I’ve long been interested in the quality of the water we use both at the Roastery, and also that used by our customers. I wrote a post back in 2012 where I tried to sum up the issues we faced and another shortly afterwards which compared the water we have to the ‘good’ coffee water. I’ve…
SkyCall Appeal
Each year we nominate a charity to support, raising donations through our pop-up coffee bar which we take on the road. This year we’ve been supporting the Cumberland News SkyCall Appeal . . .
Help us choose the best Carvetii related photo
We offered our customers the chance to win some of our coffee by taking a Carvetii related photograph. Our favourite five are shown in the slideshow below. We now need your help to choose the winner. Browse through the selection and then cast your vote. We’ll leave the poll live until the 23rd October 2015.
Lowther Show
Our commitment to raising the profile of speciality coffee in Cumbria continued last weekend at the hugely successful Lowther Show, near Penrith. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and a great opportunity to talk to coffee drinkers, many of whom can now be considered ‘regulars’. It is quite humbling to discover that people have walked…
Finca El Parasío
Finca El Paraíso is a single origin coffee from Nicaragua. It is a deliciously smooth and sweet coffee, making it very easy drinking.
The Price of Milk: Should we be concerned?
This weekend we’ve seen protests across Cumbria in response to yet another drop in the price being paid to farmers for their milk. Should the coffee community be more aware of this and can we help?
Carvetii Open Day 9th & 10th May 2015
UK coffee week is a time of year when the coffee industry unites to raise money for clean water projects in two coffee producing countries, Rwanda and Tanzania. Carvetii’s involvement this year is twofold: on the 1st May we travel down to the London Coffee Festival where we’ll be serving our coffee on the Artisan…
A rare visit to a coffee chain
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to sample an espresso from one of the biggest branded coffee chains. I don’t often frequent branded coffee shops but every now and again I like to pop in to see what they’re up to. The branded coffee chains will be watching current trends very carefully and will…
The Big Sleep 2015
We first heard about Cumbria Community Foundation’s Big Sleep last year and have been looking forward to spending a night under the stars in aid of such a good cause. It was also a great opportunity to support Gavin and Cheryl from Rather Be Cycling who had taken on the task of organising the event…
Espresso Extraction
We roast our coffee to a relatively light degree which allows the origin characteristics of the bean to shine through. The down side of this approach is that we run the risk of underdeveloping the coffee, particularly when it comes to espresso. Underdeveloped coffee can taste harsh and sour, which are characteristics we definitely do…
New Espresso Blend
New components in our espresso blend This week the components in our seasonal espresso blend will change to coffees from Brazil and Rwanda. The Brazilian component will be Fazenda Pedra Redonda, which came highly recommended from our coffee broker, Mercanta. Pedra Redonda is situated within the Minas Gerais state in Brazil, which is a well…
Baristas who know their stuff
As I dropped off some coffee with one of our customers this evening I was greeted enthusiastically by a member of staff who wanted me to try the espresso. As a new customer to us, they are only just beginning to understand the importance of dialling in the grinder on a daily basis. This involves making…