AT Cultivate we mainly focus on bringing delicious fresh produce to the people of Oxford, but sometimes we can’t resist branching out from fruit and veg, especially when we have a plethora of people producing great food and drink products right on our doorstep.

Before joining Cultivate I used to work on Market Street in the city centre, and one of my favourite things about being based there was my proximity to The Missing Bean – an independently owned and run espresso bar and, in my opinion, the servers of the best coffee in Oxford. A couple of years ago they also set up a micro coffee roastery in East Oxford, where they roast their beans on a weekly basis. So, when we were discussing the potential of stocking some new non-fresh food items at our weekly Cultivate stops I was really keen to get in touch with them.

Fast-forward a few weeks and the Cultivate team and I are sat in the East Oxford roastery attending a ‘Cupping Night’. Sat at a round table armed with a flavour guide we were guided by Ori, the owner of the Missing Bean, through a selection of coffees discussing the beans, processing and provenance.

Ori ensures that all the beans they source are fully traceable from sustainable environments, are of the highest grade and – importantly – that the farmers are paid a fair price for them. The farmers Ori sources from are paid double what Fairtrade farmers are paid and he is even able to give us the name of the growers and locations of the farms for each type of bean.

We learnt about the different factors affecting the taste of the coffee; we tried the same coffee prepared as a filter, espresso, latte, and cold brew and each brewing method brought out a slightly different flavour profile despite being from the same bean.

After trying a few varieties, and under Ori’s expert advice, we settled on two single-origin coffees – a cold brew and a special Cultivate exclusive blend to stock at each of our stops. I’m looking forward to seeing what our customers think of it and sharing my newly-acquired coffee knowledge.