I'm not okay, but it's okay - life + blog updates


Recently life has really got to me, and I'm not writing for any kind of pity party, quite the opposite, I'm writing because I know in a few months I'll look back at the place I'm in right now and see how far I've come when I attempt to get my shit together. 
It's been a rough 2 months, and as much as I have been regularly uploading to this blog, primarily about coffee, I still want to take it further, to be able to write different things, to be able to write about content that isn't just about coffee, and of course I can do that, it's my blog, but where to start? 

I want to start writing a lot about mental health, I won't lie in saying my mental health is the worst it's been in 4 years, and I am struggling in finding ways to cope. Writing helps. So I hatched a plan that might not just help me, but other people too. 
If you've visited my site in the last week, you might've noticed I've changed a few things, the categories that are on my blog, (and a soap information page, but more on that another time) and I've updated my about me page.

As for what kinds of posts are going to be appearing on this blog

- Untold coffee subscription boxes will continue every month 
- One click coffee subscription boxes will continue every month

There will be at least 2 mental health and lifestyle posts (maybe not straight away but definitely in the future) 
There will also be another random coffee feature, whether it be a specific coffee/brand or possible collaboration

So hopefully around 4-6 blog posts a month, which will be a challenge I'm sure, but a challenge I'll accept.

I will also be attempting to Blog Everyday In May again, because we all know how well that went last year (what did I get to, day 11? Maybe we'll reach 12 this year) 



If there are any specific areas of anything (be it coffee, lifestyle, or mental health) you want me to cover on here, feel free to shoot me a message. I have tons of ideas already but I'd love to hear what you guys actually want to read.


Until next time




The Coffee Life

head over to my social media page on where to find me






One Click Coffee Box

**This box was very kindly gifted to me**


What's this? A different subscription box from Untold? I only feel like I'm slightly cheating on them. But when Pollyanna contacted me asking if I wanted to try out the box, I could hardly say no.



One Click is something that has pretty much popped up all over Instagram and Facebook over the past couple of weeks, and for a good reason - One click are a subscription coffee company, that are dedicated to finding high quality, high standard coffee every month.

The packaging of this box is fantastic, on the top when you open the box the first thing you see is the One Click newspaper (more about that later on!) next is the branded tissue paper that everything is so (NEATLY, I mean honestly how is it so neat?!?!) wrapped in.


Inside the beautifully wrapped paper, was the two coffees, a really cute tin to store your beans/ground coffee and a real sweet little coaster (I believe every one in other boxes were different) mine said "Good Morning"




One Click Coffee have quite a few different boxes, which is ideal for anyone.

The boxes they offer:
The monthly subscription box at £25 a month
Includes:
- 2x 250g bags of beans (either whole bean or ground)
- A monthly newspaper
- Something to eat or keep

The Office Box (a genius idea!!!) at £55 a month
Includes:
- 4 x 250g bags of beans from 2 different roasters (either whole bean or ground)

The Housemate Box at £40 a month
Includes:
- 3 x 250g bags of beans (either whole bean or ground) - ideal for 4 housemates

The 3 Month subscription at £72.99
- Saving you £2.01 instead of paying monthly

The 6 Month Subscription at £144.99
- Saving you £5.01 instead of paying monthly

The 12 Month Subscription at £285.99
- Saving you £14.01 instead of paying monthly

I love that there are so many boxes and so many ways to pay, in an ideal world if I had a straight near £300 spare I'd sign up for a year, but we'll stick to monthly payments for now hey.




