Make Decent Coffee @ London Coffee Festival
Last weekend I was among more than 22,600 visitors who found their way to The London Coffee Festival at the Old Truman Brewer on Brick Lane, having been lucky enough to have been given tickets* from Make Decent Coffee one of the many exhibiting coffee brands.
Make Decent Coffee is a brand made up of everyday coffee enthusiasts looking to share ideas, knowledge & experiences focusing on moving away from instant coffee wanting to teach us coffee enthusiasts simple coffee brewing methods sharing their labour of love for decent coffee which doesn’t take an age to make.They promote the idea that no-one should settle for bland, ‘burnt-toast’ tasting instant coffee by offering how to guides, quality coffee beans and the latest gadgets to make fantastically flavourful coffee to ensure that we all ‘do it decently’.
I had the chance to interview Phil Smith from Make Decent Coffee a self proclaimed A coffee professional with revolutionary tenancies. I learnt a number of interesting facts such as the Aeropress is the gadget of the moment for coffee affectionados. This is gadget invented in 2005 by Aerobie president Alan Adler whereby the coffee is steeped for between 10-50 seconds and pushed through a filter by pressing the plunger through the tube via paper filters or disc shaped thin metal filters. The result of the process is described as an espresso strength concentration of coffee, but its most frequent use is more in the filter brew strength.
Phil also explained that the coffee’s origins make a big difference in the flavour. I pointed out that whereas I prefer fruity coffee my husband likes earthy, deep flavours and he kindly gave me a bag of their Ethiopian Sidamo* coffee beans which have a citrus aroma and a berry like taste with a clean sweet finish. I look forward to testing it out!
Ludovic Rossignol the festival organiser said “We are so thrilled that so many were able to join us for an incredible four days of coffee, food, music and art. Thank you so much to everyone who joined us, from our wonderful exhibitors and sponsors to the coffee loving public who made the festival a very special showcase for the thriving and vibrant UK coffee scene.”
The London Coffee Festival celebrated one of our favourite beverages included latte art battles, DJ collaborations, design wear, pop up restaurants & coffee shops, pro-triangulation tests, live roasting, mixologists & coffee cocktails, brewing tutorials, cooking lessons, sounds from the coffee belt, the best baristas in the country, experiential workshops in the Lab as well as the launch of new event feature: Milk & Sugar (a showcase of urban lifestyle and culture). There was plenty of things to entertain us and we even got free coffee in exchange for a poem!
I certainly came away from The London Coffee Festival with a new found respect for coffee and baristas and look forward to trying my new coffee from Make Decent Coffee and might even look into getting myself an Aeropress!
