Don’t get me wrong, it’s always UK Coffee Week around here BUT if this week means that I get to celebrate my love of coffee, and chat about my favourite local businesses even more than usual, then I am 100% on board!
Coffee at home has come a long way since those oh-so-suggestive Gold Blend ads with Giles from Buffy flaunting a jar of instant to catch himself a lady friend (sidenote: remember them?! I kind of want to watch them all back to back to see if they have held up well…). For us, it’s part of our weekend routine. And, depending on how much time we have, we’ll use Aeropress, V60 or our faithful filter machine to start a lazy morning.
We’re really lucky in Glasgow to have a range of excellent roasters at our fingertips. More often than not, we’ll be working our way through a bag of Dear Green or Gordon Street Coffee beans (sorry, Giles!) but I love discovering new companies, too!
There are loads of ways to get involved in UK Coffee Week (which is RIGHT NOW, 16th to 22nd April!), but here’s a few of my must-do’s if you’re looking for inspiration…
Buy local beans to enjoy at home - and try something new! Dear Green have a range of flavour characteristics from their Columbian coffee with its tropical fruit taste, to Rwandan coffee, which has sweet notes of honey, chocolate and nectarine. They’ve also teamed up with Graham’s dairy to create some coffee and milk ‘pairings’ to elevate the flavours even more - I’m peachy keen on trying a flat white made with Graham’s oaty sweet organic semi-skimmed milk!
Visit one of Glasgow’s awesome cafes for a cuppa! I’ve gushed about some of my favourite coffee shops here and added some fabulous new ones to the list a little while back, too. There are a ton of independent cafes all over town - and UK Coffee Week is the perfect prompt to go and check out one you’ve never visited. You might even discover your new favourite!
Support your local coffee festival! That’s right - tickets for Glasgow Coffee Festival 2018 have now been released and are selling fast! The two-day event showcases everyone’s favourite coffees, roasters and cafes, and this year GCF will be going the extra mile to cut down on waste by removing disposable cups from the festivities. Guests are welcome to bring their own reusable cup along OR lend one from festival sponsors KeepCup. Drink coffee AND save the planet? All in a day’s work, my friend *brushes shoulder*.
And, even after UK Coffee Week grinds to a halt (#dadjokes), these are all things that you can keep doing any time of the year!
Do you have any must-do’s (or must-drink’s!) that I should check out? And who would YOU cast in a reboot of those Gold Blend ads?
