A Local Coffee Buy From Old Chapel Coffee
So, my first post for the Shopping Buys section.
I do plan to show all kinds of different buys here, not just food. I do like my gadgets, and I’ve bought a few different things lately that I’d like to share my views on eventually.
This one, though, is coffee.
I always run out of beans and then wish I’d bought coffee a few weeks before, because before I know it, I’m out of coffee. And Ian is literally powered by coffee. Not powered by actual energy, obviously. That would be far too useful. Coffee just makes me a happier person. It is basically my antidepressant.
Obviously, do not follow my lead. If you’re struggling with your mental health, go to the doctors or speak to someone, because we’re all different. For me, I’ve just noticed I cope with the world a bit better when I’ve had coffee.
This buy brought us back to Old Chapel Coffee, who are local to me. I’m from Colchester, and I believe they’re based in Little Bromley, near Manningtree, so it’s nice buying from a local roaster rather than just panic-buying beans from wherever because I’ve left it too late again.
I’ve bought from them a few times before and personally never had any issues. I’ve mostly been buying decaf, and for some reason I didn’t think they did any — they do — so I went and bought about £20 worth.
I usually buy 1kg now because I really struggle with dialling in coffee at first. I’ve been lucky with West Berkshire decaf, where I struck gold with the grind size, but sometimes I’m not sure why it goes up and down with different beans. It does confuse me. I’m not a proper coffee buff, so eventually I just stick to a grind size when I’m roughly there.
This time I bought 1kg of Decaf Mexico coffee for £15.50, which isn’t too bad, as a lot of coffee roasters are charging premium prices for a 250g bag. I’m not sure I’ve got the right tools or know-how to get really good coffee working perfectly, so I try to buy good-value coffee that’s still roasted at a decent date.
Old Chapel Coffee are a roaster, and I think they provide coffee to local places too.
Then I also bought a 250g bag of Sky Blue Blend for £8.50, which is basically their Blue Mountain-style blend — obviously not the real stuff. It’s probably my favourite blend I’ve tried from theirs. It’s very good as an Americano, even in an automatic machine.
My coffee machines are:
De’Longhi La Specialista Touch — this is what I’ll be using the Mexican decaf in at first, especially while I try to dial it in properly.
Gaggia Prestige — my automatic machine for when I can literally just about get to the kitchen. Crash days with chronic fatigue, basically.
The Sky Blue Blend will probably go in the Gaggia Prestige, as I already know it works nicely as an Americano in an automatic machine.
Maybe I’ll report back on the Mexican decaf in another post.
You can find Old Chapel Coffee here:
https://www.oldchapelcoffee.co.uk/