tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-205717622012-04-16T05:24:19.792+01:00The b-blog of Hill & Valley Coffee, passionate suppliers of freshly roasted gourmet coffee beans online since 2000. Eventually it will all be here: history; what we do; what's new; rantings and ravings and hopefully a few comments..Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-9469437011425370892007-12-20T08:07:00.000Z2007-12-20T08:12:31.401Z

Today is our last roasting day before the Christmas and New Year close-down.We will not not be roasting any coffee or processing any online orders until after the 2nd January.The online store will not allow ordering from 8 am on 20th December until 8am on Monday 31st December.We would like to take this opportunity to thank all online customers for their support throughout 2007, in particular

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-29917409130458905942007-11-26T12:56:00.000Z2007-11-26T13:05:51.036Z

Online ordering at hvcoffee.com is once again available.Please note that the 2 kg pouch option is in fact two separate 1 kg bags in a plastic courier pouch, NOT a single bag of 2 kilos. Taking the espresso option, at £35 inc carriage it is only slightly more expensive for those customers who were used to buying 8 x 250g bags through the post, whereas a purchase of 2 x 2kgs would represent a

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-14377105195323347242007-11-05T08:10:00.000Z2007-11-05T08:34:37.945Z

Important Message to all online customers.Online orders will be suspended at midnight on Wednesday 7th November 2007 for around 17 days.All orders received before that date will be shipped on Thursday 8th November.The store will re-open on Monday 26th November with some significant changes. Most notably we will be ceasing the supply of 250 gram bags of coffee beans via the postal system.After

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-82797711331815617132007-04-26T08:43:00.000+01:002007-04-26T09:23:26.446+01:00

Typically at this time of year we allow the stocks of certain coffees to dwindle whilst we await new crop arrivals from around the world. This is particularly the case in Central America, where harvesting over the turn of the year is followed by processing and the vital 4-6 weeks of rest in pergamino form for the better coffees.We are currently stocking such a "well-rested" coffee from the 2006

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-54304523598656331032007-03-04T15:23:00.000Z2007-03-04T15:30:04.950Z

We got back late on the 28th February from our two week vacation in Costa Rica and have begun to deal with your orders, some of which have been shipped this weekend.Unfortunately we have also had to deal with two close family breavements which occurred while we were away and have tow separte funerals to attend in Lincolnshire two days apart.This in turn has meant there will be afew days further

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-32908647242276937382007-02-06T08:28:00.000Z2007-02-06T08:37:19.729Z

Debbie and I are once again taking our annual break this month and are heading off to Costa Rica on February 13th for two weeks.Some of this time will be spent lounging around on a working coffee farm - well, what else did you expect?!This means that we will suspend all online ordering at hvcoffee.com from 8 am Monday 12th February until 8 pm on Wednesday 28th February.Orders for wholesale and

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-62488004502314698032006-12-20T09:03:00.000Z2006-12-20T09:11:41.346Z

Please note that all retail orders received by 9am today - Wednesday December 20th - will be shipped today and should arrive before Christmas (first class post delays notwithstanding!).Orders received by midnight on Thursday 21st December will be shipped by Friday 22nd December, even if this means making some choice substitutions. We do not expect all these orders to arrive before Wednesday 27th

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-80527573859564592362006-12-12T10:46:00.000Z2006-12-12T11:01:24.652Z

Once again we will be continuing to roast and ship orders right through until the 23rd December, but will reduce stock availability in the online store after that as we will not roast again until January 2nd.Please do keep in mind the normal last posting dates published by Royal Mail if you want your coffee before the holidays and do leave us at least 2 working days to get your coffee roasted and

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1161853456427787282006-10-26T09:23:00.000+01:002006-10-26T12:04:49.950+01:00

FUND RAISING FOR FINAL TERM 2006The last term of the Ugandan school year started on September 18th. We are proud to announce that Hill & Valley Coffee, thanks to the support of its customers and friends, sent funds to Uganda to cover the school fees and other ancillary costs for the term for a group of 86 students to attend their various secondary schools in Iganga District.In the end we had to

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1160994989094285642006-10-16T11:14:00.000+01:002006-10-16T11:36:29.150+01:00

Apologies, all. We got sent into a bit of disarray this past two weeks and our normal online delivery service had to be suspended for while.On October 3rd yours truly went down with a mystery viral illness that resulted in me being hospitalised for 8 days from October 5th while the NHS tried to figure out what was wrong with me and how they should treat it. As I do all the roasting at Hill &

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1158599047968601792006-09-18T17:57:00.000+01:002006-09-18T18:04:07.983+01:00

**Apologies to anyone who has been waiting 5-6 days for their expected coffee.Due to an unexpected surge of demand, our main suppliers could not schedule our next delivery of green coffee until this coming tuesday 18th September. This has left us with very little green coffee in stock at the start of this week, particularly medium roasts and espresso blending coffees. As the interruption to

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1156884000323347542006-08-29T21:30:00.000+01:002006-08-29T21:40:00.343+01:00

I've given them away for :- Garden Refuse bags.- Mulching roses.- Filling with potatoes- Loft insulation.- Funky wall hangings.- Curtains (!)But I think you'll agree that this is one of the best. Credit due toAdrian Ditcham and his colleagues who build cross country fences at British Eventing Horse Trials. These were taken at Highclere Castle this bank holiday monday.Thanks also to Alastair Crook

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1156329754090005882006-08-23T11:07:00.000+01:002006-08-23T11:42:34.160+01:00

