News

Great Taste Award 2016

Many of you already know that we were awarded 3 Gold Stars at this years Great Taste Awards for our Espresso Blend. We are absolutely over the moon! This year  we went a step further as we were listed in their TOP 50 FOODS in the UK.

On top of this Willie Monsoon got 2 Gold Stars for his Winter Blend.  An awesome result as he hasn't been roasting for long! We will be offering the Winter Blend on line in the Autumn!

Monsoon Estates Coffee Company  celebrates as its Espresso Blend is listed in the Great Taste 2016 TOP 50 FOODS list.

Out of 10,000 entries into this year’s Great Taste awards, Monsoon Espresso Blend produced by Monsoon Estates has risen to the top to be named one of Britain’s Top 50 Foods. This result means that Monsoon Espresso Blend joins the ranks of some of the most outstanding foods available and is worth searching for and savouring.

We were absolutely over the moon to get 3 Gold Stars and then to find we’re in the Great Taste Top 50 foods in the UK and to read about it in The Times, we were blown away!  To be in the Top 50 means our product has been BLIND-tasted, tasted and tasted again - by some of the most demanding and knowledgeable judges in the country who will only choose the most exquisite food to be in the Top 50. The judges described our coffee as PROPER coffee and said it was good enough to transport them to the espresso bars of Italy!  Wow!

Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste accolade is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.      

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding or packaging. Whether it is jam, gin, beef or butter being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.

There were 10,000 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 141 have been awarded a 3-star, 878 received a 2-star and 2,520 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges included; TV chef and author, Valentine Warner, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, fifth generation baker, Tom Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery, and Great British Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn; food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey Nichols and Waitrose and chefs including, James Golding, chef director of THE PIG Hotels, and Kevin Gratton, chef director of HIX Restaurants. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the 2016 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the 2016 Supreme Champion.

Great Taste 2016 will reach its exciting finale on Monday 5 September, when the world of fine food gathers at the Royal Garden Hotel in London to find out the Golden Fork winners for each region at an Awards Dinner, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2016.

New Daterra Coffee or January

The fabulous Daterra 'Collection' coffees are available again! Beautiful Brazilian Rainforest Alliance coffee.

Daterra Sweet Collection - Sweet, clean and elegant with chocolaty aftertaste.    A Great Taste winner 2015

Daterra Full Bloom  - A dry processed coffee with heavier body and fruit and chocolate flavours.

Daterra Bourbon Collection  -  Nuts and chocolate.   A Great Taste winner 2015

Music to soothe the soul

This piece, entitled “Monsoon Malabar Blues” was sent to me by one of my lovely customers. It really does soothe the soul, as it was meant to, after I had a rant on Twitter about a rude  phone caller!

Thanks  Ceinwen

Exciting new product!

Great little piece in Daily Coffee News about Cotswold Distillery's new product with our coffee!

Summer Is Here

I can't believe it's been 3 months since our last post!  What it means, of course, is that we've been really busy here.

We've run out of some of our favouite coffees again this year.   It's hard for me to know how much to order sometimes as we're growing like the clappers!  I don't want to order too much of a new coffee incase we don't like it and sometimes if I get samples, by the time I go back to my importer to order, the lot has already been sold.  It can be a bit frustrating but it also makes the whole process fun too!   Always trying new coffees and trying to find something a little different is what keeps it fun.

Extra events so far this year have been:

WARWICK FOOD FESTIVAL  The first food fest for the town and it was a huge success.  The weather was good and the town was packed.  We sold out quite early and more importantly for us met lots of new customers.  

DAYLESFORD ORGANIC SUMMER FESTIVAL   Chris always enjoys himself at this lovely event. Beautiful surroundings and really well organised little market.  He said it was really lovely to see so many of our customers there too! It's just so lovely when our customers  turn out to support us.  This  was by invitation from the Great Taste Markets. 

BOX BROWNIE and BROTHERS MCLEOD   This was a lovely evening of drinks and chat hosted at Box Brownie  showcasing some fabulous art work by the talented  Brothers McLeod  The Canines and Coffee exhibition can still be viewed in the coffee shop featuring the star of the show HIPSTER HOUND! 

ALSCOT CHARITY CLAY SHOOT    As most of you know, our roastery is based on the beautiful Alscot Estate.  They are big supporters of local charity and this year held a  clay shoot  in support of  Stratford upon Avon Hospital. We were there making cups of coffee and tea.  It was good fun and although it poured rain all day spirits remained high!   A huge effort from everyone  raised over £26,000!

Cheers everyone and thanks for using us!

We really do appreciate it!

Anne Chris and Will