London Coffee Festival

A touch of English coffee

Boutique coffee is becoming more and more popular in Britain.

The first "British Coffee week" (UK Coffee Week) kicked off in London this week. With the strong aroma of coffee beans and the sunshine of British spring, coffee lovers can enjoy the comfort and joy of coffee.

Walking in the streets of London, there is a smell of freshly ground coffee beans. Last year, there were more than 800 new coffee shops in the UK. Whether you are at work, at home, in a bar or in a coffee shop, coffee has become a part of people's lives and a special social space.

Jeffrey Young, planner of British Coffee week, told BBC: "the event aims to celebrate the success of the coffee industry in the UK over the past few years and to promote coffee making, baristas' skills and artistic grinding."

From April 1 to April 10, wonderful events, large and small, have been staged in London. these include coffee art exhibitions, coffee grinding demonstrations, VIP cocktail parties, coffee tastings, Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, coffee and poetry meetings and the final three days of the London Coffee Festival.

Afternoon tea vs. Boutique coffee

Someone once described that the only thing left when he came back from a trip to Europe was the strong aroma of coffee. Indeed, coffee can be used as a representative of Western drinks. However, in the British Isles, English afternoon tea seems to be more famous.

So how does the coffee industry survive and develop in the tea culture?

Jeffrey Young said: "in recent years, the British have become more and more enthusiastic about boutique coffee, which is called the third craze of the coffee industry."

"the first coffee boom occurred about 30 or 40 years ago, when coffee was mostly filtered coffee of relatively poor quality, basically brown water."

"then the second craze began with the arrival of coffee chains such as Starbucks, which sold better quality coffee and created a coffee shop culture in the UK."

"now, there is a third coffee boom in east London, where many incredible boutique cafes have sprung up, marking another new era for the development of the coffee industry in the UK."

Charity coffee

In addition to enjoying coffee and learning about coffee culture, British Coffee week also hopes to raise 1 million pounds through a 10-day event to improve the lives of residents of coffee origin.

The Waterfall Project (Waterfall Project) is a charity project of British Coffee week that aims to provide safe and hygienic drinking water to 100, 000 people in coffee producing areas in Africa.

Geoffrey Young believes that charity events are a highlight and significance of this "British Coffee week".

"as an industry, we agree that we should contribute to the origin of coffee that provides us with pleasure," he said. In the UK, drinking clean drinking water is not a problem, but it is difficult for many developing countries to do so. "

"it is also symbolic to provide clean drinking water for the residents there, because coffee requires a lot of water to make."

The British coffee chain that joined the event will encourage customers to donate an extra 5p when buying a cup of coffee. In addition, all ticket proceeds from the London Coffee Festival will be donated to the Waterfall Project.