PAPUA NEW GUINEA COFFEE – A REAL ORGANIC COFFEE

PAPUA NEW GUINEA COFFEE – A REAL ORGANIC COFFEE

We at UK Vending we are genuinely obsessed about good quality, hardworking coffee that you can feel good about drinking.  Our 100% Papua New Guinea coffee is medium roasted to give a full bodied yet fruity flavourful cup.

People around the world love this ‘oh-so-enjoyable’ medium strength coffee which has such a satisfying flavour. But where it comes from is shaded in mystery – ask anyone what they know about Papua New Guinea and watch  faces cloud over – unlike this clear, medium strength coffee.

Papua New Guinea is a distinct coffee among the Indonesian coffees, even though it doesn’t even have an entire island to call its own.  Papua New Guinea occupies the eastern half of the island it shares with the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya (no organized coffee production originates from Irian Jaya) – which allows whatever makes the fresh wonderful flavour to all be available for the coffee we bring you.

Coffee is the highest foreign exchange earner for Papua New Guinea, the majority of which is grown in the Eastern Highland Province, the Western Highland Province and Simbu.  With the industry not derived on a colonial plantation-based system, production is largely by small farmers with land holdings that grow as little as 20 trees per plot in “coffee gardens” alongside subsistence crops.  Predominantly in isolated places, the product is mostly certified as “organic coffee”.  The small-farm “coffee gardens” have a unique wild note in the cup but are in no way as earthy as other Indonesian coffees such as Sumatra and Sulawesi.

The plantation coffees are the larger farms and have the cleaner, more delicate and sophisticated cup character.  While a lighter body than Javas, good Papua New Guinea has the delicate notes, complexity, and sometimes the acidity or brightness of the best Central Americans.

Much of the seedstock on Papua New Guinea is planted from the Jamaican Blue Mountain ‘var. typica Arabica’, and with the Arusha typical varietal from Tanzania.  Some are more modern hybrids or the Indian “Kent” varietal.  There is also a lot of classic Bourbon coffee.

There are several types of Papua New Guinea coffee:  a bright, clean fruited cup such as Kimel; a balanced lower-toned cup like Arokara Plantation (great for espresso) and a Sigri, the large farm that also does a lot of tea.  Baroida has been a recent favourite.  In general, Papua New Guinea is such a solid origin, with a range of different cup profiles, as opposed to Timor which has one basic cup profile.

So next time you lift the cup to your lips and prepare to savour remember the share-crop farmer who made this all possible on post-volcanic island – and remember that we at UKV have spent almost half-a-century also bringing such treats to you.

About Sumatran Coffee from Flavia and UKV

Flavia Sumatra Coffee

The best Sumatran coffee, including Flavia Sumatran Coffee, comes from Arabica beans.

Arabica coffee production in Sumatra began in the 18th century under Dutch colonial domination and was introduced first to the northern region of Aceh around Lake Tawar. Coffee is still widely produced in these northern regions of Aceh (Takengon, Bener Mariah) as well as in the Lake Toba region (Lintong Nihuta, Dairi-Sidikalang, Siborongborong, Dolok Sanggul, and Seribu Dolok) to the southwest of Medan.

In the past, Sumatra coffees have not been sold by region, presumably because the regional differences are not that distinct. Rather, the quality of the picking, preparation and processing of the coffee determines much of the cup character in this coffee. In fact, Sumatras are sold as Mandheling (Mandailing) which is simply the Indonesian ethnic group that was once involved in coffee production (see note below). The coffee is scored by defects in the cup, not physical defects of the green coffee. So a fairly ugly-looking green coffee can technically be called Grade 1 Mandheling.

Indonesian coffees (‘Indonesians’) are available as the outcome of a unique semi-washed process and (rarely) fully-washed coffees. Semi-washed coffees are best described as “wet-hulled“, localy called Giling Basah, and will have more body and often more of the “character” that makes Indonesians so appealing and slightly funky. In this process, the parchment coffee (the green seed with the parchment shell still attached) is very marginally dried, then stripped of the outer layer, revealing a white-colored, swollen green bean. Then the drying is completed on the patio (or in some cases, on the dirt), and the seed quickly turns to a dark green color.

