Congrats to Gwilym for making the World Barista Championship finals tomorrow. He represents the UK along side competitors from the USA, Hungary, South Korea, Canada and Ireland. It is going to be a lot of fun - watch live tomorrow online: WBC Live Stream Go Gwilym, Go!

Another coffee we’ve loved is coming to the end of its run. The final roast will be Tuesday 21st April, so if you want a final taste of one of the most interesting coffees we found last year then be quick! We will see if we can get some more new crop soon, but it is unlikely because we have some other very exciting coffees on the way from El Salvador!

Important news regarding the next 10 days of webshop orders: As we are travelling out to Atlanta to support Gwiylm Davies in the WBC , it means that there will be a slight interruption in service. Orders placed up until Monday 13th will roast that day but due to Easter will ship Tuesday 14th. There will be no roasting and shipping on Thursday 16th, and we return on the Monday but in order to take potential delays into accounts the next roast and ship day will be Tuesday 21st. We will return to normal service from that point onwards. We hope you understand the reasons behind this and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. For those wanting to follow along with Gwilym we’ll keep this blog updated, as well as our twitter feed and James’ blog . He is currently down to perform at 12pm Atlanta time (GMT - 5), so around 5pm here. It should be live on the WBC site.

You might have noticed that each time a new espresso is released the label changes. Not only the contents and the descriptions (obviously!) but also the layout. Autumn Espresso Winter Espresso Spring Espresso The initial idea for the label was to create a tag cloud - the size of the descriptor indicating the likelihood and quantity of that particular flavour. We really liked this idea - we thought it was a good way to embrace the variability of brewing espresso - encompassing the changes in flavour that come with different ages, brewing water, brewing equipment and recipes. However it fell down on anther goal - approachability. A huge quantity of coffee flavours are intimidating for someone just starting to get into coffee, and we didn’t want to feel like we were just preaching to the choir. So from Autumn to Winter the tag cloud was reigned back. Designing Spring I couldn’t help but feel that the cloud was still a bit much. It doesn’t help when someone relatively new to coffee looks at the back and expresses surprise that you do flavoured coffee. So we simplified it again for Spring. We like the label and I think the key flavours described should show up across most brews. We still feel the tag cloud idea has merit though. We did have an idea of a microsite that allowed customers to input their cupping notes into the site to constantly update a swirling live tag cloud of the espresso. Crowd sourcing descriptors seemed like fun! However that probably won’t happen as the cloud would only really become useful when enough people enter data and at that point the espresso would be close to the end of its run as a seasonal blend. This doesn’t mean we are done with the tagcloud idea - we still have a few experiments and projects for the future. We just wanted to talk a little bit about why the labels are changing and our thought behind it.

We are looking for people to come and judge Gwilym in the run up to the WBC. No formal coffee experience necessary - just an interest in getting to taste the drinks that will be served in Atlanta. We will try and work out a date once we have enough people but we are likely looking at around Sunday 12th, perhaps in the late afternoon/early evening. We quite fancy the idea of three run throughs with three different judges teams. If you are interested then leave drop us an email at info at square mile coffee dot com. There is no guarantee that this will happen and registering your interest sadly won’t guarantee you a judging spot but we’d appreciate anyone stepping up and getting involved. A rare and fun opportunity!

Oh boy oboy oboy oboy! W are quite excited! APRIL 8th at 6:30pm at the roastery, espresso from 4 of Denmarks best coffee roasters, 1 Synesso, 1 Anfim, 1 or more baristas and dozens of espressocups: it’s Taste of Denmark time…. Featuring: Coffee Collective Kontra Copenhagen Roaster Marista Kaffe TICKETS IN THE SHOP ! As always, all proceeds to BIKES TO RWANDA. Somebody make sure to bring smørrebrød, red sausages and frikadeller! No prizes for guessing what the beer will be!

Two notes - the video isn’t 13:20 long, but about 7 minutes. Secondly - my initial offset opinion could be wrong, by about 0.5C closer to display. This doesn’t affect findings on stability or repeatability - it is just numbers. Videocast #5 - Introduction to the Uber Boiler from James Hoffmann on Vimeo .

Two notes – the video isn’t 13:20 long, but about 7 minutes. Secondly – my initial offset opinion could be wrong, by about 0.5C closer to display. This doesn’t affect findings on stability or repeatability – it is just numbers. Videocast #5 – Introduction to the Uber Boiler from James Hoffmann on Vimeo .

The Counter 4 Roach Road London E3 map Possibly the best kept secret in London, mostly due to its location. Way off the charts of most coffee people/food bloggers. Don’t miss: The Big Breakfast (especially the homemade relish), the vintage cinema seating, a great mural, great coffee, finding an oasis in the oddest of places. I love how much the owners did without spending on pointless things. Love just hanging out here.

We are always sad to see coffees go, especially ones like this that we are quite attached too. Of the 9 bags we bought we are down to the very last roast of the Muchoki . Be quick if you want one last taste of its tangerine, strawberry and cherry goodness. (We do have a couple of new coffees from Kenya that will be here very soon!) In better news we do have a small amount of a Rwandan coffee we really enjoyed at a cupping. Subscribers got a sneaky preview this month and we’ve really been enjoying it to as we dialed in the roast. It is from a cooperative called Kopabagk i in Rusenyi and it reminds me of apple and blackberry pie in a very good, yummy baked fruit kind of way! Mmm… pie.