov, hosted by Marco at Seoul Café & Bakery Show)

Manchester Coffee Feastival !! 

 

You can sign up for tickets for the event here, not only will you get to see all of this, but the rest of the UK speciality industry on show.

 

 

Me, Ale, Brian and team Hasbean all look forward to seeing you there.

Recycling coffee bags

I think we can all agree now, that recycling is a very important part of everyday life. Resourses are not infinite, and ladfill gets, well ….. full.

Its always something thats bugged me about coffee bags, becuase of the way they are made, they can not easily be recylcled.

We have tried many different bags, but none keep the coffee as fresh as we would like, so rather than compromise the product, we have carried on regardless. This keeps me awake at night as sustainability is not only about buying coffee fairly and with ethics, its not only using organic certifications (or organic principles more on this in the coming weeks), but my being sustainable in as many areas as you can.

Se we found out about this company that will recycle coffee bags, but at a cost. This cost is out of reach of most people, so we have invested in a bag recycleing box at Has Bean. We get through a lot of bags so it’s a start.

But we have decided that if you (home or coffee shop customers) buy coffee from us, we will pay for the recycling costs of Has Bean bags all you have to do is get them back to us. Collect as many as you can and send them to us at the address below and we will do the rest.

Has Bean Coffee Ltd
Unit 16, Ladford Covert
Ladfordfields Industrial Estate
Seighford, Stafford
Staffordshire
ST18 9QL
United Kingdom

Then the collected waste will undergo extrusion and pelletisation to be moulded into various recycled plastic products.

Its not perfect, and we will see if (depending on interest) maybe rolling it out to some collection points, but every journey begins with one step, and this is our first.

In My Mug reboot

Its been months in the making (literally) but you may have noticed the past few weeks In My Mug http:/wwww.inmymug.com has changed. After 449 episodes it felt like it was really time to shake up the format. I know I’ve done this a few times (shaking it up), but this feel the most drastic and the best yet.

This week was one was one of my favourites to record, as we had the “Steve’s fun bag challenge” where a member of the team has to come in and weigh out 3 bags by eye, getting as close as they can to 250g. Its a test of speed and accuracy, where every gram over or under they get a second added t their score and then the time that its taken added on. Its not something we wild every week, but was great to get Mick on screen for the first one.

We also had our guest brewer slot this week with Katie coming on and chasing her favourite brew method and making the coffee for me. Again, great to share the awesome team we have here with you.

Each week there will be something new and different, and the aim is to keep them a little shorter than they have been in the past to keep it snappier.

I’d love you to check it out, and I’d love your feedback, and I hope if you have not watched one for a while, you will dive in you may be surprised.

Brazil nut (Wildcard)

I did a blogpost back in April explaining about our new blends and how going forwards we would be rotating and reinventing some of them. So we have Red (Jailbreak replacement and Philter) White Blend (which would be a replacement for Jaberwocky, Kicker and 1973) and Black Blend (that would be a replacement for Black and Breakfast Bomb). I’ve loved the feedback on them and on the whole everyone has embraced the new blends (and bags).

But theres the 4th blend, the place for us to play and have the fun. Dark Side of the moon has been lots of fun to play with and a coffee thats received lots of love. But its time for the first change. An in the spirit of having fun were reviving a blend we have not had for a while.

Brazil nut is a cheeky nod towards what was the very popular Perfetio and I’ve received many many many emails saying that perfetio isn’t a word and I must have accidentally slipped when typing. The truth is that I did slip but a very long time ago and the name just stuck!
In Brazil they speak Portuguese and the word ‘perfect’ in Portuguese is ‘perfeito’, when I first created this blend many moons ago I was going to go for that as the name but accidentally made a typo. Once I’d seen it there I quite liked how it looked so decided to keep it as it was, always fun creating a new word! I’m sure at the time if you searched the internet for ‘perfetio’ it would have said you couldn’t spell but now you’re shown lots of things about this blend, a giant success I think!

We have called it Brazil nut as I have already said, its a nod towards Perfetio and not a direct same blend, but its fun and I like it.

The blend is made up of

40% Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama Natural Yellow Bourbon
30% Brazil Fazenda Cachoeira da Grama Pulped Natural Canario
30% Brazil Fazenda Inglaterra Pulped Natural Bourbon
In the cup you can expect a fantastic body, loads of sweetness and creaminess, heaps of smooth milk chocolate with walnut and a gorgeous finish.

You can buy it here.