Thursday, January 05, 2006
Hill & Valley Coffee Deep Background
Coffee Crazy
Charlie became a “coffee nut” in his teenage years at university in London and shares the passion for an excellent cup or the perfect espresso with Hill & Valley Coffee's regular online customers. Having been a devoted espresso drinker since his first trip to Italy 25 years ago, Charlie says the taste is now enriched by knowing the secrets of those blends. His one souvenir of a romantic trip to Florence and Rome in 1982 was a Gaggia Espresso Machine and two kilos of locally roasted beans, which he found impossible to replace in the UK.
Career in Coffee
Schooled as a futures trader in the wild commodity markets of the late seventies, Charlie worked in green coffee trading for 15 years before launching Hill & Valley Coffee on the web. He has travelled extensively in coffee producing regions in Latin America, Africa and Indonesia. During the late 1980's he co-ordinated green coffee buying for one of the leading importers to the Italian market and he discovered the true passion held by small roasters in Italy for their coffee and the secrets behind the arcane world of blending for espresso. Having formed a successful import and pioneering speciality roasting business in Poland in the 1990's, Charlie understands “both sides” of the market intimately.
Direct to the Drinker
Today Hill & Valley Coffee continues to focus directly on the consumer - the appreciative drinker of a fine cup of coffee. Since 2003 Hill & Valley Coffee no longer provides wholesale coffee on account. The complement to the online store are Hill & Valley's twin espresso bars at outdoor events and The Coffee Tree coffee house in Aylesbury. Hill & Valley Coffee is not available through re-sellers and the highest quality and absolute freshness remain twin mantras.
The Journey Continues
For 2006, Charlie has decided to purify the coffee offering by distilling a range of more than 20 single origins and blends down to 8-10 rotating coffees of different styles, challenging Hill & Valley coffee's customers to continue their journey of coffee discovery with him and not to get fixed on one particular favourite, or to be seduced by "gimmick coffee".
Every bean of coffee roasted by Hill & Valley Coffee is hand roasted by Charlie and the final cup is the result of Charlie's passions and taste preferences.
Five years on Hill & Valley continues to prosper in it's "micro-niche". Most customers are valued long termers who understand the simple value of a carefully grown, rigorously selected and carefully roasted FRESH coffee bean, delivered to the doorstep straight after roasting.
Charlie became a “coffee nut” in his teenage years at university in London and shares the passion for an excellent cup or the perfect espresso with Hill & Valley Coffee's regular online customers. Having been a devoted espresso drinker since his first trip to Italy 25 years ago, Charlie says the taste is now enriched by knowing the secrets of those blends. His one souvenir of a romantic trip to Florence and Rome in 1982 was a Gaggia Espresso Machine and two kilos of locally roasted beans, which he found impossible to replace in the UK.
Career in Coffee
Schooled as a futures trader in the wild commodity markets of the late seventies, Charlie worked in green coffee trading for 15 years before launching Hill & Valley Coffee on the web. He has travelled extensively in coffee producing regions in Latin America, Africa and Indonesia. During the late 1980's he co-ordinated green coffee buying for one of the leading importers to the Italian market and he discovered the true passion held by small roasters in Italy for their coffee and the secrets behind the arcane world of blending for espresso. Having formed a successful import and pioneering speciality roasting business in Poland in the 1990's, Charlie understands “both sides” of the market intimately.
Direct to the Drinker
Today Hill & Valley Coffee continues to focus directly on the consumer - the appreciative drinker of a fine cup of coffee. Since 2003 Hill & Valley Coffee no longer provides wholesale coffee on account. The complement to the online store are Hill & Valley's twin espresso bars at outdoor events and The Coffee Tree coffee house in Aylesbury. Hill & Valley Coffee is not available through re-sellers and the highest quality and absolute freshness remain twin mantras.
The Journey Continues
For 2006, Charlie has decided to purify the coffee offering by distilling a range of more than 20 single origins and blends down to 8-10 rotating coffees of different styles, challenging Hill & Valley coffee's customers to continue their journey of coffee discovery with him and not to get fixed on one particular favourite, or to be seduced by "gimmick coffee".
Every bean of coffee roasted by Hill & Valley Coffee is hand roasted by Charlie and the final cup is the result of Charlie's passions and taste preferences.
Five years on Hill & Valley continues to prosper in it's "micro-niche". Most customers are valued long termers who understand the simple value of a carefully grown, rigorously selected and carefully roasted FRESH coffee bean, delivered to the doorstep straight after roasting.
# posted by Charles Massey @ 2:19 pm 
