Anyone have that Monday feeling today? Although the weather is still quite warm in London, the feeling of Autumn creeping towards us hasn’t escaped anybody’s notice and the start of a new working week looms as much as ever for most people. Well, I say it’s nothing a good coffee can’t fix!

I first met Suzy & Alex when we were looking for wedding photographers and a friend of mine recommended them. We instantly hit it off and they were incredible during our wedding with their friendly, fun personalities, and the photos they took for us were better than we could have dreamed of. We have stayed in touch mainly through Instagram and bumping into each other at more weddings, and this year I was excited to hear about their new venture into the world of coffee roasting with the launch of Carringtons Coffee Co. The quote on their website from one of their wedding clients says it all really: “Is there anything this pair can’t do?”

Speaking with Suzy about their reasons for starting Carringtons Coffee Co. it was abundantly clear that they are passionate about good quality, great tasting coffee and have taken great care in perfecting their roasting process and sourcing beans that are suited for cold brewing as well as for hot beverages. Their passion doesn’t stop there though, which is why I’m so excited about their coffee. Having travelled to Colombia and visited coffee farms, they have been able to form relationships with coffee farmers directly and this has driven their purpose in supporting single-estate, primarily Colombian coffee. Their packaging is recyclable with plastic waste and carbon neutral too – another definite plus.

I have been keenly following their progress towards the launch of Carringtons Coffee Co. and was ready with my purse (yes that’s right – this is not a sponsored post) as soon as they announced the availability of their first limited batch of Finca La Lomita Colombian coffee. They offer their beans whole or ground to either a coarse, medium or fine consistency with a recommendation depending on how you want to prepare your coffee. I ordered the beans whole so that I could grind them at home, and they arrived within a couple of days. The beans are roasted mid-week and sent out first class towards the end of the week so they were as fresh as they could be.

When the beans arrived on Saturday morning, I reached immediately for my moka pot and ground a handful of beans to a fine consistency recommended for espresso. The result was smooth with very little bitterness and I could definitely pick up the caramel notes. To prepare a cold brew I grind the beans coarsely and let them infuse with water overnight. The caramel sweetness and soft flavour is indeed perfect for cold-brew as designed!

I have to take a minute to tell you about these sleek, gorgeously dainty espresso cups by Emilia Radlinska, a ceramic artist in South West London who I met during Merton Arts Festival this weekend. Her porcelain work plays with contrasting textures using soft satin or subtly coloured glazes with slender curves and pinched sides, or dark tones and tiny intricately applied dots of slip that create a surprisingly pleasing spiky texture. These cups have a sensuous, silky, satin glaze on the outside making them really satisfying to hold, and the inside has a white glaze with hints of pinks and blues. They turned out to be a perfect textural pairing for the flavour of the coffee. I’m actually now curious as to how the coffee would taste if I tried it with a pair of Emilia’s black spiky cups?

Carringtons Coffee Co. will be bringing new coffee products to their website at https://carringtonscoffee.co in the coming weeks and months and are able to cater to the needs of wholesale customers as well with both roasted coffee and pre-prepared Cold Brew Coffee.