Taste of London 2015... A Review

It feels like Christmas 2015 has got off to an amazing start with The Taste of London this past weekend at the incredible Tobacco Dock. 

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

The event took place from Thursday through Sunday, and was literally the epitome of Foodie Heaven. Everywhere you looked in each of the rooms, there were incredibly delicious things to tempt your taste buds... Delicious main dishes, gorgeous deserts and chocolates, and an over-abundance of alcoholic tipples to keep everyone happy! 

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

It was our first time at Taste, and it was a new type of show for us to exhibit at. We were positioned in the Small Producers Area that welcomed, as the name suggests (!), independent producers of a range of quality items. We were fortunate to have some lovely neighbours.

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

 To one side, we had Sip and Learn, the wine subscription service that provides you with educational tasting notes about the wines they send so that, over time, you are developing your wine knowledge. On the other side, we had ChicP Hummus, who produce the most delicious sweet and savoury chickpea dips made from fruit and veg that are surplus, or normally get thrown away by markets and supermarkets. The Carrot, Ginger, & Cumin was my favourite! 

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

Other friendly exhibitors included Yorkshire Drizzle oils and vinegars, Mallow and Marsh marshmallows, Smith & Sinclair alcoholic sweets to name but a few... 

For the first time, we decided to sell some products that compliment our range of Couva Coffee Covers. We were offering a range of lovely things from the Brew Tea Co - loose leaf English Breakfast and Earl Grey tea, a yummy scrummy Christmas blend, as well as their gorgeous little glass teapot that fits our small Couva Cover perfectly! 

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

We also featured the amazing beans from RoundSquare Roastery. The real hit of the weekend was their Whiskey Cask Coffee... If you haven't tried it yet, you MUST. 
It's just the most delicious thing to come to your cup. Imagine the most delicious, complex, rich roast of coffee with hints of whiskey cask wood smoke and earthiness on the finish. Just divine... and THE perfect thing for a coffee connoisseur's Christmas stocking!! 

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

We will have all these lovely things up on the website very soon.

One thing I will say is that Taste of London seemed to be lacking "REAL" food... I found that a lot of the food on offer at the show was very overdone. Don't get me wrong, it all sounded delicious, but not to everyone's taste. There is so much wonderful local produce around at the moment, that it seemed a shame that there weren't more dishes that highlighted the goodness of the ingredients rather than trying to be fancier and schmancier than the competition. 

I also found it incredible how few places there were for a good cup of coffee! I looked high and low for someone who could make me a gorgeous cup of something delicious... and nothing. There wasn't even anywhere to get a really great hot chocolate. Towards the end of the day, all I really fancied was a nice warming cup of something delicious with maybe some whipped cream and maybe a marshmallow. But nothing... Maybe next year?! 

Photo copyright: Couva Ltd.

We had a great time this weekend... Thanks Taste of London, and HUGE thanks to all of our new customers! We hope to see you again really soon :) 

www.couva.co.uk

Red cups and the scrutiny of Christmas

Photo credit: Starbucks

 For many, the festive holiday season starts once Halloween is done, the candle in the jack-o-lantern has fizzled out, and the last trick-or-treater has fallen quietly into a sugar-induced slumber.

For the fans of large coffee chains, the festive season marks the arrival of a holiday-inspired drink menu with LOTS of sugary, syrupy goodness (although did you see my last post about the pumpkin spice latte?!),  and beautifully decorated cups...Oh, the holiday cups!

It seems like each year,  each coffee chains tries to out-do their competition ,  making their cups more colourful,  more festive, well, just MORE.

On November 1st this year, Starbucks launched their holiday season with the arrival of their much-awaited Red Cups...and you could say the response was less than great.  In fact,  the cups were so boring that people have started digging for hidden meaning behind the simplicity of the design (or lack thereof!). 

Seriously,  it's become this great big 'thing' where some people believe that there is a hidden agenda to the lack of festivity on the cups. In a nutshell,  some are trying to claim that Starbucks is trying to sanitise the Christmas out of the holidays. 

If you don't believe me,  you can read more about the argument here.

I feel badly for Starbucks... According to the head of design for the company,  the simple design was meant to encourage people to express themselves by drawing on the cups,  adding their own creativity. 

Personally I think that's rather a bit over ambitious for the average harried coffee drinker, rushing in for their life support beverage first thing in the morning to expect people to whip out their colouring pencils and start creating on the side of their scalding hot cuppa joe.

Now, I may be relatively new to the game of business branding and promotions, particularly around the holiday season, but what I do know is that, at this time of the year especially, people like things to be familiar, easy, comfortable, and dare I say,  nostalgic of years past.

You know what they say... There is no such thing as bad publicity! 

At the end of the day,  they're cups...for coffee. Coffee cups.  Coffee cups meant to add a little bit of holiday cheer (as well as demonstrate your allegiance with a coffee shop!). But really,  they are cups.

And, actually, I happen to think that the plain red cups are THE perfect blank canvas to compliment our new festive range  Couva Coffee Couture Cup Covers! Not only do they keep your coffee hotter for longer,  but they'll cover up some of that boring redness!

www.couva.co.uk

Pumpkin Latte Underwhelm

If you've been reading this blog, you'll know I'm something of a coffee purist.  I'm not one for all the fancy, frothy drinks with the whipped cream and sprinkles that are on offer in a lot of coffee shops these days. Don't get me wrong,  occasionally I'll get a bit wild and crazy, and I'll add a bit of vanilla syrup to a latte, but that's normally as far out as I'll stray. (I can literally feel my husband rolling his eyes at my tendencies to stay within my comfort zone!!)

For weeks I've been hearing everyone going on and on (and on!) about Pumpkin Spice Lattes with the arrival of autumn. I was beginning to feel like I was missing out on something. There is even a secret Pumpkin Spice Latte club called the "Orange Sleeve Society"! Seriously - it's a thing!

Photo credit

Maybe I'm a sucker for strategic marketing, maybe I'm easily swayed by public pressure,  or maybe I was feeling feisty that morning, but while walking with my big bean, we popped in to a well-known coffee shop for a treat. He ordered a kids hot choc, and I (against my better judgement!) ordered my first Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Well,  I don't think I've been so underwhelmed in a long time.

First off, are they meant to be so sweet?! Honestly, I needed a drink of water halfway through because it was making me thirsty!

Next, I couldn't taste the coffee...Was it even in there? Between the clawing sweetness, the overabundance of cinnamon (not sure what other "spice" was meant to be in there!), and the mountain of whipped cream, I'm not sure there was coffee in there!

Photo credit

Finally, I seemed to have missed any hint of pumpkin. Although, that said, pumpkin doesn't really taste of much anyway - just sort of earthy and sweet.

Not to be completely negative about the whole experience,  I have to say that this coffee connoisseur is not a fan of the much-acclaimed Pumpkin Spice Latte.

For now, I'll stick to my flat white (maybe with some vanilla syrup in it on a crazy day!).

I guess I'll just have to find another bandwagon to jump on!