Coffee in Space: and what true confinement means!

MT: the lock-down has certainly given me more time to read and think and I was lent a book called ‘Endurance: A Year In Space, A Lifetime Of Discovery’, by my Dad. Let me clarify that: it wasn’t written by my Dad, he loaned it to me: the author was US astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

I thought it might offer a good insight into what true confinement feels like and that it might put our own restrictions into perspective. It does and it does! For example, Scott missed nature most of all, but even in the midst of all this, we can go or look outside and appreciate nature and the blossoming of Spring more than ever.

Inevitably for Cafe Allez, this was bound to lead onto coffee and I’ve just read about Scott’s bewilderment (as a US citizen!) with the lengths his European colleague Samantha (and the European Space Agency) went to, to get a decent coffee in space: “Apparently when you have Europeans in space, you also have to have good coffee – the instant stuff just isn’t the same”. Amen to that!

It transpires that the machine in question cost over $1M USD and there were only 10 espresso packs on board. So next time you complain about the cost of a Caffe Latte at Cafe Allez! … it’s all relative!.

On further reading, I found that the machine was jointly developed by Italian firms Lavazza and Argotec. There was one remaining fault. The ISSpresso still had to be brewed in a bag and then sucked from a straw. So, to cement the next giant leap for coffee in space, Portland State University developed the zero-G coffee cup to work alongside it, with the cup replicating aspects of Earth’s gravity so the astronauts could enjoy it more.

The ISSpresso is not a drink we’ll be introducing in the ‘shop post-lockdown, but it was a fascinating insight and made me think of how pivotal good coffee is to our lives… how many treats give us so much satisfaction for so little guilt? And, unless you’re in space, for so little cost?

Check the link to get NASA’s take on coffee in space!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWuEVSCw8B8

From today, you can buy Cafe Allez! merchandise from our brand new webstore!

Being transparent, so far we have one brand new product to offer. However! – it’s actually about 12 products in one… the Cafe Allez! Racer tubular scarf!

Wear it as a neckerchief, bandana, cap, face mask, balaclava, head band … the options are many.Continue reading

Sometimes during this pandemic, it’s a single image that can really stop one in one’s tracks. The picture below of the NEC becoming a temporary Nightingale hospital was what did it for me yesterday.

I associate the NEC with the good times. Just a month ago, Jake, Lauren and I were there at the Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom show, serving coffee to visitors on the Caesarstone stand. As with so many events at the NEC, there were exhibitors and products from across the globe, all coming together to collaborate, trade and celebrate the industry.Continue reading

We’re very fortunate to count The History Cyclist as one of our customers. He’s not averse to stopping for a caffe latte and sometimes, a light lunch, as part of his extensive travels by road bike around the Vale of Belvoir.

There’s often a mission to these rides as The History Cyclist (aka Rob) also loves to explore the wealth of history right here on our doorstep. His enthusiasm and storytelling are compelling, so we asked THC to post some exclusive content for Cafe Allez!.

The first fruits of this can be seen on video on our Facebook page : the story of The Belvoir Witches.

We also thought it’d be good to post his more detailed account here: do check out St Mary’s church in Bottesford when you have the opportunity, along with Belvoir Castle itself of course, as both play key roles in this story:

“Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.” Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I

The 14th century church of St Mary’s in Bottesford is quite a gem. The “Lady of the Vale” boasts not only the highest spire in Leicestershire but is also one of the largest village churches in the country. Its magnificence is surpassed only by its intriguing history. The tombs of the Earls and Countesses of Rutland from Belvoir Castle fill the chancel on a monumental scale. On the memorial to Francis Manners is the only reference to witchcraft to be found in an English church: the “wicked practice and sorcery” of Joan, Margaret and Philippa Flower, the Belvoir Witches, is recorded in the marble.

Francis and Cecelia Manners the 6^th Earl and Countess of Rutland inherited Belvoir Castle and its vast estate in 1612. They belonged to one of England’s noblest families, were close friends of King James I and by all accounts were generous with those on the payroll including the long serving Joan Flower and her two daughters Margaret and Phillipa from Bottesford.

Tragedy struck the Manners’ family when Francis and Cecelia’s two sons fell gravely ill and died. Had it perhaps not been for King James’s influence on the couple they might have dismissed as tittle tattle the gossip in the Vale about their sons’ demise being caused by witchcraft. But the King was a firm believer that witches represented evil on earth and had written a best selling book on how to find them, so when the finger of blame was pointed by the good people of Bottesford, the Earl and Countess were persuaded.

Only two of “the Belvoir Witches” went to trial. The ‘official‘ version is that Joan Flower requested that her guilt be tested by ordeal on the way to Lincoln Castle. She was required to eat holy bread which as such could not be swallowed by a witch and it was claimed that she choked and dropped dead in agony on the spot. She probably really died as a result of the treatment meted out to her by her captors which could have included the ordeal of being bound and thrown into deep water; a sophisticated investigative technique known as “swimming a witch”. Her two daughters faired a little better and made it to Lincoln. They were interrogated in the castle for five weeks before ‘confessing’ to being in league with the devil along with their mother and their pet cat “Rutterkins”.

Their trial took place in early March 1619 at Lincoln Assizes and was presided over by two senior judges appointed by King James I himself. Unsurprisingly they were convicted and went to the public gallows outside Lincoln Castle walls where, according to a contemporary ballad, “they died in shame by strangling twist”.

