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Yasmin's Archive

posted at 10:16am, 23 Jul 10 by Yasmin [ 9 comments ]

Festival season is now in full swing! That means great music, lots of food & merriment and …. camping! Gone are the days of poky tents or cold showers … now you can go Glamping! Most festivals have glamping options including yurts or fancy medieval-themed.

This level of luxury comes at a price though. So we got thinking, what would you do to glamp up your festival experience using your creativity alone?

Phoebe's makeshift cafétiere brews Machu Picchu coffee

Here’s a great example of creative low-cost glamping:

I met Phoebe at Hay Festival this year. She had forgotten to buy coffee for her campervan so picked up some Machu Picchu from the Cafédirect Container House. Her glamping moment involved making her own cafétiere so her and her fellow campers could enjoy their morning coffee just the way they like it!

“Thank you so much for saving my morning coffee at Hay. It was a blessing to come across your tasting stall and find yummy fresh coffee, and more amazing that you lent me some filter papers so I could fashion together a makeshift cafetiere. I cut off the bottom of a plastic cup and put the filter and coffee in it. Really simple in the end but worked perfectly. We then added hot milk and it tasted unbelievably delicious.”

That’s Phoebe’s glamping tip - what’s yours?

Post your tips into the comment box below before 5.30pm today to win a pack of coffee and a cafétiere that you can take camping.

Remember - be as inventive as possible as the most creative entry wins! You can enter as many times as you like. Prizes can only be sent to a UK or Ireland postal address.

Friday Fun – Compilation CD requests!

posted at 10:24am, 16 Jul 10 by Yasmin [ 11 comments ]

This time next week we’ll be relaxing with WOMAD festivalgoers on coffee sack deckchairs in the Container House’s garden soaking up the cultural explosion around us. And we can’t wait!

Cafédirect is no stranger to world music – in fact I was digging around in our archives and came across a Cafédirect compilation CD from 2001. Entitled Cultural Harmonies this CD features music from Cafédirect grower countries – including Mariachi Sol from Mexico, Adzido music from Tanzania and Uganda, and some upbeat Musica Latina from the Dominican Republic.

This got me thinking, if we were to create a new compilation CD now – what would be on it? We’d probably want a mixture of music from grower countries (like Mexican band Mana’s Rayando el Sol), music about grower countries songs (like Toto’s Africa) about coffee, tea and cocoa (like One more cup of coffee by Bob Dylan).

Post your ideas for a song to add to a Cafédirect Mixtape in the comments box below. The most creative entry will win a copy of Cultural Harmonies, a pack of Medium Roast fresh ground coffee and some Everyday Tea!

Friday Fun - Cafédirect Compilation CD prize

Friday fun closes at 5.30pm today so get your entries as soon as possible!

My favourite Container House moments….so far!

posted at 9:43am, 07 Jul 10 by Yasmin [ 0 comments ]

The Hemingway designed Cafédirect Container House is already almost halfway through it’s UK summer tour. So far, we’ve sampled our gourmet Machu Picchu & Kilimanjaro at Grand Designs Live, Hay Festival and the Three Counties Show.

Here are my favourite moments from the Container House so far:

Bringing Kilimanjaro & Machu Picchu to the masses!

Meeting a Tanzanian family at Grand Designs Live who, unsurprisingly, all chose Kilimanjaro as their favourite!

Meeting Holly Ellis - she carries Cafédirect teabags in her handbag!

Violinist plays for Container House visitors at Hay Festival

Violinist plays for the Container House visitors at Hay Festival

Personal touches make the Container House feel like a home - vintage accessories & homegrown herbs in old packs

Have you been to the Cafédirect Container House yet? Tell us your favourite moment in the comments box below. We’ve also uploaded photos from the Container House on Facebook - so be sure to tag yourself and share with your friends too!

We’re now looking forward to: world music at WOMAD; street parades at Brecon Jazz Festival; immersion in all things vintage at Vintage at Goodwood; and some artsy excitement at Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Next stop: WOMAD 23- 25 July.

RSVP here to tell us you’re going to WOMAD!

Taste Adventure in the Container House

posted at 1:54pm, 24 Jun 10 by Yasmin [ 2 comments ]

Have you been to the Cafédirect Container House yet?

This summer we are giving you the chance to embark on a taste adventure at the Container House. Everyone coming along is given free samples of our Machu Picchu and Kilimanjaro coffee and asked to decide which is their favourite.

Are you a Machu Picch or Kilimanjaro fan?

Coffee cups. Grand Designs You might think that this would be an easy decision but, despite both of these gourmet coffees being 100% Arabica, single origin coffees grown at high altitudes by smallholder farmers, they taste completely different.

Machu Picchu is rich and smooth with dark, chocolatey overtones – an excellent after-dinner treat. Whereas Kilimanjaro fits that morning coffee bill perfectly – it’s lively with a citrussy zing to give you that essential morning lift!

Why do they taste so different?

Well it’s all down to the way that the coffee beans are grown, nurtured and picked by smallholders. Machu Picchu coffee is grown by farmers (like Alejandro here) in the COCLA co-operative on the lush, green slopes around Machu Picchu in Peru. These organic beans are cultivated carefully to preserve their natural flavour and capture that irresistible dark chocolatey taste.

Kilimanjaro is grown by KNCU co-operative by smallholder farmers and it’s sweet acidity is typical of East African coffee, but what gives this gourmet brew it’s uniqueness is the fertile volcanic soil of Mount Kilimanjaro which gives Kilimanjaro it’s lively character and natural zing, and of course the pride and passion that goes into growing these high quality beans by farmers like Denis Shio here.

So … are you a Machu Picchu or Kilimanjaro? Drop by the Container House to taste for yourself!

Sampling Cafédirect's Machu Picchu and Kilimanjaro coffees at Hay Festival 2010

Catch up with all of the goings-on at the Cafédirect Container House on Facebook , Flickr and Twitter. You can also post your photos from the Container House on Facebook – we’d love to hear which coffee you chose too!

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