Well we have achieved some of our objectives, but unfortunately not all, before our self imposed Christmas deadline.

You will see we have our website up, and I am pleased to tell you that we have the Swissgold (1 cup) filters in stock now, and we will also stock an entry level burr grinder before the end of January to give anyone who would like the opportunity to start buying their coffee as beans and grind as required, rather than purchasing ground coffee.

You do not need to lay out several thousand pounds on an espresso machine and grinder to expose you taste buds to first class coffee. Once you taken the first step in that direction of course, do not be surprised if you do find yourself begging for a bright & shiny espresso machine long before next Christmas!

So our first task for 2008 is to get the coffee flowing again in our enlarged premises roasts that we moved into last week.

Don’t be surprised if you see my personal favourite in the line up (I will state my bias clearly right now, it is from Papua New Guinea). While not best suited to espresso, in single origin form at least, I think our PNG coffee has an unparalleled exotic richness in the cup when paired with the Swissgold filter. I would also concede that it is not to everyone’s palate, but teamed with a fine Swiss chocolate with a high cocoa content it is undeniably a personal favourite.

On the topic of favourites, so many people have told me over the years how much they enjoy Brazilian coffees. Well I have heard it from too many for them all to be wrong, but I must concede that I have never had the opportunity to have a really satisfying coffee from Brazil. It is one of my goals for 2008 to hunt down & learn how to roast to perfection a coffee from Brazil.

In the meantime enjoy a safe & refreshing Christmas-New Year & we look forward to seeing you early in 2008.

Merry Xmas,

Reiss.