*i received a free box of Batch coffee in return for an honest review*
Coffee is rivalled to me in my house only by white wine – kidding (I’m well into gin these days too). It’s the only hot drink I drink, sorry all you proud, British tea lovers but I’ve never been a fan, despite apparently making quite a decent brew for someone who hates the stuff. Anyway, I digress, it’ all about the coffee for me, and my reasons are 4 fold. 1. It tastes nice and goes exceptionally well with chocolate, 2. it wakes me up in the morning and makes me vaguely functioning 3. it acts as pretty decent exercise fuel and 4 (and most importantly) it’s the best hangover cure known to man.
Because I drink so much coffee, I tend to save the good stuff for weekends. I’m relatively fine with frozen granules through the week (when quantity not quality is more important) but at weekends when we have more time, I do like something a bit more special. And that’s what makes me and Batch coffee and match made in heaven.
I think since the pandemic, the subscription market has really taken off and coffee is no exception (you can read more bout some of the best coffee subscriptions available on the Batch coffee website). Founder of Batch coffee, Tom, tried his first espresso when he was 15 and working in an Italian restaurant, having being surrounded by quintessential tea drinkers in his youth, but it was a trip to Australia where he discovered a passion and infatuation with coffee. He packed in his job and started as a barista in one of Sydney’s top speciality coffee shops where he eventually became a roaster himself. He started Batch six years later back in the UK having travelled around South America and even spending time volunteering on a coffee farm in Colombia.
So, you know you’re in safe hands. In your subscription box you get two different coffees, which, fact fans, is how professionals compare coffee in coffee tasting competitions. You also get to specify how you want the coffee packaged for you, or ‘select your grind’ as they say in the biz; whole bean, caffetiere/french press, pour over, aeropress, stove top or espresso machine.
We opted for the caffetiere option as that’s all we have in the way of fancy coffee apparatus but as I say, it works really well for those weekend treats and you always get a good 4 cups out of ours which means we don’t have to argue over who gets the second round in.
In our subscription box (which fits handily through the letterbox fyi) we got Organic Maya from Guatemala (Bohemia Roasters) and Juice Box from Ethiopia (Elsewhere roasters) and the first thing that hit me was that after only about and hour after delivery the kitchen smelt absolutely amazing. There’s nothing like the smell of fresh, good quality coffee to make you feel like you’re on holiday.
We tried the Juice Box first, on Saturday morning and here’s when the fact that we only drink frozen coffee through the week comes into it’s own. It’s so unbelievably smooth, and you don’t need to use heaps of it to get a really strong rich flavour out of the french press. The Organic Maya in comparison was slightly more bitter (not in a bad way, in the same way certain types of chocolate are more bitter than others) and it definitely had a more nutty taste. Dave favoured the smoother Juice Box whereas I think arm twisted behind my back I liked the nuttier taste of the Organic Maya. It was much better suited to Sunday morning coffee (which is when we drank it incidentally) when you want a decent strong cup of coffee to go with your eggs benny or smashed avo on toast. I have always prefer my coffee on the stronger side though anyway.
I don’t think it’s coincidence that we both felt that the run we went for after drinking this was one of the best one we’ve both done in months.
There’s lots that appeals to me abut this subscription box; after the 18 months we’ve had, the thought of whimsically going back into coffee shops fills me with trepidation, especially since the only ones close to us are big chains, you don’t really get that small independent feel like you do with a Batch subscription. I love that each bag comes with it’s own QR code so you can learn more about the roasters and what Batch themselves think of the brew, but i think over all I like that for less than what it would cost you to get a morning coffee from the green mermaid on your way to work, you can have 25 cups (on average) a month of some really special roasts that you wouldn’t normally get to try. Oh and I also love the colours on their branding, is that weird?
I reckon if you have a coffee lover in your life this would make a fantastic present, in fact I already have a few people I know who would love the gift of coffee. In fact, it’s my own birthday in a few weeks, perhaps I need to be having a word with the gift givers in my own life…
Prices are:
That’s based on a monthly subscription, bi-monthly is also available though if its the kind of thing you have everyday.
Check out https://www.batchcoffee.co.uk/ or www.instagram.com/batchcoffeeuk for more info