The Newest Member of our Team...

Those of you who have met me or read my blog so far, may have come to realise I have a slight interest in coffee, coffee culture, coffee machines, coffee coffee coffee...

Those of you didn't know that about me, you do now!

You can imagine then my excitement when a large box arrived at our door this morning, with this hiding inside!

The Sanremo Verona TCS has been a part of our vision for The Glorious Art House since day one, long before we knew what colour the walls would be, before we had a name, before we knew where we would be, we knew we would have this.

The reason for our choice of machine in a world of a thousand options is a simple one;

The Verona represents everything we want The Glorious to be;

Beauty, Joy & Light, in every detail. 

I could go on about how you can set each group to run at an alternative temperature from the other and central boiler, I could talk about the optional cup heater which conserves power, I could talk about it's self cleaning cycles, it's blue lights, it's water boiler powerful enough to fill a teapot saving us counter space and money by not needing a separate urn... But I'm not sure how much of an interesting read it would make to anyone but me!

Instead I'll just point out again, that it's beautiful, the precision to detail reflects what it is I love about Italian design. It fits us well, and we are happy with it. It was fitted by a cracking team of guys from Coffee West, who I will write about sometime, they're a company with exceptional service and based just moments away from my home town. As lucky we were to find the machine we were twice as lucky to be able to buy from them.

In celebration of this Glorious day we are launching our first like & share competition... All you have to do is like the link to this on our facebook page, and share it on your own and you could win;

250g of our beautiful coffee beans (whole or ground),
A 250ml Routin 1883 Syrup, in your preferred flavour,
& A Gloriosa Mug, made exclusively by Anthropologie (& no longer in stock or production)

We think it's a fairly good prize, and we cannot wait to announce the winner on Friday 29th August. 

Please keep reading!

11 days to go....

Caffe Latte / Latte / Cafe Au Lait

In all the excitement of the colourful walls, the twinkling lights, the mirrors, the golden frames the mexican tiles, the wallpapers and chandeliers (rest assured, I will get around at some point to guiding you through them...) It's easy to forget about the products of our beautiful building.

So I thought I should probably start introducing you to a few of them, and the journey we've undergone to find or create them.

We begin with a simple and humble drink thats becoming perhaps one of the most exciting coffees;

Latte (noun) :  a coffee, made with espresso and steamed milk

We had to first decide on a vessel, a beautiful drink deserves a beautiful cup. Whatever people might say, size does matter, we don't do a small medium or large (Tall, Grande, Venti / Primo, Medio, Massimo) Our drinks are all in traditional sizes - our latte comes in our largest cup - "Kebaya" a 390ml / 13oz colourful stoneware mug, inspired by Dutch fabrics. 

Gone are the days of the Layered Lattes, coffee in chunky glasses has always reminded me of those back room of a church glass mugs, and as with Prawn Cocktails in Ice Cream Sundae glasses, I'm glad to see the back of them. 

A latte as I think we all know, is mostly milk, it should be steamed to create a light shine, which when poured into the crema creates a shocking contrast. The white on golden brown has led to something truly creative, something which really lets the barista shine, where flair and skill can be etched out for everyone to see. Amongst other reasons, I think the growth in Latte art is the driving force people now see coffee as the art form it truly is. 

You see some wonderful 'pieces' if you begin to look through the depths of the internet; kittens creeping out of cups, faces or flowers floating against the creamy backdrop, elephants etched, hearts, Harry Potter and so much more.. The Rosetta is possibly Latte Art 101, the leaf that sits on top of flat whites at a certain chain, a delicate and simple pattern which has made it so accessible for all to enter the game.. 

We encourage our Baristas to try something new and get creative, and if you fancy a go, we'll be running a competition before christmas to win a training session with a previous world barista champ, now coffee trainer. 

I could talk about latte art all night and I could attach a whole host of my favourite shots, but I'll leave you with just one, and maybe I'll have inspired some of you to go out and look for more, please share your favourites with us, on facebook, twitter or instagram..

 

Hello World!

Ahem, testing, testing.. one, two, three..

Thanks for coming by and reading this, my first post on The Glorious Blog. My name's Derry, and for those of you who I haven't met yet or don't know, I'm one of the Co-Founders of The Glorious Art House.

Leaving the creative side to my Co-Founder and Mum, I am the man behind the products we sell and the coffee we make. It's been such an exciting journey getting us going, finding a whole host of fantastic suppliers for our beautiful Coffee House.

Everyone we have told we are opening a Coffee House we have been asked the same question;

"What makes you different from everyone else?"

A fair enough question in a city where Costa reigns, and a whole host of battleship grey, industrial chic 'speciality' coffee shops try and challenge them for a place as the peoples favourite.

I have consistently answered this question with something along the lines of "you'll see" or "when you walk through the door you will know".

Through posts on this blog I hope to show you, just how different we are, from the smallest details to the biggest... There are several alternative ways you can keep an eye on us though too

Visit  www.theglorious.co.uk

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I can't wait to see you here for a coffee! 

Derry