New American Soulfood Smokehouse in London UK
Chris Ryan, esteemed editor of Freshcup recommended that I start a discussion on the Barista Exchange Forum - so here goes!
I run a specialist coffee wholesale distribution business in the UK, and we have an opportunity to work with one of our premium clients, who is about to launch an American Soulfood restaurant and bar in a prime location in Central London, England.
This is a great chance for me to persuade them to really embrace your coffee and tea culture ,especially from the Southern States, and I would love to get some ideas from you guys.
Iced tea is still not a major seller here, but so many things that start State-side eventually catch on here ( witness the Starbucks phenomenon which essentially kicked off our coffee-crazed culture). So i am confident that we can make a start here.
Additionally i would be so grateful for some ideas on coffee, how it is served, how do you roast yours in the South? I guess it will be dark, dark... but this is my assumption only. I would love to hear it from the horse's mouth, as it were.
I know that New Orleans do some great coffees too....
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on
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Charbucks kicked off coffee culture in England? Interesting though I believe misguided thought. Some of the earliest coffee houses in history were in England, for example Lloyd's of London began as a coffee house.
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Permalink Reply by Alice Rendle on
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Yes fair point and thanks for your comment and kicking off the discussion. I was really referring to the most recent coffee culture that is part of everyday life in the UK. Would very much welcome any thoughts you have re style of drinks you may think will work in our new eatery.
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Permalink Reply by Brady on
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Let me start off by making it very clear that, while I live in North Carolina, nobody would consider me to be a southerner. I'm just another damn yankee that hasn't left yet ;). So while I'm not the horse, I know quite a few of them well.
"The South" is a big and diverse place. The only near-universal "southern" beverage that comes to mind is tooth-achingly sweet iced tea. It's so ubiquitous that, if you'd prefer the unsweetened version you must remember to order it "unsweet". For authenticity's sake, make sure to ask "sweet or unsweet". How sweet? My family's shop would go 1 cup of white sugar per gallon of tea and that was not sweet enough for some customers. For the tea, a straightforward black tea is in order (think Lipton or Luzianne), though fruity variants were also a popular option.
Due to the homogenizing effect of Starbucks and the like there's really not much difference between espresso bar menus on either side of the Mason-Dixon line. Some locally-oriented operations might make an effort to look to regional cuisine for drink inspiration, but the overwhelmingly-popular choice in most places is a vanilla latte or it's evil, whipped cream and caramel striped brother.
Regarding regional roasting trends, remember that Counter Culture Coffee is southern, so you can forget that whole dark-roasted thing. Most roasters' offerings for the most part match the rest of the country.
More info on this could possibly be found by looking around on the Southern Living magazine site.
I guess my main point is, if you want to do a distinctive and unusual theme, you'd be better off going with the old New Orleans stereotype. I'm no expert on the current state of things, but my impression is that the more progressive places are pretty similar to the rest of the country - lighter roasts, smaller sizes, etc. For distinctiveness, you'd probably have more luck going with the old Cafe du Monde thing - big bowls of dark roasted coffee with chicory in steamed milk.
Just don't call it southern and you'll be ok...
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Permalink Reply by Danny Heiss on
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I feel like delving into southern royalty is an excellent idea for a restaurant. There are several fantastic restaurants that take the southern style food and turn it into an upgraded dining experience. But it's not so much about doing these dishes 100%accurate to how they would in the south. It's abut taking those dishes, and translating it to an audiences needs. Krispy Kreme donuts did they took a donut, something that never translated to the south, and turned it into a southern staple.
Look up the menu of a restaurant called Lucky 32. They're located in NC, and do a fabulous job of recreating Deep South food, and making it classic and delicious.
I don't know much about the UK, but I do know they are very proud of their tea. So, IMF you offer sweet tea, it needs to be in a form that is already familiar to the UK. You don't necessarily want to brew it like most people do in the south....boiling the leaves till its utterly bitter a d disgusting. Then, super saturating too much sugar to kill the bitterness. We use a Simpson & Vail iced tea blend, and run it through our drip coffee brewer. Then we use one cup of sugar. It's a very nice tea blend. Sometimes customers request specialty tea iced. So we infuse tea at whatever the usual time, temperature, and measurement is for that quantity and for the tea. But I usually halve the amount of water. Then I fill up whatever size cup with ice, and pour the hot tea over the ice. It comes out abut right and tastes great. I've played around with the idea of doing an iced, sweetened Earl Grey as an iced tea offering. I know it would work like a charm. I just haven't done it yet.
