It's been a while, but we're back....(we never left, we've just been busy)

Five months. Five months it’s been since I last posted here, after religiously posting nearly every week for the past five years, all of a sudden, it went quiet for five months. Well not quiet really, just very, very, busy indeed.

But here we are, Kaffeine on Eastcastle, or K2 to the K1, the little brother to the big sister, the Fresh Prince to the Original Gangster, has now been open for three months, after opening our doors on March 9th.

We are very, very happy, the site looks and is amazing, it’s all working as we expected (pretty much), but saying that it has not been without difficulty or opening snagging problems either. We have had some wonderful media attention, some fantastic industry attention and have been very warmly welcomed into the neighbourhood by our lovely neighbours, as well as being congratulated by many of our wonderful regular customers who have made it in to visit and support us. You can check out a great review of Eastcastle on the world’s best coffee site ‘Sprudge’ here.

http://sprudge.com/london-gets-a-second-dose-of-kaffeine-75790.html

I was hoping to keep the blog updated as we went along, but obviously that did not happen. I was warned by another very well known and experienced coffee person with 2 cafes of his own that opening the second one is actually much harder than the first one. I slightly disagree, as my memory of the first one, whilst slightly blurred now, still burns strong as being very, very hard and stressful indeed.

The difference is, and very well known publican who owns seven venues outside London told me this once, is that ‘you will never have the strength of mind or passion or enthusiasm or love that you had for the first one’. The other difference of course is I am six years older and have 2 children.

But yes, it is hard, it is stressful, it is a lot of hours, and so it bloody well should be. Opening any business, let alone a reasonably small cafe in London, is a very, very serious undertaking. It is not to be taken lightly. This is real. People rely on you, you rely on people, your family relies on you, this is your reputation and of course it is probably (though may not be in some cases) all your money. So keeping a blog updated was pushed to the background, as we focussed quite rightly on getting all the small details right that you need to focus on when opening a business.

So now we have a great list of topics for future blogs, as well as keeping these pages updated with current or future goings on. Here are a few:

Kaffeine the Cookbook: Yes we have a cookbook deal signed, watch this space, so exciting

Recruitment : This could go on for ever. Seriously

The Victoria Arduino Black Eagle: Probably the best espresso machine in the world, and we have one.

Mythos Clima Pro: A grinder that compliments and works with the best espresso machine in the world, and we have one too.

Suppliers: Why looking after them in the first place helps you in the long run

The Bar: The design points of our new workspace and why we did it

Fitzrovia: It’s all happening in one of the greatest suburbs of the greatest cities of the world

Balance: Life, work, family – how important it is

Shots Per Kilo: Being able to compare two shops, two machines, two grinders and 6 baristas

Classes: The opportunity to be taught espresso or latte art on the Black Eagle

The Cricket: It’s Ashes season & again we are in the Harris Gardens but also in the Media Centre

Latte Art Smackdown: This year we hope to bring it in September, at Eastcastle, on the Black Eagle.

Allergies: A very serious issue, and how we deal with it.

Frozen The Movie: The soundtrack and why it will always be associated with opening Eastcastle

Guest Espresso: Why we stopped doing it

Cold Brew Coffee: Our version for summer

Australia: A brief holiday we went on in April

More: There are probably more topics, I just cannot think of them now

So here we are, back and working hard on all aspects, aiming to bring espresso drinks, loose leaf tea, delicious and creative food with hospitable service to 2 different, but very similar venues in Fitzrovia.

Thank you for being so patient with us and also for supporting us. We look forward to looking after you. Please find below the menus for both stores and please enjoy.

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.