Coffee Flamingo Blog
Discover the Latest - An Upgrade
Find out what we've been upto since the turn of the year and what we have planned for the upcoming months.
Learn more
Coffee Travels in Berlin
A couple of weeks ago we travelled to Berlin for a little break, but as business owners, we're always thinking about Coffee Flamingo and what's next. We always take our coffee on our travels and a V60 with filters. This time we took the Peru. However, we soon realised there is a big coffee shop culture in Berlin (as with most cities now). Having fallen in love with the city we thought we would take a little tour to see how the coffee compares and maybe even learn something along the way. Below we've shared our favorite finds and how they ranked for us. It's worth saying that there may be many more shops we didn't come across. But we didn't set out to find the 'best' coffee shop before our trip so these were a pleasant surprise. 19 Grams - We absolutely loved this place. Located in Alexander Platz, 19 Grams are a roaster as well as a coffee shop. They are a fairly established brand. The decor was industrial style, playing to the on-site roaster, but it had a warm, comfortable feel nonetheless. It was a very 'cool' place and we can imagine a hub for creatives (probably too 'cool' for Dan and me (James)). To be honest, they had a slight advantage as a heavy night before meant we were eager for a great coffee and a hearty breakfast. They offered table service which adds to the relaxed but premium feel. Worth saying, the staff were brilliant. Their attention to detail and knowledge of the coffee was spot on. We both had long blacks using their Colombian bean. The Colombian bean went through a long fermentation to provide an intense acidic flavor. This reduced the bitterness you can get, but it still packed a strong punch. Very smooth and utterly delicious. Dan is less keen on acidic coffee flavours but he really rated this one. They had a filter coffee option too which is usually our go-to. The menu was compact but the food was brilliant. The breakfast/brunch items were cooked to a very high standard. Their focus is on sustainability in both food and coffee. All natural, regional ingredients. 19 Grams was a joy. The only negative for us was that it was a little too far from our hotel to visit more often (which is being picky). If you find yourself in Berlin, make sure you visit. 2. Concierge Coffee - Luckily for us, while 19 Grams was several miles away, Concierge Coffee was just several meters from our hotel in Potsdamer Platz. Another very 'cool' place, it had a small entrance where the baristas took and made your order. Up some small stairs and further back was a corridor that turns into a labyrinth of small rooms and spaces to sit and enjoy your coffee. Very quirky and minimalist, completely up my alley. We both had our favourite Cortado here. They use their own roasted coffee for all of their coffees. Their espresso is a mix of origins and has a similar profile to our own Espresso blend. The second time we went we had a standard filter coffee. On this occasion, they used their Guatemalan bean. It was a great bean, very smooth and rich, and easy to drink. The barista was very nice and well-trained. They even went out of their way to put a new batch on just for us. Concierge Coffee offers a limited selection of classic pastries, all looking lovely, but unfortunately nothing substantial. This being said, they know what they are. A very good coffee shop, delivering high-quality coffee. This is clearly their sole focus, which we think is amazing. A genuinely lovely, comfortable place to have a coffee, relax and chat. 3. Bonanza Coffee Roasters - Less quirky and 'cool' than others. More inner city, business like, which makes sense as it's in the metropolitan area of Brandenburg. Bonanza was a very clean modern style decor, with marble and wood finishes, using the latest brewing technology. It looked great. It was very small with simple window benches and a couple of tables on the pavement. Dan loves an outside seat to people watch so we sat on the pavement. This time we both ordered slightly differently. I had the Guatemalan coffee and Dan had the Ethiopian coffee, both as filter coffees. Firstly, they had a selection of coffees on offer, more so than the others. Using modern brewing technology added a little more 'theatre' to the coffee service. The Guatemalan was a medium roast with a light chocolatey flavour. The Ethiopian was also a medium roast but it had a light fruity flavour. Similar in profile to our Peru, but to be honest, not as flavourful in our opinion. We felt the Guatemalan really lacked something and needed more punch. Maybe more suited to a slightly darker roast. We were left feeling unsatisfied and a little disappointed. Like Concierge Coffee, there wasn't much of a food menu, just a nice selection of pastries. The staff were knowledgeable and we didn't have any espresso based drinks, but they looked good from what we saw. The location and shop is great and we enjoyed sitting and watching the world go by, but it did feel like they had put more effort into the coffee paraphernalia than the coffee itself. 