02.08.2024
As a coffee shop, we’re about far more than just coffee. BUT, in order to do all of the other good stuff we do, we need to ensure that the coffee, the main focus of our business, is absolutely spot on and of the very best quality we could hope for. That’s why we’ve continued our relationship with Brazier Coffee Roasters and why they remain our longest standing supplier. Who better to tell us more about where this unique relationship stemmed from, than our Founder, Holly, who made that initial connection….
“I remember the moment that Brazier appeared on my radar like it were yesterday. It was January 2016, I had been widowed for just over 2 months and had taken a few weeks out to visit my best friend in Byron Bay, Australia. On the flight out I read the South West Independent Coffee Guide from cover to cover (very geeky), and stumbled across Braziers. I was immediately intrigued after reading the story of Tom and Claire, the Aussie origins of their business, their trek to Europe to collect a roaster in a horse box (which now, having known Tom for 8 years, makes total sense!). I loved their story, the roots and ethos of their business, and the link with my preference for an Australian approach to coffee was uncanny.
Fast forward a few months and I’d left my full-time, secure role at the local college, and Tom Brazier (the man who transported a roaster 100s of miles in a horse box) was fitting an (incredibly weighty) coffee machine into the back of my (remarkably flimsy) Citroen 2CV…needless to say, our relationship lasted A LOT longer than the Citroen 2CV!”
That all sounds great, but why do we love Braziers so much?! Well – the relationship for one is key to us. We pride ourselves on the relationships we build with our suppliers and feel we get so much more by putting these relationships at the forefront of our business. Of course, they’re local, based just down the M5 in Wellington, which is also an important factor to us. But, that wouldn’t be enough on it’s own, and thankfully – the coffee is, in our humble opinion, the very best around!
So, here’s a little something for the coffee nerds out there (we like this bit)…
THE BLEND – We use Campbell ST antipodean blend which is perfect for espresso. It is heavily made up of Colombian single-origins but is also part Brazilian and Guatemalan. The beans are roasted in batches and it takes about 15 minutes to reach the desired ‘drop’ temperature for this blend of 210 degrees. This gives Campbell ST it’s great body and sweetness.
…and for the amateurs who just like a flippin’ good coffee – basically, it’s a super smooth delicious coffee!
Those beans + Golden Hooves regen milk + a great barista = the best coffee around…FACT.
We’re fortunate enough to have our very own in house coffee training, pioneered by the wonderful Meg, but we’re also fortunate to be supported in that with regular visits to Brazier’s Roastery. It’s great to have the opportunity to take groups of staff there to learn about where our coffee comes from, how it’s roasted, and enjoy some scrummy food and coffee in Brazier’s on site coffee shop.
And, just in case we’re starting to look like a group of desperate fan-girls and boys, we’d like to think the feeling is fairly mutual. Tom Brazier told us just how important relationships, like that of ours, are to their business ’People are at the core of what we do. We love this side of the business and enjoy working closely with our wholesale customers, to help them get the best out of our coffee. The people who grow the coffee are just as important to us, which is why we pay a premium for speciality grade coffee- the farmers who worked hard to grow the best-tasting coffee on the market, deserve to be paid well for it.’
It’s just a whole heap of coffee business love! And we hope that we share that love with our loyal customers through the care that we take in preparing your coffees and the passion that we have for making it the very best!