The newspaper is an amazing little addition to the box, with some key brewing information and interviews with both 200 Degrees and Nord Coffee. It's great because not only do you get to drink the delicious coffee, but you also get to learn a lot about the companies, the ethics behind it, and meeting the people who roast the coffee, a win-win







In this particular box, the 2 different roasters were -  200 Degrees Roastery and Nord Coffee

I was really excited when I received this box because I hadn't tried either of the roasters but they were both on my "to try" list - so first up

200 Degrees Roastery
Panama La Boquete
Medium Roast
Farm: Garridos Estates
Process: Hand Picked & Washed - Sun and Mechanical Drying
Growing Altitude: 1500-1750m
Taste Notes: Raspberry, Peanut, Aromatic

Brewed by cafetière - 14g in, 275ml water, 95degrees, total brew time of 3 minutes & 25 seconds
- super fruity and floral, smooth with next to no acidity



Brewed by aeropress - 16g in, 260g of water, 30 second bloom time, total brew time of 2.15 
- boy was this coffee delicious, I have been obsessed with this coffee since trying it through the aeropress, it's super aromatic and fruity, the ideal combination. 




Nord Coffee
Rulindo
Rulindo District, Rwanda
Varietal: Red Bourbon
Process: Washed
Taste Notes: Red Apple, Honey, Orange
Cup Score: 87

Brewed by cafetière - 14g in, 275ml water, 95degrees, total brew time of 3 minutes & 25 seconds
- this brew was super sweet and syrup-y and very true to the taste notes of Apple and honey which both came through beautifully.




Brewed by aeropress - 16g in, 260ml water, 30 second bloom, total brew time of 2.20 seconds
-super sweet and fresh, a crisp finish, with fruity acidity when it cools.





I'm so glad neither of these coffees disappointed my expectations - and I will be definitely purchasing from them both in the future - and as for the box itself, I have subscribed to a monthly box, which means I'll have 2 subscription box posts every month! Hopefully meaning my consistency of blogging will improve because I'll be forced to have more of a schedule.




Find One Click Coffee Here

Website - here
Instagram - here 
Facebook - here
YouTube - here
Pinterest - here




The Coffee Life

head over to my social media page on where to find me




Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2019



Well, what a trip. 







Who knew my first solo trip would be to Amsterdam, and for a reason like the Amsterdam coffee festival. I wasn't even planning on going (because I couldn't find anywhere cheap to stay!!) until I saw my good pal (I can call her that now, we've met in person, basically bffs) Izzy from Caffeine Galore was going, I just had to ask where she was staying to see if I could maybe stay in the same hotel with her - turns out she was nice enough to room-share in the place she booked, which was ideal for both me and her because it ended up being a very cheap stay! 


We both flew out on the Thursday, and met each other in Amsterdam (after a lot of confusion of "I'm outside Starbucks" "no you're not I can't see you" "oh wait you're on the crap side of the airport" "STAY WHERE YOU ARE" messages back and forth) and we headed out to Centraal. 

We decided to hit up a coffee shop (who's really shocked?!), made use of the Best Coffee App and stumbled our way over to Coffee Company


Izzy had a flat white and I had a cheeky oat milk cortado.
After that we had a pretty chill day, exploring, getting to know each other in person and not just liking and retweeting the others posts.

(We also were in bed by 9pm, and if that doesn't sum up the both of us I don't know what does) 


Onto the actual festival as I'm sure that's why you're reading - and if you haven't clicked off this post yet, get ready for some serious coffee talk (ha, just kidding, it'll just be me like usual, having a bit of a waffle about how great it all was)



What I love, love, loved about Amsterdam Coffee Festival was how chill EVERYBODY is, like it honestly puts London Coffee Festival to shame a little bit, but actually portrays London at its finest, busy and high stress. But Amsterdam people, you know how to do it. 


Like previous years, the festival was split into two rooms, the main room hosting a lot more than the second room, including Latte Art Live (can't ever go anywhere and not bump into Dhan Tamang, not even to a different country) 



The main attraction in the second room being the La Marzocco KB90, everyone wanted to get there hands on it and try it out, understandably, safe to say we got some photos and left, it was probably the most hectic stand there. 

We had a good look around, visited a good number of stalls, and even doubled round a few, like Oatly (of course, and not just because the barista called me beautiful and I got a bit smitten, I'll take a compliment anywhere) 




We also had a good chat with the lovely women from Good Beans, also known as Fucking Strong Coffee, and picked up some beans, as well as a mug and a tote bag. Not that I'm brave enough to ever wear the tote bag outside in public, feel like I might get some stares. 