4. The Barn - As our own coffee shop namesake, we had to visit The Barn. They have a couple of shops around Berlin. We visted the Potsdamer Platz shop. Like the others, it was modern and minimal but more on the comfortable side than the others. Wood finishes and marble, lots of seating inside and outside. A real mixed crowd which was nice to see. So the coffee...it was a little different this time. Dan had a Cortado (okay not different for Dan) and I had a Cappuccino. The coffee sizes were great and they looked beautiful. But the important thing is taste, and unfortunately, there was something not quite right. We couldn't quite put our finger on it. The Cappuccino wasn't textured correctly and was more like a Latte. The Cortado was large but had a very sweet taste. We think the milk used was different. The coffee wasn't powerful enough to overcome the milk and it just lacked punch. We aren't sure if they offered alternative coffee beans on filter as the staff, while very nice and friendly, didn't seem to have knowledge or confidence. We may have caught them at a bad time or if they don't know, they don't know, and that isn't their fault. Again, nothing substantial to eat, but a good selection of homemade cakes and pastries. We indulged in a PB&J cookie and a chocolate and banana loaf slice. They were bloody good and we enjoyed them more than the coffee, which isn't a good sign I guess. The Barn was disappointing and we would go to Concierge Coffee with no cake over The Barn. And if you know me, cake is usually top of my list. We'd also like to give a special mention to Factory Girl and Milch Halle. We didn't get to go into these two but they both looked great and had queues out the door, which is always a good sign. My patience for queuing and Dan's joy for drinking German beer doesn't allow us to stand around, so they had to be missed on this occasion. Overall, you'll get good coffee in all the mentioned coffee shops and they all have their good and bad (although we're struggling for negatives for 19 Grams). In truth, we're being hypocritical as coffee snobs, and with our desire to continue learning about coffee beans, brewing techniques, and providing the best coffee experience possible. We hope you enjoyed our blog. It is a little different for us but if you like it then let us know and next time we travel we'll hunt down the 'best' coffee shops around. If you're in Berlin and you try out any of these, let us know what you think. You may have a different experience. More Coffee Shop recommdations from travels Change Image 0%Not interested - Coffee Flamingo is the only coffee for me Change Image 0%Yes - love a coffee shop recommendation
Learn more
Coffee Flamingo Brazil beans wins Great Taste 2022 award
Tasted by the experts, The Brazil Bean from Coffee Flamingo is awarded a Great Taste 1-star in 2022 Coffee Flamingo has been named among the top food and drink producers globally this year, picking up a highly prized 1 star Great Taste award for its “Brazil Coffee Beans”. More than 14,000 products were put through the the world’s most coveted food and drink award’s regious blind tasting process, and our Brazil bean was described as a “Lovely syrupy body to this espresso and a deep intense chocolatey flavour straight off the bat. A long, lingering finish and a great example of a darker roast.”. 4,078 products were awarded a Great Taste 1 star – ‘food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour’, 1,237 awarded a Great Taste 2 star – ‘above and beyond delicious’, and 241 were awarded a Great Taste 3 star – ‘extraordinarily tasty food and drink’. Further described as “a deep rich single origin coffee with Rainforest Alliance Certified and flavours of sweet almond and dark chocolate.”, it was a big hit with the Great Taste judges. Made with 100% arabica beans, Coffee Flamingo’s Brazil bean was one of 5,556 products to receive a Great Taste award in 2022 (which is only 39.1% of the total products entered). What is Great Taste? Recognised as a stamp of excellence and actively sought out by food lovers and retailers alike, Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, values taste above all else. All products in the line-up for judging are blind-tasted: every product is removed from its packaging so it cannot be identified, before entering a robust, layered judging process. This year, the judging took place over 90 days across two judging locations (Dorset and London) with a panel of more than 500 judges. This year’s line-up saw food and drink products submitted from a staggering 110 different countries from across the world. Dan commented: “We are delighted to have won a Great Taste award for our Brazil bean. When starting Coffee Flamingo we dreamed of winning a Great Taste award, and now we have! James and I are so proud to be adding the iconic black and gold Great Taste logo to our coffee. Coffee Flamingo was born out of our passion for coffee, and a desire to ‘seize the day’ and make coffee for everyone. To be where we are today after only launching 18 months ago is just wonderful. Being recognised by the Guild of Fine Food a awarded a Great Taste award means so much to independent producers like us. It makes all the hard work and determination worth it! Great Taste is the most recognised accolade for taste and quality in the food and drink world, so it really is a big win!”. The Brazil coffee bean has a rich dark roast, with dark choclate and nutty flavours, and works perfectly as an espresso or for espresso based drinks. Coffee Flamingo recommend using 18g of coffee per cup, finally grinded to extract all of the beautiful flavours the bean has to offer. The Coffee Flamingo Brazil bean is available at The Barn at Sollo in Reigate, Queer Lit in Manchetsre and The Wine School of Cheshire. The Brazil coffee beans has a rich dark roast, with dark choclate and nutty flavours and works perfectly as an espresso or for espresso based drinks. Coffee Flamingo recommend a fine grind and 18g of coffee grinds per cup. The Coffee Flamingo Brazil bean is also available from The Barn at Sollo, Queer lit and The Wine School of Cheshire.