There is a tendency to over-roast ‘Indonesians’. The reason is that they don’t show as much roast colour, and have a mottled appearance up until 2nd crack and even a bit into it. Don’t let this make you think you have to roast them dark (although they can be nice this way too). Great Indonesians will be wonderful roasted just to the verge of 2nd crack but NOT into it at all. So ignore the weird beans you see green, and ignore the mottled appearance of lighter roasts, and focus on the ‘what you get in the cup’.

With prices high, you expect quality would be up to, but in general this is not the case: what’s the incentive to pick and prepare the coffee better when the market guarantees a premium anyway? It’s why Mars and Flavia buy very selectively from Sumatra and cup the lots hard. What we have seen is blends of old crop and new crop early in the Grade 1 window (Nov-Jan in particular), which is a deceptive practice – but not what is provided from Flavia where quality still counts. Nonetheless, roasters need Sumatra and we know someone buys it … someone who doesn’t cup their lots that is. Problems aside, Mars and Flavia have been able to find great Sumatras in both the rustic and the fancy triple-pick categories because of the  established good relations Mars has directly with the growing sources.

This why we can all continue to enjoy a really good, flavoursome strong coffee called ‘ Sumatra’ from Flavia and supplied to you by UK Vending Ltd – Britain’s longest serving vending company.

For your information: ‘Mandheling’ is an older Dutch spelling of Mandailing, which is an ethnic group, not a region.

Office Coffee machine Tips

10 Things to consider when you looking to have drinks machine for your office.

1. Location
2. Water connection
3. Energy consumption
4. Reliability
5. Cleaning
6. Range of drinks
7. Quality of drinks
8. Backup service
9. Sustainability
10. Ease of use

UK Vending

Ring 0800 454301 for your free demonstration.

Bean to cup coffee machines; there better choice

BEAN TO CUP COFFEE MACHINES; THERE BETTER CHOICE

If you speak to any self-confessed “coffee connoisseur” they will exclaim the virtues of bean to cup coffee machines to produce true barista style, coffee shop quality hot drinks. Many businesses will install a bean to cup coffee machine into their offices, believing they enhance the corporate image. However this is a fallacy! Find out the reality of bean to cup coffee.

 1 – “Bean to Cup produces the freshest quality coffee”

Reality - Coffee beans begin to go stale after just 3 days! Therefore if you fill up your bean hopper on Monday morning and don’t drink it all before Wednesday, your coffee will lose its freshness and subsequent drinks will taste bitter. Coffee beans themselves can also vary in quality reducing the consistency of the taste of coffee produced.

 2 – “Bean to Cup is the only way to get an authentic espresso and coffee shop style specialty drinks.”

Reality – True espresso needs to have water passed through the ground coffee at 9 bar pressure – this is what creates the crema. Most bean to cup coffee machines do not use 9 bar pressure, instead the water is drip fed through the coffee in much the same way a filter coffee machine does.

Most bean to cup machines are only able to use 2 types of beans max; therefore not offering a complete range to cover individual taste preferences. Even though they may use fresh milk to make Cappuccinos and other specialty drinks most don’t offer Tea and Chocolate

 3 – “Bean to Cup Coffee Machines are a stylish and cost effective addition to our office?”

Bean to cup machines are noisy due to many of moving parts inside including bean hopper, grinder, brewer etc.  The more moving parts a machine has the more chance there is of something going wrong. The average bean to cup machine breaks down 4 times a year. This unreliability increases the cost of service cover per machine and leaves your staff without drinks.

The number of service calls has a direct relationship to the overall maintenance of the machine. The moving parts within a bean to cup machine all require a weekly deep clean to remove the buildup of coffee grounds and residue. A leased machine should have the deep clean treatment incorporated into the rental costs as general maintenance. If not this cost is usually recouped through a lack of quality service and subsequent machine failures and service callouts.

