7 Reasons To Choose Rinaldo's
I've been meaning to post something for a while, but life has a way of catching up with you ... soz. But here's a reminder why it's great to choose artisan...
1. Arabica - I always use 100% Arabica beans. This species is grown at high altitude often on volcanic soils and is heavily labour intensive in the growing, harvesting and sorting process. As a consequence Arabica coffee provides much more complex and subtle flavours. Robusta coffee, conversely, is usually lower grown, mass produced and harvested mechanically and tends to be roasted very darkly to compensate for the inferior quality of the bean. If you’re tasting coffee from shiny black beans that tastes like it’s been strained through a cigarette ashtray, you’re more than likely drinking Robusta – the high street chains will provide this “delightful” experience for you. Give your palate a break and switch to my Arabica offering – it’ll be a sensory revelation.
2. Provenance - My “green” (the raw bean before it is roasted) coffee is ethically sourced. You’ll learn about the provenance of the crop right down to the farm/small-holding from each country. Farm workers are well paid and work in good conditions. You can read all about this information in my “Nerd Zone” of each coffee. I try to keep my speciality coffee very reasonably priced for you. The little extra goes to ensure all the hands in the many steps of the process (from planting the seed to getting the coffee to you) are crossed with a bit of silver – these people deserve it.
My loose-leaf teas are incredible. I met and sampled 10 different suppliers before choosing. In the light of stories this week in the national news highlighting poor working conditions for tea-pickers who provide leaves for the big tea companies that claim to source ethically, I am re-assured knowing the tea farms from where I source my tea, meet the highest standards. The teas taste amazing and workers have good conditions.
3. Artisan - My company is truly independent and artisan in its ethos. Every bag of coffee and loose-leaf tea, for example, is hand embossed. I’m the only roaster in the UK to do this. Then, each bag is labelled, stamped, dated and sealed by hand. It takes more time, but I think it’s really worth that attention to detail for you. I’ve furtled little jigs and made funny looking contraptions and generally had loads of fun with design challenges. And the product inside… well, the coffee is roasted with a real desire to obtain the very best flavours. I learn more with every roast and am constantly in awe of this amazing little bean – the kids on the street would say #passion.
4. Shipping - You never pay more than £2 in postage for a 250g bag of coffee and the same for most of the smallest size of loose-leaf teas*. We think you shouldn’t have to pay a ridiculous amount to get the product shipped out to you, so we keep postage to a minimum. That way, you pay for the coffee and not an over-inflated amount to get it to you.
*(some teas are too bulky or fragile to be posted in the same way as coffee and will therefore be charged at the next fee up.).
5. Crowdfunded - I wouldn’t have been able to get my business off the ground were it not for the amazing generosity of more than 130 backers who Crowfunded the project. Not financial investors, but just ordinary working people like you, who wanted to do a little something to help me on my way. We raised over £6,000 which helped to part-fund the roaster. All the backers got to taste the rewards of the pledges with coffee and other goodies. Now you can too.
6. Cupping - All the coffee is cupped (taste tested) within 24 hours of roasting to assess quality and then bagged to maintain freshness. I score each cup on a sheet, giving marks for body, balance, acidity (the liveliness of the drink), aftertaste, mouthfeel etc., just as I would when I’m first selecting a bean to add to my coffee portfolio. Anything that doesn’t meet my standards, doesn’t go out. I want you to really love the taste of my coffee.
7. Flexibility - you can order on-line as and when you like, or with a subscription package. We have a weekly, fortnightly or monthly sub that is shipped out 1st class post. For example, a weekly sub, means that you can pause at any time (e.g. if you're on holiday) and you don't pay unnecessarily or have bags of coffee on the doormat on your return. Or you can pay up front monthly, 3-monthly or 6-monthly, which is perfect for a gift. For all methods, you simply enter your card details once only and we'll take care of the rest.
For one-off purchases, you can also click "Collect in Person" and drop into the roastery to pick it up and have a drink too, or if you live in Kendal, click "Collect in Person", drop me a message to say deliver and I'll drop it round for free, How's that for service!