Learn more
5 things to do with your used coffee grounds
Whether you use an espresso machine, a bean to cup machine, a cafetière or any other coffee brewing method, one thing you'll always have is coffee grounds to dispose of. To reduce the waste we thought we'd give you some of our favourite ways to make use of them. First up, James loves his garden so most of our coffee grounds go to good use on our plants and veg. You can also chuck them in your compost bin, if you have one. Or you can put the grounds directly on top of the soil around your plants/veg or what ever you grow. It is a brilliant fertiliser because it has lots of minerals such as phosphorous, calcium, potassium, and iron amongst others. Plus it stops slugs and nasties getting to your veg and eating it all. Odor neutraliser, yes thats right, you can use it to remove smells. Coffee grounds have nitrogen in them, and nitrogen has the ability to neutralise smells in the air. With veg and food you tend to get smells rumenating from the fridge so we have a pot of old grounds in the fridge. The smells will disappear. Cook with it, many people use fresh coffee grounds in Mexican dishes, BBQ rubs and more. But used grounds are great for meat marinades. Just re-brew the grounds, let them cool, and pour the coffee over the meat. This helps to tenderise, keep it moist, and it will bring out the natural flavour of the meat. Just get rid of the liquid before cooking. If you like a good skin routine, you can use coffee grounds to create a great skin exfoliator. Coffee grounds are naturally rough so help remove dead skin and clear pores. You can also add some to coconut oil and make a paste, giving your natural exfoliator a great texture. But we're not Jonathan Van Ness, so if you like the idea check out some recipes first. Side note, if you don't know who Jonathan Van Ness is then you don't know what you're missing. Lastly, and it's a little niche, but if you live in a area that gets lots of snow, you can use coffee grounds like you would salt. The nitrogen in it doesn't allow ice to form so the snow melts. It can also provides some friction points to walk on. So there you go 5 ways to reuse and recycle coffee grounds, helping the environment and maybe even saving you a little money, so you can buy more coffee.
Learn more
Make your coffee sparkle with a sprinkle of cinnamon
We have been learning about making coffee for a number of years, from different ways of roasting to mixing flavour profiles. All of which have a big impact on coffee flavours. But we'd like to think we've got this covered. However we have recently learnt some different methods to elevate your coffee at home. Of course in the modern world coffee syrups are all the rage in your favourite high street coffee shops, even adding syrup to the bean roasting adjusts the flavour profile. Recently we have discovered a more purest way to enhance your coffee at home, and frankly a healthier way. Cinnamon! adding a sprinkling of cinnamon to coffee beans or grounds before brew is a fabulous way to enhance flavour. It will be a game changer. We found our Colombia bean went to new heights with the addition of cinnamon. The caramel and nutty flavours suite the sweet spice of cinnamon. Whats even better than the flavour of cinnamon is the brilliant health benefits it has. Not only does coffee taste even better but you're improving your health too. Some of my favourite benefits include: Increased antioxidants - one teaspoon has as many antioxidants as a half cup of blueberries. As per a study by Penn State university. Improve brain function - Wheeling Jesuit University reported improved visual and motor response. They actually report improvement from just smelling the spice also. Reduces the impact of fatty foods - Cinnamon reduces the triglycerides by upto 30 percent. Triglycerides is what causes arteries to become lined by fat and can lead to clots. This is Help with symptoms of colds - Drinking cinnamon in hot drinks can clear sinuses and reduce mucus production. Its also worth saying that cinnamon has a natural sweetness which reduces the need for adding sugar and I'm sure we all know the benefits of reducing our sugar intake. So in the words of the Spice Girls… spice up your life! with cinnamon. You won't be disappointed! Thanks for reading James
Learn more
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.
Learn more