Writer Chloe Walden goes up and away with Altitude Coffee.
When you think of coffee, images of Costa Rica, Brazil and Kenya may be conjured up… but perhaps not Hornchurch in East London. However, thanks to Joe Townshend and his team, that is where Altitude Coffee is serving up some of the best java around.
Altitude Coffee is one of those wonderful silver lining stories from the last 12 months we all love to hear about. Founder Joe was a pilot who, like so many others, lost his job when the pandemic hit. So, not one to be grounded (sorry…!), he turned his love for a cup of the hot stuff into a business, roasting coffee beans from around the world and delivering them in true first-class style, straight to his customers’ doors. Perfect for a pandemic and wonderfully convenient for afterwards.
I’m a coffee fan, and can’t deny myself a daily dose, but I wouldn’t say I’m a connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination. However, I like to think I can tell a good cup from bad, so we dusted off the Bialetti to give it a whirl.
My goodness – doesn’t it pack a punch. You don’t need a plane once you’ve had a little cup full of this brew. The Captain’s Roast, their signature espresso blend made with a combination of a naturally processed Brazilian Acaia, and a washed Colombian bean, is roasted darker to bring out those deep and rich chocolatey notes which get you first on the nose, then in the mouth.
If you don’t fancy the hit of intensity on its own, this coffee has enough body to stand up and shine within a milky (or dairy-free) Café Latté or a Cappuccino – add a sprinkling of cocoa powder on top to recreate your favourite coffee shop days.
The Pioneer, named after aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal, is slightly less ferocious with a medium roast, but still packs a punch. You can really taste those fruity notes of raspberry which make it such a wonderful drink.
What’s more, this coffee is an all-rounder – you can use it in everything from a cafetiere to a coffee drip – meaning if you’re not drinking 15 cups a day, you don’t have to worry about having five or six bags of coffee going off in your cupboard (or fridge, so I’ve heard…!).
What’s great about Altitude Coffee is they use beans produced by passionate farmers who are paid premium prices for their goods by Mercanta, who supply speciality roasters around the world – building positive working relationships. And you can genuinely taste that in every cup. To make sure not a single bean of this superior coffee goes to waste, Altitude roast to order so you know when it arrives, your coffee is in tip-top condition from plant to cup.
And if unlike me you have time, energy and motivation to grind your own beans, you can buy single-origin packs from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Colombia and Guatemala to experiment and find your own signature blend.
For those who know they need a regular hit, there is the option of joining the Altitude Coffee Club subscription service, a simple and affordable plan to get coffee delivered straight to your door with an extra 10% discount. For more irregular purchases, one-off buys are an option too.
Prices start at £10.00 per bag. Available from: https://altitude-coffee.co.uk/
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Chatting Food Contributor
Chloe Walden
Chloe has a passion for all things food and drink. Whether that’s getting stuck into cooking a new cuisine in the kitchen, dining out in a new London hot spot, or adding a new tipple to her drinks trolley, her life revolves around what’s next on the menu. On the weekend, you can often find her with a G&T in one hand, and a cookbook in the other.
Twitter: @chloewaldenPR
Instagram: @chloewalden