A journey through Coffee (by Jon)
- Jayne Oliphant-Thompson
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
From drinking coffee in cafes while on the road as a pharmaceutical rep to working as a barista in a roaster in Exeter, running a coffee shack at The Turf, serving out of a coffee van at the top of Mamhead, and now running barista classes at the vineyard, my journey through coffee has completely changed my opinions and tastes when it comes to a good brew.
Progressing from anonymous, characterless strong black Americanos with hot milk to punchy flat whites to delicate fruity room-temperature tea like black filter coffee, my opinions, tastes, and understanding have changed drastically over the years.
Like most people, I used to stick to the same choice of coffee every time. Like finding a pair of jeans you like, you keep buying the same pair. People do the same with wine. Now I’m more interested in exploring the wild array of flavours available in coffee from different countries and different processing and brewing methods. For me, this means drinking black filter coffee, as adding milk just masks the inherent fruity flavours that come from the coffee cherry. It also means drinking it at just above body temperature, as it is only then that you can taste all those diverse and interesting flavours that come from the cherry, its processing and brewing. There is always a pot of beautiful filter coffee on the go at the vineyard, so give it a go and see for yourself. Slowly, customers are discovering its flavours as a different style of coffee and coming back for more.
Most people want to drink hot coffee as it’s what they’re used to and what is served at most cafes. It is a leap of faith to make this change, but boy, is it worth it.
I order my coffee online from speciality roasters. These are independent businesses that buy their green coffee from growers who have quality, taste, sustainability and ethics as their primary motivators. These roasters will also have the same principles and as such aren’t making huge margins on the coffee, so they need to find other ways of supplementing their business with cafes, customer experiences and festivals. I have chosen to use coffee from Clan Roastery from Bude at the vineyard as they are a shining example of speciality coffee.
They supply us a stunning single origin from Uganda that gives us the espresso that really delivers, whether it be a latte, flat white or even a fancy Freddo Cappuccino.
My Espresso machine is still used at home, however, my daily go-to is the filter coffee I’ve mentioned previously. I enjoy the more delicate, distinct flavours and the fact that a cup can be enjoyed over half an hour or so. It is also very easy to make on my travels.
However, I’m always exploring different coffees and brew methods and depending on my mood or time of day, I’ll reach for something specific.
As you may know, I run a coffee class at the vineyard during which guests can taste and brew their way through this journey themselves.
There are lots of parallels between coffee and wine, whether it be the way the plants grow, how it's processed and how it's tasted, and so developing the coffee side of the vineyard is a natural fit.
We’ll be continually looking at these similarities and experimenting with many things that we’ll be sharing with you as experiences, so look out for more.
I’ll also continue to share my latest insights, experiments and favourites in this blog as well as the big coffee journey that the vineyard has started and will continue to take, so look out for more here or even better book yourself into one of my classes in the link below.
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