As reported a few months ago on the blog, we have launched a long term fund-raising initiative this year in order to support secondary schooling for young Ugandans whose families have been devastated by the scourge of Aids / HIV.We are pleased to say that we have achieved most of our early objectives more or less on schedule, thanks to the support of our customers both online and at our "wet"

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1156327536567422872006-08-23T10:50:00.000+01:002006-08-23T11:05:36.576+01:00

As most of you will have heard, Royal Mail have quite radically changed the way they charge for first class letters and packets this week.The effect on our own postal costs has been relatively insignificant. Unfortunately a bag of Hill & Valley beans will not fit through the guide window (although we know it often goes through your letterboxes!) and we are therefore unable to benefit from the

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1156256451725052282006-08-22T14:36:00.000+01:002006-08-22T15:20:52.500+01:00

Firstly apologies!Late post - inexcusable. we've been busy, but I still intended to update this blog more often!Anyway, moving on while I still have anyone's attention.We've again "rotated" some of the coffees and although most of the old favourites remain, there are a few significant changes.Kenya - on reflection and after quite a bit of tasting, I decided not to continue with the Gethumbwini

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1151342789207268112006-06-26T18:14:00.000+01:002006-06-26T19:07:35.346+01:00

Here are some photos of our foray to the UK's top Mountain Bike 24 hour endurance event.Panoramics of the site at Eastnor Castle in the Malvern Hills.Some views of our small espresso bar trailer and the surroundings at our pitch on the start line. Lisa and Alison were the "barista-babes" in action (and taking a well-earned break) throughout the day on saturday and sunday.Here are some shots of

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1150195911600175462006-06-13T11:22:00.000+01:002006-06-13T12:26:43.636+01:00

It needed drought orders to be imposed in the south of England for us to start getting a rash of event cancellations - yes, you've guessed it - due to waterlogged ground conditions!This means our wandering coffee bars have had a fairly quiet couple of weeks which just ended with an Iced Coffee bonanza at Great Tew Horse Trials this past weekend.At this time of the year our iced coffees surge in

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1150194029236821002006-06-13T11:16:00.000+01:002006-06-13T11:20:29.246+01:00

All the coffees mentioned in last thursday's blog entry are now available in the online store, including new crop Costa Rica Coopronaranjo Peaberries and Guatemala Huehuetenango El Paternal.For Green bean buyers we have made some slight changes. We have been obliged to increase the minimum order to 10 kgs per mixed case from 8kgs and we have now listed all available coffee in one list.

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1149774756592835962006-06-08T14:29:00.000+01:002006-06-08T16:01:19.283+01:00

No, this is not a review of coffee houses in downtown Stuttgart or even a diatribe against the giant German Roaster who will be slaking the throats of the football world as they descend upon the big cities of Germany.It is more a bit of a guide to the myriad of coffee producers whose national teams are competing in this year's FIFA World Cup that starts tomorrow. I personally absolutely love the

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1149773318140026692006-06-08T14:10:00.000+01:002006-06-08T14:28:40.056+01:00

Another update for online customers at hvcoffee.com on changes in our online catalogue.We will not have any Colombia relationship coffee for another month or so now. This gives us a few blending challenges, but two new coffees should help me to solve the riddle.We'll be receiving deliveries next week of our first 2006 Central American coffees an estate Guatemala Huehuetenango (the first huehue we

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1147700410751783782006-05-15T14:35:00.000+01:002006-05-15T14:40:10.763+01:00

As we indicated a couple of weeks ago, we have now no further stocks of coffee from Central America until new crops arrive. This means that we had to remove Nicaragua Finca Linda Vista and the popular Tico Suave blend from the catalogue for now. We have a strong focus on Indonesian coffees at the moment, with new offereings from Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi. One or other of these coffees are

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1145960120942370662006-04-25T11:13:00.000+01:002006-04-25T12:37:41.493+01:00

We quite frequently get asked questions about choice of coffees, brewing methods, choice of equipment and the like so we thought it is probably about time to launch a large part-work which we will call our “How to enjoy Hill & Valley Coffee FAQ”. First of all you should know that “coffeespeak” is full of bunkum, over sophistication and subtle commercial positioning. Coffee snobs rarely know what

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1145360629415976062006-04-18T12:21:00.000+01:002006-04-25T12:39:12.220+01:00

Some of you may have noticed that the donation facility for our school fees sponsorship in Uganda went missing for a couple of weeks.Unfortunately a rush of dubious credit card payments obliged us to take some fairly forthright action with our secure transaction handlers at Worldpay to defend ourselves against a rush of credit card faud testing emanating out of the far east. Despicable although

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1145359220858392412006-04-18T12:10:00.000+01:002006-04-18T12:20:20.876+01:00

We received a new delivery of green coffee immediately before the easter break and have some exciting new crop arrivals added to the online store.Top of the list is a prized Kenya AA Gethumbwini from the 2006 main crop. We've kept the price rise down to 20p per 250g and hope you will take advantage of this outstanding coffee at a still reasonable price.As promised we now have three Indonesian

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20571762.post-1144231729609231722006-04-05T10:56:00.000+01:002006-04-05T11:12:18.853+01:00

We hate doing this!Following this week's increase in postal charges (again!) and recent rises in the cost of our packing materials, we have been obliged to review upwards the cost of shipping which is added to all orders placed in our online store. The increases reduce proportionate to the amount of packs purchased and we have even managed a 20p reduction where 10 packs are purchased at one time

Charles Masseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14505471641137620827noreply@blogger.com0