In this blog entry, we’ll dive into why we have 5 categories, how we came up with them and which ones we feature.
WHY DO WE HAVE 5 CATEGORIES?
When we came up with the Limited Coffee concept, we wanted to keep things super simple. We’d scour the UK in search of the best coffee… But how would we decide which ones to feature? Could we have 4 naturals? Does everyone else love a natural coffee as much as we do? Probably, but we needed a system with more structure to help people figure out which coffee is best for them, even though we’d be showcasing 5 for each drop.
HOW DID WE COME UP WITH THE 5 CATEGORIES?
When you’re sitting in a pub and the creative juices are flowing - it wasn’t too hard 😁
We thought about the current shopping experience when it comes to coffee, what we liked and what we disliked. Too much choice was an obvious one but often companies focus on things like origin, or flavour profile. That can certainly be helpful, but our hypothesis was that even that is overwhelming as the typical flavour profile will have 3 tasting notes, 5 coffees = 15 flavours to decipher.
We wanted to go a level deeper and focus on the processing methods as well as some more obvious choices for specific people.
WHAT ARE THE 5 CATEGORIES?
FANCY
This will typically be at the high end of the price scale. With the fancy one, we are looking at things like rare or micro-lots (scarcity) and things like experimental processing methods. These are exceptional coffees that come with a premium price tag. Probably not for most people, but if you do want to push the boat out, we’ve got you covered.
NATURAL
Did we already mention 500 times that we love natural coffee? Natural coffees tend to be low in acidity and high in body, flavour and funk since the coffee cherries are dried whole so the flavour and natural sugars from the cherry impart flavour on the bean. We love a natural, everyone loves a natural!
WASHED
Washed coffees tend to make up the bulk of the market (especially when it comes to commercial coffee). Washed coffees definitely have a place in our hearts, too. They tend to be higher in acidity and have more crisp, cleaner flavour profiles. They are perfect for a super clean pour over right after lunch!
ESPRESSO
We think coffee for espresso can have a bad name. In the past, it’s usually been the case that coffee for espresso is either burnt and oily (think about your local chain coffee shop) or a blend. We love a blend, but until recently it’s kinda been like the best of the rest.
Recently, blends have come along leaps and bounds. The mix of coffee can actually change during the year due to availability and seasonality but roasters can target the desired flavour profile from what’s available at that time.
Not only that, we also believe in single origin as a great choice for espresso!
DECAF
Decaf used to be something to stick your nose up at. The brute force method of making coffee decaf in the past has now evolved into more organic ways of doing so. The flavour you get from some decaf coffees is just as good as regular coffee these days so we are proud to have this as a category we offer.
There’s definitely a space for decaf - think about after desert coffee or in the evening or if you enjoy coffee mostly for the taste and don’t get on well with caffeine. Either way, there are some great ones out there - pick any decaf we offer and you’re bound to have a great time and sleep well, too!
