We’re very proud to announce that we’re serving Thaymar Dairy Ice Cream when we’re at Belvoir Castle, starting this (bank holiday) weekend- just in time for the sunshine …

Thaymar are a local company, producing top notch ice cream from their farm near Retford, Nottinghamshire.

Mark had the tough assignment of visiting them this week to assess the products and choose our range.  This involved some taste testing in their superb tearoom and a visit to the factory.  Suitably impressed, we’ve decided to start by ranging 125ml tubs of their fabulous luxury ice cream in the following flavours: vanilla, strawberries & cream, chunky chocolate, elderflower & gooseberry, white mint choc chip and toffee fudge.

The local connections are strong, with the elderflower flavour coming from the famous Belvoir cordial… and pictured above is Tom, making Thaymar’s first delivery to Cafe Allez!

We will soon be adding a vanilla option suitable for diabetics to the range and are watching with interest as Thaymar develop a dairy-free ice cream.

Meantime, to satisfy vegans and those who just prefer an ice lolly, we’re also ranging Chilly Billy lollies from Bensons.  No nonsense here: just pure frozen fruit juice (and not from concentrate) for some guilt-free and tasty Summer refreshment.

Cafe Allez! believes that together with our customers, we can all enjoy fabulous drinks and food ‘on the go’ whilst minimising the impact on our environment.

Here’s how we do it today – and we’d welcome your suggestions and ideas for the future  …

1. Our cups, lids, plates, knives etc. are from Vegware.  So – they’re fully compostable, being made from plants, not plastic.  The cups (pictured below) are made with a PLA (plant based) lining and have 72% less carbon than plastic.  We’ve just sourced Vegware plates made from Bagasse (recycled sugarcane) with 99% less carbon than polystyrene and paper.
2. We make efforts to segregate waste during each event (with separate bins provided), then we physically sort and segregate the waste post-event.  Not a fun task, but worthwhile.  Compostable disposables can be recycled with food waste.
3. Reusable cups?  Bring your own to Cafe Allez! and we’ll give you a 10p discount on your drink, even if your cup says “Starbucks” on it!  Or buy one from Cafe Allez! – we offer a stylish mug made from bamboo fibre (pictured below), with a silicone lid to keep your drink hot and matching silicone soft grip.  Top-rack dishwasher and mircowave safe, BPA free, 350ml capacity and only £10!
4. We only use wooden stirrers and don’t offer plastic drinking straws.
5. Starting this weekend, we’re going to segregate our waste coffee grounds… these make good fertiliser so they’re available for free for anyone who asks, subject to availability!
6. The “Queen of Awesomeness” mug pictured is sadly only for Claire’s use:  Henri and Mark think she’s earned it, having successfully juggled co-founding Cafe Allez! with a full time “other” job…!  Kudos is due.

We want to keep you all informed about where to get your fix of Cafe Allez!’s offerings, so we’re going to publish our calendar here on a regular basis, usually looking about 3 weeks out.

Keep an eye on our Facebook page where we will publish any changes – and do feel free to check before travelling:  mark@cafeallez.uk or 0778 685 4794…

We really hope to see you soon!

Cafe Allez! Calendar at 24.5.18

OK, we love our coffee and it gets more than its fair share of Cafe Allez! air time…  but, just between us, for ultimate refreshment Claire and Mark often wind down with a cup of tea after a busy event.

National Tea Day is on Saturday 21st April, so we bring you 4 of the best places to celebrate it in and around Melton Mowbray, plus, some cream tea science!

Our top 4 places to celebrate tea:

1. Modestly we would suggest Cafe Allez!  We always have a superb range of teas on board including Earl Grey, Green Tea, Apple & Elderflower, English Breakfast, Lemon & Ginger.  Decaf tea’s available.  Our ‘regular’ tea is anything but: we’ve used Twinings Everyday from Day 1.. a traditionally strong base of African and Indonesian Tea with the rich, malty taste of Assam and a pinch of hand-picked Yunnan tea.  Find us at Belvoir Castle on Saturday where we’re offering a cream tea featuring Miss B’s scones, Roddas clotted cream and our Everyday tea for just £4!

2. Belvoir Castle has a team room where you can enjoy, amongst other fine things, Afternoon Tea.  Did you know Afternoon Tea was invented in Belvoir Castle?  Search Wikipedia to learn more!  – and try it yourself when the Castle is open on Sunday (22nd).

3. Miss B’s Tea Room in Melton Mowbray is a step back in time and a proper treat, serving vintage afternoon teas in traditional surroundings.  And Miss B knows her tea! – they’re a Tea Guild Award of Excellence member…

4. The Old Brickyard Tea Garden in Scalford are passionate about their tea.  They offer a selection of quality loose teas including 10 of their own branded teas, in an eco-friendly building adjoining C&C Plants.

Now for the cream tea science!  While the customer is always right, there is an exception in Cafe Allez!’s view and that is when said customer applies cream to scone before the jam.  This might stem from Mark’s Cornish heritage, (Devonians take a different stance) but is also a scientific fact 😉  The University of Sheffield researched the perfect cream tea and published this handy summary, which we should all follow…

So here’s our take on McDonald’s gentle dig at the pretentious side of coffee culture… have you seen their recent ad where achingly hip baristas are incredulous when a customer dares to ask what a Flat White actually is?…

Firstly and in case you were wondering, Cafe Allez! reckons their description is spot on… it is essentially a caffe latte with less milk … a shorter drink, with a more intense coffee flavour.

To build on that just a little, legend has it that it was invented in Australia or New Zealand, where the coffee culture runs deep and customers were fed up with ordering cappuccinos that seemed to be mainly foam!  They resented paying for air, not coffee.  Hence, latte milk is used in a Flat White (which has less foam than cappuccino milk).

We kind of like that McDonald’s is bursting the bubble of the coffee shops who talk down to their less knowledgeable customers.  For the record:  we offer our customers a choice of coffee drinks, including Flat White, not because we’re coffee snobs but because we love to offer a choice – and each of our drinks offers something really different, so there should be one to suit you perfectly.

For the customer who “just wants a coffee”: that’s cool too, we can make something that you’ll find delicious after just a brief chat.  And if you’d like us to set out what goes into each drink, we’re always pleased to do so.

For the record: Cafe Allez!’s Flat White is served in an 8oz fully compostable cup with a double shot of espresso, made from beans roasted by 200 Degrees which we grind fresh to order for each cup.  We then steam British whole milk to the exact right temperature, to the consistency of latte milk, and we use a little less milk than for a regular latte.  If you’d prefer decaf beans, soya milk or oat milk in your Flat White? – no problem!

Two things that might upset Cafe Allez! when sampling coffee elsewhere : 1. the shop that charges more for a Flat White than a Caffe Latte or Cappuccino (you’re getting less!).  And 2. the shop that offers a Flat White in different sizes.

If you’ve tried the McDonald’s Flat White, come and give ours a whirl and let us know the difference!

Cafe Allez! has now attended numerous events, shows and weddings … but we still take time out every now and again with one of our coffees to reflect.

It’s important in business to set out what you stand for.  For us: we want to bring the best coffee shop experience directly to you, wherever you are, whatever the event.  This is not easy to find away from the high street, nor is it easy to deliver, but it can be done and it will be done.

We apply the same high standards if you are hiring Van Henri (our vintage Citroen HY van) on his own, without our catering service.

The manifesto (click on the link below) is on Van Henri for all of our customers to read.  If we deliver on this, tell your friends, family, Facebook & Google!  And if we fail, tell us right away so we can fix it, for you and for future customers…

Cafe Allez! What We’re About