Where To Drink It: Lundenwic
This year has seen a number of new Wholesale Partners joining the roster and in a tip of the hat to Sprudge's 'Build Outs Of Summer', we thought we'd show a little of how Lundenwic, recently opened in July, came together over the first months of summer.
Lundenwic is an ambitious new Scandinavian-style cafe named after the seventh century Anglo-Saxon settlement, in the area by the Thames that became Aldwych. Set up by Ollie Hiam and Dominic Hamdy, the team behind Scotchtails, the cafe is located between the main Covent Garden theatres and Somerset House and brings much needed specialty coffee to the area.
Previously an old fashioned British Snack Bar, the Lundenwic team has been hard at work stripping out old kitchen equipment, yellowing walls and previously boarded up windows. Creating this cleaner, exposed interior, the focus has shifted onto the food and drink where vibrant salads and cold-press juices bring welcome colour to the space.
Setting up a cafe is never easy, but what the team at Lundenwic have achieved is quite spectacular in such a short amount of time. Be sure to drop by for a Cult of Done Espresso and a bite to eat, allowing yourself a moment to admire their handiwork in person.
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Lundenwic
Address
45 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4DW
Twitter
@Lundenwic
Hours
Mon to Friday – 7am to 7pm
Saturday - 10am to 7pm
Sunday - Closed
Where To Drink It: Knockbox Coffee
Sat on the corner of Lamb's Conduit Street, Knockbox Coffee sets itself apart from the crowd by focussing on all the small details. From the light fixtures to the copper-legged chairs, much of the cafe was made bespoke to owner Mete's specification. Even the knockbox itself is a one-of-a-kind wooden affair built solely for the space.
While the cafe itself may be quite small, Knockbox Coffee has already become a hub for the Bloomsbury community. Frequented by the men's fashion retailers of the street, Knockbox has become the location for many a photo shoot. Don’t be surprised in looking up from your Cult of Done Espresso to find yourself sat across from a designer, cameraman or maybe even a world famous model.
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Knockbox Coffee
Address
29 Lamb's Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3NG
Twitter
@knockboxcoffee_
Hours
Mon to Friday – 7.30am to 6.00pm
Saturday - 8.00am to 5.00pm
Sunday - Closed
Fresh Crops: Cult of Done v.24, Finca San Francisco
It’s been said many times but we will say it again; Cult of Done is no boring house espresso. Our latest iteration is proof of just that as we consecutively release four coffees from one farm - Finca San Francisco (FSF).
For the last three years we've been purchasing coffees from FSF in El Salvador. The coffees grown there by the Salaverria brothers, Jose Antonio and Andres, owners of JASAL, have always impressed us with their clean and sweet character. This year, rather than taking a bulked lot from the entire farm as previous, we've been able to purchase four coffees from four seperate areas of the farm, known as tablóns. The individual tablóns are parcels of land sitting at various altitudes around the farm and planted with diverse varieties. As such Cult of Done v24 is a consecutive string of four distinct coffees, currently Las Ranas (translate: ‘The Frogs’) followed by v24.1 - Loma Linda, v24.2 - Santa Rita and finally v24.3 - La Independencia.
The farm itself is set on the western side of the Santa Ana volcano in the Apaneca-Ilamatepec mountain range. The wide range of growing areas means the tablóns sit as low as 1300m above sea level and as high as 1665m where FSF largely produces Bourbon and Hybrido San Francisco; the Hybrido being a naturally occurring hybrid found on the mountain, which neither ourselves or the owners know a great deal about. In addition, small amounts of Sarchimor and Red Catuaí are also grown and can be found in the Santa Rita and La Independencia respectively.
With a project as ambitious as this, it is important to know that all four coffees are clearly separated from tree to cup. FSF is able to ensure such high levels of control and separation thanks to JASAL simultaneously playing the role of farmer, both wet and dry miller and also aiding export of the coffee. This level of involvement is relatively unique in coffee producing countries, in stark contrast to East Africa and other Central American countries where the dry milling, and quite often even the wet milling, is seldom done by farmers themselves.
The jewel in JASAL’s crown has to be its prestigious wet mill, ‘Beneficio Las Cruces’. The largest building within the Las Cruces wet mill is over 100 years old and said to be one of the locations where Che Guevara hid during his journeys through Latin America. More important than any links to famous Guerrilla fighters, the wet mill is maintained in a meticulous fashion, often operating twenty-four hours a day during peak harvest, ensuring the coffee is remarkably clean and ripe.
The mill produces natural, honey, pulped natural, washed and soaked coffees and all four of the coffees we are releasing as v.24 this summer have been soaked. This process is fundamentally the same as a washed process but with one additional step. Once the cherries have been pulped and run through the mechanical scrubber, instead of sending the parchment coffee straight out to the patios or beds for drying, it goes to a large tiled tank, covered with fresh water and allowed to soak overnight. This extra step brings further clarity, focus and angularity in the cup giving the coffee more sweetness and ultimately a more rounded flavour.
We couldn't be more thrilled and excited to be launching this quartet of tablóns as Cult of Done. Not only are we looking forward to seeing how each coffee differs in the cup, but it's also a great opportunity to examine further layers of complexity, beyond origin and variety alone.
Fresh Crops: Cult of Done v.23 - Duromina, Ethiopia
One of the joys of spring, in our minds anyway, is the arrival of fresh crop coffees from Africa. Something we look forward to intently, especially on the back of Tim's trips to origin, followed by his subsequent reports on how great certain things were tasting, 2015 hasn't disappointed. Our third year in Ethiopia allowed us to obtain a much larger volume of coffee from the Duromina Co-operative located in the Jimma Zone, Western Ethiopia, a favourite from our filter range last year.
Coming off the back of the natural Brazil of Pirapitinga and the washed Colombian of El Diamante, V21 and V22 respectively, the Duromina is a perfumed delight, full of dark chocolate, hops and ripe peaches. A pleasure as your morning cappuccino, the mid-afternoon espresso or a delicious little Shakerato, Cult of Done V23 is available in all Workshop stores across London and online now.
Fresh Crops: Cult of Done Espresso v.15
Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday we were unveiling our very first iteration of our Cult of Done Espresso, and yet here we are today, releasing version 15.
This time round, Cult of Done is a foray into everything that we want a really great espresso blend to be; complex, satisfying, sweet, clean, enduring and memorable. An espresso that would make it into the '10 or so great espressos of your life' category.
I visited Justin at Mahembe on a trip visiting producers in various parts of Rwanda earlier this year and was very impressed with the processing facilities, as well as his approach to standards, inspection and financial reward that he undertakes with the farmers that contribute cherries to his washing station. Understandably, I was delighted when the results in the cup matched the effort being put in, and we bought up what we could of particular lots for this blend.
Coupled with it is a terrifically sweet and silky coffee, forming the foundation of this espresso, and is the first time we've worked with the guys at Third Wave Coffee Source. Finca La Esperanza comes from Huehuetenango in Guatemala; a part of the world we're terribly excited to begin to explore, and we're looking forward to working with Nadine and her team on finding great producing partners on the ground there.
It's available now. Get involved.
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Cult of Done Espresso v.15 - £9.50/350g
http://www.workshopcoffee.com/dispensary/cult-of-done-espresso
Cult of Done Espresso - Lucky 13
Winging its way out to our Wholesale Partners over the next few days... preview samples of Cult of Done Espresso - Lucky 13. We're not saying what's in it just yet (how tremendously exciting...), and this may not be the exact final version. But it's well-rested, and ready to go, so just dial it in and enjoy it. And don't forget -- if you were a Wholesale Partner, this would be on its way to you, too.