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Now this is what i'm talking about! love your truthful take on Iced Tea - the word 'sweet' clearly doesn't do it justice! However, in the name of authenticity i reckon we should be playing around with just that sort of recipe.
Your comments on coffee make sense too- we are seeing just this world of counter coffee culture too, more antipodean, lighter, more complex roasts that need to be treated carefully by talented Baristas.
However, in the spirit of replicating a true' southern-style soulfood' vibe i agree that the dark roast route may be the one to take. Thank you!
Brady said:Let me start off by making it very clear that, while I live in North Carolina, nobody would consider me to be a southerner. I'm just another damn yankee that hasn't left yet ;). So while I'm not the horse, I know quite a few of them well.
"The South" is a big and diverse place. The only near-universal "southern" beverage that comes to mind is tooth-achingly sweet iced tea. It's so ubiquitous that, if you'd prefer the unsweetened version you must remember to order it "unsweet". For authenticity's sake, make sure to ask "sweet or unsweet". How sweet? My family's shop would go 1 cup of white sugar per gallon of tea and that was not sweet enough for some customers. For the tea, a straightforward black tea is in order (think Lipton or Luzianne), though fruity variants were also a popular option.
Due to the homogenizing effect of Starbucks and the like there's really not much difference between espresso bar menus on either side of the Mason-Dixon line. Some locally-oriented operations might make an effort to look to regional cuisine for drink inspiration, but the overwhelmingly-popular choice in most places is a vanilla latte or it's evil, whipped cream and caramel striped brother.
Regarding regional roasting trends, remember that Counter Culture Coffee is southern, so you can forget that whole dark-roasted thing. Most roasters' offerings for the most part match the rest of the country.
More info on this could possibly be found by looking around on the Southern Living magazine site.
I guess my main point is, if you want to do a distinctive and unusual theme, you'd be better off going with the old New Orleans stereotype. I'm no expert on the current state of things, but my impression is that the more progressive places are pretty similar to the rest of the country - lighter roasts, smaller sizes, etc. For distinctiveness, you'd probably have more luck going with the old Cafe du Monde thing - big bowls of dark roasted coffee with chicory in steamed milk.
Just don't call it southern and you'll be ok...
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it's absoloutely right what you are saying. So much of what eateries do is to 'brand' the concept- and as you say this is incredibly successful with many companies.I will for sure check out the Lucky 32 place you mention. Thank you for that .
Yes in the UK we are proud of our tea, BUT ( whisper) we often make a rubbish job of serving it 'out of home'. No one trusts a caterer to get it right, and most of the time we are proved correct! I am intrigued about the way you make tea through a drip brewer. Something for me to look into for sure!
I think Earl Grey tea would be perfectly suited to an iced tea blend - i would also like to consider alcoholic blends with mint, sugar AND Earl Grey!
Danny Heiss said:I feel like delving into southern royalty is an excellent idea for a restaurant. There are several fantastic restaurants that take the southern style food and turn it into an upgraded dining experience. But it's not so much about doing these dishes 100%accurate to how they would in the south. It's abut taking those dishes, and translating it to an audiences needs. Krispy Kreme donuts did they took a donut, something that never translated to the south, and turned it into a southern staple.
Look up the menu of a restaurant called Lucky 32. They're located in NC, and do a fabulous job of recreating Deep South food, and making it classic and delicious.
I don't know much about the UK, but I do know they are very proud of their tea. So, IMF you offer sweet tea, it needs to be in a form that is already familiar to the UK. You don't necessarily want to brew it like most people do in the south....boiling the leaves till its utterly bitter a d disgusting. Then, super saturating too much sugar to kill the bitterness. We use a Simpson & Vail iced tea blend, and run it through our drip coffee brewer. Then we use one cup of sugar. It's a very nice tea blend. Sometimes customers request specialty tea iced. So we infuse tea at whatever the usual time, temperature, and measurement is for that quantity and for the tea. But I usually halve the amount of water. Then I fill up whatever size cup with ice, and pour the hot tea over the ice. It comes out abut right and tastes great. I've played around with the idea of doing an iced, sweetened Earl Grey as an iced tea offering. I know it would work like a charm. I just haven't done it yet.
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