Alternatives to Bean to Cup Coffee

In the 21^st Century, the general perception among all office staff in London is that providing drinks made from a fresh bean always give the best quality and user experience.

Whereas this was true a few years ago, for those in the know todays modern innovation has allowed hot beverage operators to provide capsule-based drinks that, mostly, beat the quality on almost any other drink whilst removing the age-old problem of “freshness”.

Let’s talk a bit about “freshness” first and coffee itself.  Coffee beans are a very powerful natural occurrence, and the generally accepted fable goes that a goatherd farmer, Kaldi, accidentally discovered them in Ethiopia in the 9^th Century, when his sheep began eating the coffee plant berries and he noticed an increase in energy; trying them for himself resulted in no luck, and so he threw the berries on his fire, from which a very enticing aroma which we all know and love billowed. The roasted beans were raked out of the fire, ground up and dissolved in water. Welcome to the world’s first Black Coffee.

Coffee is a very volatile substance, full of natural oils. When exposed to heat, sunlight or oxygen, the beans begin to “dry”; essentially the fatty oils that are contained begin to evaporate. This oil is what gives coffee it’s “crème” on an espresso, and is the foremost source of flavour from the coffee itself.

Once exposed to one of the three elements, coffee beans have somewhere from between a few days and a few weeks, depending upon the time left before delivery to the customer, before they “lose” their taste, and end up producing a flavourless, dry, horrible creation; a problem that plagues low use environments where the client is still looking for a quality solution.

Capsule systems have long been regarded as a middle-market solution, providing a costly but widely hassle-free coffee that gives an “acceptable” taste.

Not anymore says I. Welcome to the 21^st Century.

For those looking at a still relatively inexpensive but restaurant-quality solution, Lavazza BLUE (Best Lavazza Ultimate Espresso) provides a market leading espresso and black coffee. Couple it with a pure semi-skimmed milk powder and serve in a china cup, you’ll get an espresso or cappuccino that can rival many of the UKs coffee shops.

Unlike beans, a capsule is not exposed to light, oxygen or (more often than not) heat and so have a shelf life of up to 12 months from date of manufacture. You could, in theory, not touch a capsule machine for a year and it would still produce the same quality of espresso as it would have done the day it was loaded.

Keurig, a zero to $3 billion company in 5 years, I am predicting will be entering the UK market within a few years. With over 300 different products, and a simple, clean machine, I am predicting a real breakthrough revolution in this market.

Let this serve as an ultimatum to Flavia and Mars Drinks in general. Believe me; your time is well and truly UP.