Rombouts UK http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog Rombouts Blog Mon, 17 Dec 2012 11:03:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 A Beginners Guide to Latte Art http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1165 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1165#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:15:35 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1165 Latte are is one of the most impressive skills in the barista’s armoury. We take a look at how to get started:



Molongo’s (our sister company in France) Barista Joseph Dupuy was French latte art champion in 2009. He did some designs for the blog at Caffé Culture, which you see at: http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=384

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1165 0 Coffee Painting http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1156 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1156#comments Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:56:58 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1156 Some time ago we Tweeted about a coffee artist – Coffee Creations – whose website can be found here: http://coffee-art.com/. Many of our followers were impressed with the art, so we wanted to put together a guide of how to do coffee painting. Since we aren’t naturally gifted artists we found this rather good video.



And here are a couple of terrific videos showcasing the work of a couple of artists:



]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1156 0 Top Blog Posts from 2011 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1150 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1150#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:25:31 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1150 Happy New Year! Let’s start by taking a look at some of our top blog posts from 2011:

1. Myth Busting: Coffee and Health

2. The Latte Art Printer

3. Focus on Cooperatives: CDI Bwamanda – Congo

4. Pom Koek (Belgian Coffee Cake)

5. Top 10 Coolest Coffee Mugs

6. Coffee Kids Guest Blog Post

7. How They Would Brew Coffee in 1961

8. Best iPhone Coffee Apps

9. The Different Coffee Roasts

10. How Much Caffeine is in Your Coffee?

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1150 2 Top Christmas Songs http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1145 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1145#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 11:00:29 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1145 These are the top Christmas songs as voted for by our Facebook Competition entrants. Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you have a lovely holiday.

1. The Pogues & Kirsty McColl – Fairytale Of New York (40 Votes)



2. Wizzard – I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday (13 Votes)



3. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas (11 Votes)



4. Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody (10 Votes)



5. Wham! – Last Christmas (10 Votes)

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1145 1 Pom Koek (Belgian Coffee Cake) http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1136 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1136#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:24:33 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1136 This traditional Belgian recipe is great for this time of year. It will definitely warm you on a wintry day!

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup honey
1 cup of coffee (preferably brewed in a caffetiere)
1 egg
1/3 cup corn oil

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves.
3. In a separate bowl quickly whisk the egg and mix in the honey, coffee and oil.
4. Quickly fold in the dry ingredients – mixing just enough to combine without toughening the batter.
5. Fold into the pan and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Slice thinly and serve warm with butter.

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1136 1 Christmas in Belgium – A Tale of Two Santas http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1126 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1126#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:31:27 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1126

As a Belgian company we wanted to pay a little tribute to our friends over in Antwerp by exploring some of their Christmas traditions.

Our favourite is that they have two Santa Clauses – St Nicholas and Pere Noel. This is due in part to the cultural make-up of the country. Pere Noel vists the French speaking side and St Nicholas visits the Flemish.

St Nicholas first visits on December 4th to see whether the children have been good or bad. He returns two days later on 6th to give out presents depending on how each child has behaved. Whoever has been bad gets a bundle of sticks. Each child leaves shoes or a basket outside their rooms for the presents to be distributed in. There is then a great feast for St Nicholas’ birthday and since it is considered a religious occasion, many people go to church.



Pere Noel also arrives on 6th December and talks to his friend Pere Fouettard, who has been keeping an eye on all the children. He advises Pere Noel on who’s been good or bad and they distribute the gifts together.

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1126 1 Coffee Eggnog Recipe http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1121 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1121#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:08:48 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1121

Christmas is very nearly here and we are very excited as usual. To get us all in the mood here is a great recipe for Coffee Eggnog.

Firstly, we need to create our eggnog mixture. Due to great amount of technique involved we’ve included this handy video:



Ingredients
2 shots of espresso
Sugar
2/3 cup of eggnog
1/3 cup of milk
Nutmeg
Whipped Cream

Directions
1. Add the eggnog mixture and milk and steam as normal.
2. Pour the 2 shots of espresso into a cup and add the steamed eggnog and milk.
3. Add sugar to your taste.
4. Add the whipped cream on top and sprinkle a little nutmeg.
5. Enjoy!

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1121 1 A Little History of Irish Coffee http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1116 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1116#comments Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:59:54 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1116 Irish Coffee, the traditional coffee cocktail, has a relatively recent history. It was invented in a small town in Western Ireland called Foynes, near Limerick. Despite its size it had the responsibility of welcoming people to Ireland, since it was the main airport for flying boats between America and Europe.

Since the airbase was so important to Foynes, they opened a restaurant to help welcome their foreign guests and facilitate a more comfortable overnight stay if the weather was bad. A man named Joe Sheridan ran the restaurant. One night a plane had to turn back and land at Foynes. Since it was such a cold night, Sheridan prepared a special drink. He added whiskey and demerara sugar to the coffee and topped it with whipped cream. He then declared that it was ‘Irish Coffee’.

Now Irish Coffee is probably the most popular coffee cocktail in the world. We found this rather fine video of a fantastic New Orleans barman making a traditional Irish Coffee.

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1116 0 A Simple Guide to Grinding Coffee http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1101 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1101#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:27:27 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1101

Many coffee lovers like to grind their own beans, since they can vary the size of the grains to suit their brewing method. It can also improve the freshness and taste of the coffee.

Here is our simple guide to grinding your own coffee.

Matching the Grind to the Method

1. Coarse Grind
French Press/Cafetierre
Vacuum Coffee Maker

2. Medium Grind
Drip Coffee Machines
(Machines with a cone shaped filter require a slight finer than medium grind.)

3. Fine Grind
Stove Pots

4. Very Fine Grind
Espresso Machines

Grinding Methods

1. Burr-grinding
This is the most common type of grinder for household use. It’s ideal for drip coffee machines and cafetierres. It works by two revolving wheels crushing the coffee. The only problem is that the mechanism tends to heat up, so really this is ideal for small amounts of beans.

2. Pounding
The old fashioned way! Using a mortar and pestle it is possible to create a fine powder which is ideal for Arabic and Turkish coffee.

3. Coffee Mill or Blade Grinder
Similar to burr-grinding, these machines use a chopping technique. This gives the user a certain amount of control over the grind, since the longer you run it, the finer the grind. It does warm up though, like a burr-grinder.

4. Roller Grinding
This is technique you will generally find used by professional grinding machines in coffee shops. The coffee is ground between two rollers, giving a more even grind and heating up less. On an industrial scale these machines often use water cooling systems.

You can buy coffee beans from our website: http://www.rombouts.co.uk/products.asp?categoryID=6491

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1101 1 Top 10 Coolest Coffee Mugs http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1081 http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1081#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:00:25 +0000 admin http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?p=1081 We quite often tweet images of cool mugs we find online, so we thought we’d put up our 10. So in no particular order here are our top 10 coolest coffee mugs:

1. The Self-Stirring Mug



2. Chalkboard Mug



3. Dr Who Mug – Tardis appears and disappears with the change in heat!


4. The Equal Measure Mug



5. The I’m Not A Paper Cup – Ceramic Coffee Cup



6. Retro Coffee Cups



7. Pac-Man Heat Changing Mug



8. Dunk Mug



9. Tube Map Mug



10. Heat Changing CO2 Mug

]]> http://www.rombouts.co.uk/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1081 1