If you think setting
up your own coffee company would be difficult, try also inventing a new coffee
brewing and storage gadget. Those are just two of the daily challenges faced by
Patrick Joseph, owner of Haute Culture Coffee Company and inventor of the COFFEEASY.
Howard Mosley-Chalk caught up with Patrick to get his take on the perfect cup
of joe.
"I guess it all started growing up in France in the mid 70s," says Patrick, originally from London, but who now lives in Leeds. "I was mesmerized by my grandmother's morning ritual; grinding the beans, the noise, the smell of the fresh grounds, and a few minutes later, the smell of freshly brewed coffee. You could say I started ‘smelling the coffee’ early."
Later in his life, while studying and working in Paris,
Patrick learnt that cafés and coffee were important parts of everyone's life,
from breakfast to after supper. "Cafés are a huge part of the culture
there, and that hasn't changed. It’s here in the UK that the coffee and
café culture has altered so much over the last ten to 15 years. The UK is
getting more and more continental, I guess at the expense of the pub culture."
And it was that change, combined with his upbringing in France, that spurred
him to create Haute Culture.
Culture vulture
"That seems like a long time ago … McDonalds weren't even
selling coffee then! The concept was to create an alternative to Italian
coffees, to start a new business, learn about coffee, and develop the
blends. Some took days, others took months. Then there was the whole thing of
opening supplier accounts when no one has ever heard of you. Over the last
few years we've learned a lot about people's coffee habits and brewing
routines, but it’s all been fun and led to this new venture."
The COFFEEASY is a simple pour-over brewing and storage kit,
designed for people who like to take the time to prepare themselves a tasty cup
of filter coffee (read our review here). "I came to the conclusion that it was pretty hard for
most mere mortals to prepare a barista quality espresso or cappuccino at home,
even with good equipment and training. It is much easier, with a little
bit of knowledge and curiosity, to produce a very decent filter coffee. One day
the Mrs told me she was fed up with the space my coffee gear was taking up
in the kitchen, and that was the light bulb moment: a stylish and easy to use
stand and storage solution with all your equipment in one place.
"Over the past two years our prototypes have become
much better constructed and more sophisticated, with help from coffee consultant
Paul Meikle-Janney. But the original objective remains the same: simplicity and flexibility... to make the best
quality coffee at home without re-inventing the wheel."
Not a great deal
of sleep
So for a person who is clearly passionate about coffee, how
much of it does Patrick actually drink? "I don’t drink all that much
coffee to be honest; about four cups a day on average. I’ve always had a
preference for quality over quantity. It sounds clichéd but
that’s genuinely how I feel about coffee. I'm very fortunate to
receive samples from various UK roasters, which is great and extremely
useful for all the testing and tasting I do on a daily basis.
"But each day is different. It does, however, always start
with a cup of coffee using the COFFEEASY of course! The brewing vessel, dripper,
coffee, and water quantity changes a lot - that’s the beauty of it,
the constant experimenting. Typically my six year old son will give me a
shout when he’s seen the last drop fall into the cup while I am making breakfast.
"Daddy, your coffee is ready!" is a daily morning call. Talking
beans, I have a preference for coffee from Central and South America, but
there’s so much great coffee out there at the moment."
As the COFFEEASY hits the shelves of specialist coffee
suppliers, does Patrick have other coffee innovations in the pipeline? "Yes,
there are other ideas that are being developed, but it’s early days so I can’t
say too much at the moment. Right now we’re focussing on launching COFFEEASY.
All I can say is that we think the hospitality sector needs to seriously
re-think their in-room coffee and hot drink offering..."
Watch this space. To find out more about Patrick, Haute
Culture, and the COFFEEASY, visit www.coffeeasy.com