Coffee Flamingo Blog
How we make the perfect coffee
Ever wondered how coffee is made? Well we thought we'd give you a whistle stop tour of how we produce ours. First things first the coffee cherry is picked and sorted so only ripe cherries are processed. The next thing the farms do is dry the cherries. Most farms do this by simply laying all the coffee cherries out on racks in the sun. The racks get turned regularly to completely dry the the whole fruit. Some farms use a water and fermentation method to activate the enzymes so the pulp is removed from the cherries. They're then ready to be dried. This method takes roughly 48 hours to complete. It is used to speed up the drying process because the open air rack method can take several weeks for each coffee batch. Once dried the bean's husk is removed and ready to be shipped. It's over to us for roasting. We roast our beans for roughly 13 to 14 minutes, depending on the roast colour. Generally the beans themselves, combined with colour, determine the strength. So roasting to darker colours doesn't necessarily mean a stronger coffee because the bean has a key role to play. Of course this is influenced by the temperatures we roast at but that's our secret weapon so we'll being keeping that to ourselves. The roasted coffee beans are then cooled in cooling trays so they're ready to be transferred and packed. Ground coffee is a little different. Once ground, they are left for 24 hours to release the natural gases and to prevent our bags from blowing up. The finish product is then sent to our lovely customers to enjoy. That is it in a nutshell...or should we say coffee bean.
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Why we Celebrate Pride? Is it still necessary?
Many people ask, why do we still need Pride events? There are many reasons for why Pride is needed and so important today. Here's why we're celebrating Pride. To start, Pride isn't just 'gay people' partying. It does involve celebrations but it includes everyone from the community, whether you are lesbian, trans, bisexual, asexual, non-binary, queer, or identify as someone outside the 'traditional norms'. It's a way to come together and feel part of a strong community. It's a way to amplify those that need a voice. It's a way to educate. And it's a way to thank those who fought for the community and gave us what we have today. The message is just as important today as it was when the first Pride matches took place in the 1970s. Sill in 2021 LGBTQ+ people are discriminated against. This year we had the news of an Iranian gay man, Alireza aged 20, who was murdered by his brother after he found out he was gay. There are still 72 countries that criminalise same sex relationships, 8 of which it is punishable by death. In a 4 year period there were 1,612 trans people killed across 62 countries. You may think, 'but we're more tolerant in Britain and Europe'. True, but a Stonewall study in 2017 found that 1 in 5 LGBT people had experienced a hate crime in the previous 12 months, and that increased to 2 in 5 for trans people. 1 in 10 LGBT people experience online abuse aimed at their gender or sexual orientation. 50% of all LGBT students reported they frequently hear homophobic slurs when at school. Not to mention that when we were growing up there was not one mention of anything other than straight people during formal education. So it's important for us to set the example, show case LGBTQ+ people and normalise 'being different'. For us personally, Pride also represents the ability to be yourself and feel comfortable with who you are. Everyone is there to support and uplift each other, no matter their background or preference. Everyone is celebrated. This creates an atmosphere that is unlike any other. It's special. Dan marched in the London Pride parade with Stonewall Football Club, which he was part of for a number of years and the club still holds a special place in his heart. All of these things are why we wanted to show our appreciation for Pride month. To celebrate we are doing lots of fun and interesting things on our social media and we've even created a Limited Edition Pride Pack Remember Heather Small asking "What have you done today to make you feel proud?". Just being you is something to be proud of! Stay safe online - https://www.cyberghostvpn.com/privacyhub/lgbtq-online-security/ James & Dan
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