Why not check your machine? Run a rinse cycle and the water should come out crystal clear! If not that water is going into your drinks!

Of course there will always be those who wish to have a bean to cup machine despite the realities and practicalities. However it is now possible to get the range and quality of coffee shop drinks, using freshly ground ingredients, from the Flavia Creation coffee machine designed for commercial environments.

Before investing in a coffee machine for your office, it’s worthwhile to have demonstration and even taste the great tasting drinks from the Flavia machine, find out how they compare to bean to cup?

For your tasting click here

See Flavia machine on-line

UK Vending Ltd

Flavia Drink of the Week Alterra Coffee RoastersTM Papua New Guinea & Ethiopia

Flavia drinks

For two weeks only, UKV is offering a very special price of £22.50 per box of 100 drinks or rail of 20 at £5.00 – (that’s a 15% saving!).

This promotion lasts from 18th to 1st May 2011 – so do hurry and place your order.
Order from Visit FLAVIA Owner Club

UK Vending is delighted to be supplying the new range of teas from THE BRIGHT TEA CO.TM

Flavia Bright Tea Company UK Vending

Black, green and herbal teas from THE BRIGHT TEA CO.^TM are all perfectly dispensed through the range of FLAVIA^® brewers.

“England is the land of Tea lovers, these new teas from THE BRIGHT TEA CO.^TM will be enjoyed by over 10,000 UKV customers” says Martin Button Director.

See new range

UK Vending are pleased to announce that they will be distributing ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERSTM coffees for the FLAVIA® machine.

Flavia Alterra Coffee UK Vending

The MARS Drinks range now comprises of ALTERRA COFFEE ROASTERS^TM coffee, THE BRIGHT TEA CO.^TM teas and GALAXY^® hot chocolate, offering more than 25 combinations of premium coffees, cappuccinos, lattes, mochas, espresso, fresh leaf teas and hot chocolate.  UK Vending are very proud to distribute these for the FLAVIA^® machines.

“UK Vending supplies to over 10,000 customers, who will certainly enjoy the full flavour of these exciting new coffees” say Martin Button, Director.

See New Range

Welcome to the UKV TukTuk

Welcome to the UKV TukTuk as it joins our promotional team this summe

UK Vending Flavia Tuk-Tuk

r (2010) across London and the South-East. Fully fitted with the latest Flavia machines we could be dispensing FREE FLAVIA HOT DRINKS outside your workplace.

If you wish to enjoy some of the 30+ fabulous drinks from Flavia and UKV why not email us your address and phone number indicating suitable dates and we will see if we can bring this fun vehicle to you?

Remember – this offer is strictly on a first come first served basis so don’t delay – invite the TukTuk and friends today.

PS – even if we cannot attend, your details will be entered into the UKV Summer Prize draw for a FREE FLAVIA FUSION HOT DRINKS VENDOR for home or office. See our website for details – www.ukvending.co.uk.

“UKV Carbon Footprint shrinks to all-time low levels”

UKV has added to its fleet of vans for the UKV Tech Team.

These vehicle are 16% more fuel efficient thereby not just offering cost benefits but further they reducing the already dramatically shrunk UKV carbon footprint.

The enhanced livery displays the fast selling ‘Flavia’ coffee machines and water coolers for the workplace – all of which offer our customers greater green credentials through their respective reduced operating impact on the environment.’

Being the ’2010 Official Coffee Sponsor’ proves to be very worthwhile for UKV

April 22nd 2010- UKV was the Official Coffee Sponsor for the 2010 ‘Kent 20/20 Exhibition’. We dispensed many hundreds of Flavia drinks and cups of chilled, fresh water to the crowds that flocked to our stand. The high quality of the drinks dispensed from the ‘Flavia coffee machines’ by our ever-so-helpful staff was remarked upon throughout the day by our old and new friends. As a result UKV has welcomed a host of new customers since the exhibition.

Overall, the Kent 2020 Exhibition once again proves that although we are a national company, it is wise to remember our roots. Kent, the garden of England, continues to like UKV, its people and its products and we continue to support our county and our community.”