Friday 16 December 2011

Week beginning - December 19th - Thank for 2011 and goodbye Jess

We are all very much looking forward to a bit a of a break over Christmas, yes we close from December 23rd at 4 pm until January 3rd when we re open at 7:30 am.

We are taking the chance to do some refreshing of our paintwork, as well as some work to the vaults we have downstairs, the old bomb shelters, so there will be people around, just no-one to make coffee or food I am sorry.

It really has been an amazing year though, and I sincerely am grateful to all of you who have graced our doors in 2011. We have grown to be regarded as one of the leading cafes in the UK, as well as one of the busiest, and the people I need to really thank for that are all of the Kaffeine staff who put in so much effort and commitment, passion and enthusiasm.

One of those staff is leaving us this week as well. Young Jess, who has been with us for over a year, is returning to Australia. What Jess has achieved, and the standards she has set for Kaffeine and also for all those who have worked with her or she has trained, is beyond amazing.

When I interviewed Jess she was replacing the legend that is Rhea, and she has well and truly shown herself to be another true Kaffeine legend.

We are having a party tonight to say goodbye, it might get a bit emotional and we will all miss her, but we know that whatever she does in her life, she will be an amazing success.

Jess Evans
May 2010 to December 2011

Have a fabulous Christmas everyone and an amazing New Year from all at Kaffeine.

Peter, Amy, Claire, Jess, Julia, James, Ian, Ashlea, Nick, Tim, Niall, Shannon, Matthew, Karolina, Jared, Khan, Sam, Silvio


Breakfast
Porridge - served w choices chopped dried fruit, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 2.50
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
(add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.50
Ciabatta Roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.50
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.50
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.50
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00


Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Mulled cider 1.80
Parsnip, russet and herb savoury muffins 1.80
Carrot cake friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pimped up ANZACS (oat, dried fruit and nut) biscuits 1.60

Lunch

Soup 3.50 or 4.00
Chicken and ginger soup

French retro baguettes 4.50
Pancetta with pear, gruyere, dijon, rocket and sage butter
Bufala mozzarella with plum tomatoes, aioli basil and rocket

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Smoked salmon with aioli, red onion, dill, capers and spinach
Mushrooms with Welsh rarebit and spinach

Salads 4.50/5.50
Watercress, pancetta, ruby grapefruit, roast baby carrots and basil dressing
Crown prince squash with goats cheese, jalapeño dressing and chestnuts
Mange tout in tabasco sauce

Tart 4.00 or 6.50 with salad
Baked leek and blue cheese tart

Tuesday 13 December 2011

Week beginning December 12th - Mince Pies and Home Brewing Christmas gifts

Every Christmas Chef Jared makes his own recipe Christmas mince pies. They are amazing. We sell them individually or as a six pack, perfect for taking home for the family.

If you wish to pre-order some, please let us know.

We think making coffee at home and enjoying a quality filter style brew over a cooked breakfast with the papers is one of the best starts to the day possible, and it is so easy. All you have to do is follow a recipe and or course, have the right equipment.

Home espresso machines can be great, especially to play around with, but if you really want to have a consistent, quality brew, then one of the methods such as aeropress, cafetiere or V60 pour overs is totally the best way to do it.

We of course have these items for sale in the shop and you also have the opportunity to talk to one of us about how to use them.

For Christmas we are doing special packages where you can but a gift set for yourself or for someone you love (or just like)with the set of beans, grinder and your preferred brew method.

Then, they can make you wonderful coffee at home, while you sit and read the papers or lie in bed. Now that's Christmas.


Breakfast
Porridge - served w choices chopped dried fruit, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 2.50
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
(add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.50
Ciabatta Roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.50
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.50
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.50
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00


Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Sticky Pecan muffins 1.80
Herb and onion savoury muffins 1.80
Carrot cake friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pimped up ANZACS (oat, dried fruit and nut) biscuits 1.60

Lunch

Soup 3.50 or 4.00
Champagne and camembert

French retro baguettes 4.50
Roast ham with sage butter, parmesan, red onion and rocket
Williams pears with blue cheese, spinach and basil

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Roast turkey with brie, cranberry, parsley, red onion and spinach
Bufala mozzarella with plum tomatoes, basil and rocket

Salads 4.50/5.50
Ham roasted with chestnuts, cooked onion, russet apples, watercress and spicy orange
Brussel sprouts with savoury apple, cider and hazelnuts
Chantenay carrots with honey mustard, thyme

Tart 4.00 or 6.50 with salad
Pumperknickel with smoked salmon, cucumber ribbons, lime soft cheese, watercress and red basil

Saturday 3 December 2011

Week beginning December 4th - How many coffees do you make in a day?