It got to about 3pm and we were overly caffeinated, our heart rates had never been so high, so we had a wander back into Centraal, a lovely walk (a less lovely 17000 steps) and wandered around (we must've looked high, or drunk, but alas, it was the caffeination) 
We headed to the airport early, to calm our poor hearts and sat in Starbucks reminiscing about the day. 
We went our separate ways to our flight, and grudgingly headed back to the UK


Amsterdam Coffee Festival was amazing. 
I can't quite put into words what a day it was, but all I know is that I will be attending future Amsterdam Coffee Festivals, because wow.

Next up on the list - London Coffee Festival




More photos from the festival - 













If this photo doesn't sum up a coffee festival I don't know what does / two coffees from two completely different stalls



Don't festivals have the yummiest of foods???










Be sure to check out Izzy, she's pretty rad 
Instagram - here
Website - here
Store - here
Twitter - here






The Coffee Life

head over to my social media page on where to find me









Untold Coffee Box 7

Box number 7 included 2 coffees - one Untold itself and one from Blackbird Coffee, an especially made espresso blend which is a first for the Untold Box





As a change I thought I would do a comparison on the El Salvador, as Blackbird was an espresso blend. So I did two comparison brews, v60 and aeropress

El Salvador
El Cipres Estate, El Salvador
Varietal - Bourbon
Process - Washed
Taste Notes - Chocolate, Almond, Clementine


V60 brew 

18g of coffee
275ml of water
50ml and 25 second bloom
Final brew time 2 minutes 45 seconds





Taste notes - Light chocolate with creamy almond undertones. Nutty aftertaste, no bitterness or acidity 
After it cools - a citric acidity, with really light chocolate notes 

Aeropress brew

14g of coffee
Inverted method
75ml and 25 second bloom
255ml total water
2 minute 15 complete brew time with 25 second push 





Taste notes - light milk chocolate tastes with really subtle orange citrus notes with a more full bodied finish


Out of the both, if I had to pick, I'd go with the aeropress, as I much preferred the lighter chocolate notes with the citrus instead of the nutty flavours.




Blackbird Coffee
Coffee + Vintage
Espresso blend
Brazilian + Ethiopian


Can we just take a moment to appreciate the beautiful packaging for this coffee

I was really excited to try this blend because it being the first espresso blend ever to hit the Untold Coffee box, it must've been a good'un

I used a recipe of 19g of coffee, with a timing of 22 seconds as a total shot.

As an espresso - 
(I'm really not an expert at tasting and evaluating espresso so bear with me)

It was a super fruity, low acidic espresso and super freaking delicious
Really smooth which is dangerous because I could've easily had 7 

With (oat) milk - (yay dairy intolerance)
Worked really well in a flat white and a cortado, the oat milk really complimented the fruity flavours of the espresso










If you would like a code to get your own hands on a club subscription, hit me up on either Instagram or shoot me an email.


Check out Untold Coffee
Website - Here
Instagram - Here
Twitter - Here


Other Untold Coffee Box Posts
Box Number 1
Box Number 2
Box Number 3
Box Number 4
Box Number 5
Box Number 6



The Coffee Life

head over to my social media page on where to find me







I HAVE A LOGO (WOOHOOO)

If you're not following me on social media (hint hint, click here for my social media page)
 You might have missed the fact, I got a logo!!! 



It's official, The Coffee Life looks more like an actual professional thing now (woohoo!!)





The amazing Jess from @itsayesfromjess created this masterpiece and I am in love.



If you ever need any logo's, banners, illustrations go to Jess, she's a sweetie!!


Find Jess here

Instagram - here


This is I'm sure a bit of a pointless blog post to click on, but none the less, an important one, because Jess deserves so much recognition for what she does!!!! 




Normal posts will resume shortly!!
Upcoming posts include:
 - One Click Coffee Subscription Box
- Untold Coffee Box 7
- Third Wave Wichteln
- Amsterdam Coffee Festival



The Coffee Life

head over to my social media page on where to find me