Enjoying a Square Mile Red Brick Coffee

If you pop over to my book reviews blog, Literary Flits, after noon today you will see my review of and giveaway for a brand new copy of The Bitter Trade by Piers Alexander, a historical fiction adventure set among the coffee houses of seventeenth century London. I received the giveaway prize from The Pigeonhole who also kindly sent a bag of freshly roasted coffee beans from the multi-award winning East London coffee roasters Square Mile. The chosen blend was Red Brick and its aroma - even through the sealed packaging - was divine! I learned that the composition of Red Brick does change with the seasons so my coffee's blend of 40% Rabanales from Guatemala, 30% Montanas del Diamante from Costa Rica, and 30% Kagurno from Kenya might not be exactly the same as is currently for sale.

I appreciate the ritual of making a proper cup of coffee so gathered together my tools to do justice to the first cup of Red Brick. My vintage Turkish grinder is from Kawaii Rose Vintage, bought to replace a worn out wooden version. This new-to-me grinder is entirely metal so should last for decades and its small size is both cute and ideal to take away on our next winter caravanning expedition. I discovered that filling the top section with beans results in the perfect amount of ground coffee for one good cup and that heady aroma again almost made the actual drinking superfluous! The Finum Brew Basket was also bought with caravan travel in mind and its compact size is ideal for minimalist living. It's perfect for making cafetiere style coffee hardly any washing up or the risk of broken glass in transit. I find it much easier to judge the strength of my coffee with the basket than I used to with a cafetiere as well.

Red Brick has a rich fruity and sweet taste which I loved. This id absolutely a high quality coffee and being able to drink it within a couple of weeks of its roasting makes such a difference to the flavour. I am thrilled at having a large bag of beans still to grind up and enjoy. Thank you so much to The Pigeonhole for their generosity! Don't forget to click through to Literary Flits for this week's giveaway ...