If you want to own a coffee shop you will be thinking about this all the time, or perhaps you frequent one often and find yourself asking this question because you see how 'busy' it is, or maybe you already own a cafe and you know this answer about yourself, but not about others.

When I was planning Kaffeine, it was something I always wanted to know but only had the courage to ask one person. Since opening Kaffeine, I have been asked a few times, sometimes by randoms who I have never met, who quite bluntly ask..'how many coffees do you make a day?'.

The answer I give is that I'm sorry, but it is really none of your business, but I suggest they sit down for a good hour or so and count all the people, then times that by 10 hours. That's what I did at Monmouth Borough market back in the early days. Or think about how many minutes there are in a day, and how many coffees you could potentially make each minute. e.g. 1 coffee a minute times 10 hours equals 600 coffees.

I am sorry if I disappoint anyone, but I am still not going to tell you how many we make a day, that is still a secret, but I will tell you percentages. Over the past month this is the results taken from our coffee and tea menu.


Tea Pot 3.35%
Tea Take Away 2.24%
Americano 8.34%
Cafe Latte 21.90%
Cappucino 20.35%
Cascara 0.09%
Double Espresso 3.56%
Double Macchiato 1.24%
Double Piccolo 0.97%
Double Ristretto 0.54%
Espresso 1.85%
Flat White 27.99%
Long Black 3.42%
Macchiato 1.13%
Mocha 1.62%
Piccolo 1.20%
Ristretto 0.21%

The interesting thing of course is that Flat White leads the way and the question we ask is this because it is a trendy drink, or is it because we make it in a 5 oz cup to drink in or a six oz volume to take away and the flavour/size is what makes people buy it? We thinks it's the flavour.


Breakfast
Porridge - served w choices chopped dried fruit, muscovado sugar, golden syrup or honey 2.50
Traditional bircher muesli with rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Granola muesli with pomegranate molasses and rhubarb and raspberry compote 2.90
Fruit salad (pineapple, mango, strawberries, grapes, passionfruit, peach) 3.30
(add 30 p for granola or yoghurt)
Ciabatta Roll with omelette, pancetta, rocket and tomato salsa 4.50
Ciabatta Roll with courgette omelette, rocket and tomato salsa 4.50
Croissant with Italian roast ham, talleggio cheese, spinach & plum tomatoes 4.50
Croissant with gruyere cheese and plum tomatoes 3.50
Seven seed bakery bloomer toast with homemade preserves 1.70
Cinnamon and raisin toast 2.00
Banana Bread 2.00


Pastries by Seven Seed bakery
French butter croissants 1.60
Pain au chocolat 2.20
Almond croissants 2.70

Baked Treats
Cranberry and almonds muffins 1.80
Four cheese and black pepper savoury muffins 1.80
Carrot cake friands 1.90
Super moist chocolate brownies 2.20
White chocolate blondies 2.20
Portuguese tarts 1.80
ANZAC cookies 1.60
Pimped up ANZACS (oat, dried fruit and nut) biscuits 1.60

Lunch

Soup 3.50 or 4.00
Crown prince and chorizo

French retro baguettes 4.50
Roast chicken with salsa verde, brie and rocket
Aged cheddar with onion jam and spinach

Foccacias with sea salt and rosemary crust 4.70
Coppa cotta ham with gruyere, dijon, red onion, spinach and gherkin
Smoked salmon with aioli, red onion, capers and rocket

Salads 4.50/5.50
Chicken adobu with rocket, coriander and camargue red rice
Roast beetroots with goats cheese, basil and lemon dressing
Broccoli with oyster dressing

Tart 4.00 or 6.50 with salad
Fennel gratin