LONDON, UK – UCC Coffee UK & Ireland and Hotel Chocolat have joined forces for this year’s London Coffee Festival, marking the highlight of London’s coffee calendar with unique sensory lab sessions to explore what makes coffee and chocolate great.
In the 30-minute sessions, Gayan Munaweera, head of coffee quality at UCC Coffee UK & Ireland and David DeMaison, head chocolatier at Hotel Chocolat, will help visitors discover the stark similarities and differences between coffee and chocolate.
In the hands on session, festival goers will get to pair coffees and chocolates from the same origins as the experts walk them through different flavours and mouthfeels.
They’ll learn about how roasting, and chocolate’s delicate ‘conching’ process, can create different flavours from the same raw product.
And, having discovered the relationship between coffee and chocolate, guests will leave with a bar of coffee chocolate, created just for the London Coffee Festival and an exclusive pack of Hotel Chocolat’s own coffee beans.
UCC Coffee is also offering coffee lovers the chance to experience coffee like never before in an interactive live cupping and roasting experience.
Gareth Davies, head of coffee excellence, UCC Coffee UK & Ireland will walk visitors through the seed to sip coffee experience.
Using the on-stand Ikawa roaster, guests will roast their own specialty coffee beans, cupping at each stage of the roast to explore flavours and aromas, before leaving with a personal pack of coffee, freshly roasted just for them.
In the Hyde Park area of the festival, UCC Coffee is showcasing the latest coffee, equipment, sharing insight and giving visitors the opportunity to taste its new Grand Crü Composition No.2, developed with Master Sommelier Ronan Sayburn.
The Nuova Simonelli Aurelia II T3 and Appia II will be put through their paces as the team hosts hands on micro-training sessions – busting coffee’s common misconceptions and teaching latte art in three simple steps.
Spaces on the experiences are limited so for more information, or to bag your spot on the cupping and roasting experience, please contact Nicole Hartnell at Nicole.Hartnell@ucc-coffee.co.uk.
London Coffee Festival takes place at Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London from 6-9 April 2017.
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