At Cafe Allez!, we get feedback in many forms. Sometimes it’s face to face, but you’ll also see it spread over Tripadvisor, Google, Facebook (reviews), Trustpilot, Add to Event…

We absolutely lap this up as we believe feedback to be the ‘breakfast of champions’!.

In the coffee shop, behind all of our menus you’ll find a pen and a feedback card that asks 2 simple questions:

1. What’s one thing you loved most about your visit today?
2. What’s the one thing you’d like us to do differently?

Since we opened, we’ve had over 250 cards handed back to us and we review each one carefully to help us improve our offer or just to share our customers’ thoughts with the team.

Having a little time on our hands now means that we can really take stock and pick out some themes.

The most consistent praise we get (and this is a tribute to the team) is that the service is friendly, the greetings genuine. This really matters to us and we know that the personal touch, even if it’s just a friendly ‘hello’, goes a long way.

We also get consistently good feedback about our coffee, our food and general value for money. We take no credit for the view, but that gets more than the odd mention too!

Looking back, it’s also gratifying to note that many suggestions / asks have been actioned since we opened back in May. Apart from those in August asking for some better weather at the time! We saw many requests for bike racks; a suggestion to offer free dog treats; a plea for some walking routes in the area, all of which we’ve delivered.

Some requests are very understandable but we know are not practical for us. Some of you would love eggs with your breakfast or even a ‘Full English’, but when we build the menu, we know that we have to be able to prepare every dish at speed, and in a tiny kitchen. We sometimes have groups of 20+ cyclists or large running groups arriving together and we need to know that the gap between serving the first and the last in each group is fine for all.

We also sometimes get some conflicting feedback. One card thanked us for providing free drinking water and loved the slices of lemon in it; another asked us to ditch the lemons! So it’s also important to recognise that we will never please everybody all the time: we’re always listening but we need to be true to our vision and really consistent in how we deliver it.

Keep the feedback coming, whether it’s in person, on our cards or electronically. It drives us on!

1.12.21

By way of an update: we continue to open 7 days per week at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle, opening at 9:30 daily and closing 4pm weekdays, 4:30pm weekends.

You can still order online on the day of your visit at www.cafeallez.uk … or you are welcome to order in person from our friendly counter team.

We have plentiful outdoor seating. We also have a large, enclosed gazebo with heating, although we have to take this down on days when high winds are forecast.

No need to book: you’re assured of a warm welcome whenever you visit.

Parking is free for your first hour. Or indefinitely if you come on foot, by bike or on horseback…

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You may think that we see other coffee shops in the locale as deadly rivals, there to be shot down.

The reality can be very different.

At early events as mobile caterers, we’d been primed to expect hostility or at the very least, the cold shoulder, from other traders. Instead, the first thing that struck us was the number of times the hand of friendship was extended by fellow traders. They knew how hard a game it is, (especially for newbies) and they knew how far a little practical help or morale support would go.Continue reading

Music is pretty important to most of us on the team at Cafe Allez! And it’s absolutely vital in creating the right vibe in the ‘shop.

We only realised this fully in our opening week when we hadn’t quite got around to installing a sound system. The atmosphere just wasn’t right, in fact it was downright awkward when the ‘shop wasn’t full of people. We made it a priority to install a potent (but tiny) Bose wireless system.

We then went ahead with a premium Spotify subscription (along with TheMusicLicence so we could legally play it!). This is an absolute bargain and a constant source of wonder to me. I grew up in an age when a CD album would be around £10-£15 and I’d have to save up for a while for it and cycle to the shops to buy it.

Now, at the press of a button, we can conjure up almost any music we can imagine via Spotify. Sometimes it’s a specific album, sometimes we’ll pick a genre of music, sometimes we’ll pick a playlist that has been curated to fit well with a certain mood, time of the day, or day of the week, either by Spotify themselves or from a contributor.

The occasional unexpected outburst of explicit lyrics aside(!), there really is no downside.

We pick the music to play during opening hours quite unscientifically, but we all kind of know what feels right for ourselves and our customers in the moment. Come closing time, we pick the music that helps us clean down the best, and the Cafe Allez! playlist: ‘CleanDown Classics, Volume 1’, is surely to be released soon.

We also experiment quite a bit. I remember picking some classical music early one Monday morning. A sole lady customer was in, drinking her caffe latte and reading a book, and everything just felt right.

Starbucks feels the same way albeit with a slightly bigger budget than ours! We know that they change the music played to suit the time of day, starting with quieter music (often classical) and moving towards more up-tempo tracks as the day progresses. They employ a pair of music curators who’ve been dedicated to this job for 20 years plus and have been credited with making some bands, as they are not averse to playing lesser-known, eclectic tracks in their shops. They’ll also slightly customise their soundtracks to be suitable for a given region.

So, now you know how we select our music – and we’d love to know what you would like to hear when visiting, or what you think would get us through the clean-down that bit faster…

One of the main drivers for starting Cafe Allez! was that we genuinely love good coffee. We will even admit to an addiction here. For me as a cyclist, the prospect of settling down with a really good flat white at a mid-ride cafe stop is one to relish, especially knowing there are genuine performance and health benefits to one’s daily cup, as a Brucie Bonus.

Trouble is, truly good coffee is genuinely hard to find and the more we learned Continue reading