We could all do with a coffee break now and then and it seems elephants are no different. A 2.5-tonne Indian elephant called Baby escaped from Courtney’s Circus in Cork, Ireland and headed straight for a coffee shop. Shoppers picking up there mid-afternoon caffeine hit were stunned to see the elephant charging through the town’s retail park after apparently fleeing from her home just yards away.

The 40-year old elephant managed to wander free during bath time and made her way to the popular high street coffee retailer. The elephant handler Joey Gartner said Baby was having a bath with five others when she decided she didn’t want one so headed off down the street in search of caffeine instead. Thank goodness Coffeee.net is an online site as our coffee is so good that Baby would have stomped down our door if we were a high street retailer. The handlers followed the elephant into the retail park ensuring the public were not in danger as they tried to herd her back. Maybe they should have bought a takeout latte and dangled it in front of her?

As the saying goes, ‘you should never get in the way of an elephant and its coffee’. Ok this isn’t a real saying but in this case it’s most definitely true.

You know when you hear a job someone does and you think they are joking or that job can’t possibly exist? Well Noble Fleming (1919 – 2012) held one of those jobs, so for nearly 50 years he was a tea taster.  That’s right, for half-century he sipped and sniffed tea from a tea spoon to ensure the quality of tea for us to enjoy. Mr Fleming was head of Royal Estates Tea, a business that bought tea from around the world and during his time in the role he was believed to have held one of the most powerful positions in the tea industry.

Starting as a teenage apprentice, Mr Fleming would travel to tea estates primarily in India, Sri Lanka and East Africa, searching for varieties with specific tastes. Based on soil, elevation, rainfall, temperature and how the estate was managed, he would make an initial assessment of the tea’s quality. Back at the company’s laboratory tasting room, he would study the tone of the leaves as brightness is said to enhance flavour, and clear his palate with an apple before beginning to taste. Based on the taste-testing, he would then tell his agents what to buy at auction. Before retiring in 1983 Mr Fleming trained many other tea tasters who have gone to become renowned in their own right.

Maybe you’re thinking you want to give tasting tea a try and why not when we have a wide range on offer that might help you become the next Noble Fleming.

Buying Tea and coffee online has the benefit of information readily available before you make your purchase. As there is so much to choose from we’ve put together some little hints to help you make the right choice.

First we’ll look at Tea; with many varieties all claiming to help us lose weight and cure our ailments it can be hard to choose. Herbal teas are renowned for their health benefits with research proving the strong antioxidants can help lower blood pressure. It has been suggested English breakfast tea can increase endurance in exercise and improve fat metabolism so you don’t need to look to herbal teas to benefit from the goodness tea can deliver.

Coffee differs just as much as tea with its variety as dependent on where the coffee is sourced from can make difference to the flavour and caffeine content. Columbian coffee is heavy in body and is intensely aromatic whereas Brazilian coffee offers a subtle nutty sweet flavour with a bittersweet chocolaty taste. Just describing Brazilian coffee makes me want to stick the kettle on.

Don’t be afraid to try and remember you can always sweeten to taste with flavourings or sugar so if you’re willing to give it a go then have a look at the range we have to offer and see if you can find a new favourite.

We’ve all dreamt of having our own barista at home ready to create our perfect cup of coffee at the drop of a hat and it seems a woman in America has created her very own. A YouTube clip, that has now gone viral, shows a toddler expertly knowing her way around a coffee machine to make her mother’s morning coffee. After seeing this video I don’t think anyone can think of an excuse for not knowing how to use a coffee machine, if a 1yr old can be trained to do so.

Fully supervised, the clip shows the little girl sat on a kitchen work surface next to the coffee machine. Opening the machine, she removes the old pod, replacing it with a new one then after ensuring the lid is fastened securely, she presses the button. Seeing how cute she is we’ll forgive her use of a pod system rather than grinding her own coffee beans but still it is pretty amazing.

If you now feel slightly like a numpty or you haven’t yet made the transition to using a coffee machine then surely you must now be converted at its ease. Look at our fantastic range of coffee machines and you’ll be marvelled at how easy they are to use. Maybe you could train your own little barista too.

It’s one of those age-old questions we always ask ourselves, like which came first the chicken or the egg, but the answer to this question comes down to taste more than scientific research; which is better coffee or tea?

Coffee is the world’s most traded beverage, the most traded commodity after oil actually, however tea is the most consumed but not by our American friends. America has stuck by coffee; regularly drinking up to 4 cups a day, since they fought to gain their independence from Britain so shunned all things deemed British. As nations began importing coffee America became the biggest which led to the association of coffee with America.

The science stuff has always put green tea head and shoulders above its competition when it comes down to the health benefits yet now research is telling us coffee is giving green tea a run for its money. As it is drank in large consumptions, most people are getting their health kick, antioxidants, from coffee instead and to enjoy it black for additional health benefits, like lowering your risk of diabetes.

Whoever the winner is, we know this is going to be a contest that we will have a hard time judging, so come give us a hand and see what takes your fancy. Maybe try some of the delicious Arabica coffee or maybe the Taylors of Harrogate tea?  Or if like us you’re finding this too hard then sit on the fence with a nice cup of Hot Chocolate instead.

We are a nation of coffee lovers who will happily feed our caffeine habit well after the sun has gone down. However our drinking habits, as acceptable as they are on our front door, may not be as well received to our foreign counterparts. Don’t worry as here at coffeee.net we’ve compiled some little hints that may help you next time you’re ordering that latte whilst away on your travels:

• In Italy you should only drink a cappuccino before noon as it is thought that a late-day cappuccino upsets your stomach and is seen as a replacement for a meal
• Huge coffee mugs are not accepted in the Middle East, and the smaller demi-cup is refilled frequently. Shake your cup when you hand it back if you do not want a refill otherwise anyone Bedouin will continue to pour more coffee.
• In Vietnam, the preference is to use thick condensed milk blended with sugar to make a very sweet coffee whereas in France, the French prefer to use hot milk and always accompany their coffee with a pastry.

Wherever you are in the world maybe you should try a local coffee, you never know you might just develop a taste for something a little different. If you’re not off on your travels anytime soon but still want to give something a try check out the wide range of coffee beans we have available and maybe you’ll find a new caffeine love.

Here at Coffeee.net, we don’t just sell coffee. These days you’ve got to be ahead of the game to succeed and like any good woman, we’ve embraced the skill of multi-tasking. So with this in mind, it’s time to tell you about the wondrous, sumptuous and simply delightful Taylors of Harrogate tea that we so lovingly stock.

From Afternoon Darjeeling to Fruit and Herbal tea, you could cure a cold with what we’ve got for you. What’s more, we don’t just provide for you individual people out there, we also like to think about all those important business type people who just can’t get through the day without a healthy dose of organic chamomile tea (available in catering pack size, naturally).

Something for everyone you might say. Yes, that’s what we like to think we are anyway. What do you think?

Renowned coffee chain Costa Coffee celebrated the unveiling of their 100^th store in China last week, and after establishing their cafes in China back in 2007, their rise to the top of best-selling western brands in China has been unstoppable.

Chief executive of parent company Whitbread PLC, Andy Harrison, was there to mark the official opening of their 100^th café at Beijing International Airport – with Costa Coffee’s Managing Director John Derkach and Costa’s joint partner in Northern China Luo Zhiwei in attendance too.

Earlier this year saw Whitbread announce five major milestones, when they stated their aims to double the size of the Costa framework to 3,500 cafes as well as to double their world sales to at least £1.3bn.

Whilst Costa are doing well for all the tea in China, here at Coffeee.net we supply an exotic selection of teas, coffees, as well as coffee machines for all your caffeine-related interests.  Call us to find your perfect match, or browse our site for more information.