Roastery Day

That's right, kids, we're back for Blog #6-- you're not getting rid of me that easily. This time, I'll be chronicling one of our best day out yet: our Sunday trip to Tunbridge Wells.

For a bit of background, we work with the best micro-roastery in the entire world (this is an indisputable fact): Penelope Coffee. Run by Giancarlo and Michelle Miggiano, it's named after their first daughter, Penelope. They've recently opened their own space for roasting and brewing in Kent, so we had to go check it out. The day started with Has parking outside my flat, starving and not sufficiently caffeinated. After a quick espresso from my favorite coffee spot in Stokey (shoutout Yellow Warbler!) and a sandwich which he deemed too small and not healthy enough, we headed off.

Look at that smile! Has is in rare form today...

As we made our way to pick up Malaika and Miyoung (conveniently almost-neighbors), I started looking into some of the nature around Tunbridge Wells, since we were going to be at least an hour early. By the time we picked the girls up, I'd settled on Eridge Rocks Nature Reserve.

The smile grows as the car fills up!

And thus, we began the fraught and perilous journey to Lewisham, to scoop our last missing piece. After what felt like HOURS, we made it to Chez Maya, which I barged into out of curiosity. You guys-- Maya is creating an amazing home and I'm so impressed. She's like Martha Stewart (after prison) and Bob the Builder combined into a ball of sunshine.

We've got the whole gang together!!!!

I also made her switch shoes to something more comfortable, as I sprang our surprise hike on her last minute. At long last, we set off for Tunbridge Wells, although we stopped for coffee AGAIN on the way.

After another short drive, we made it to the rocks! This place was so beyond cool, I think we all could've spent a whole day there. We explored, skipped around, ate wild berries (well, Maya and I did), and took some funny pictures.

Our time at the rocks whizzed by, and next thing we knew it was time to head to the roastery. We arrived exactly one minute late, met by Giancarlo and his daughters at the entrance. We were all obsessed with his adorable kids, they're some of the most incredible, funny little girls around. Michelle and Giancarlo initially met in Melbourne, so it was incredible to hear their story of getting to where they are now.

Has and I immediately entered into a competition for little Anastasia's friendship, which I won (despite what he might tell you). It was so amazing to see the space Giancarlo and Michelle created, outfitted with a play space for the girls, a packing area for Michelle, and Giancarlo's roaster and grinders. Giancarlo had some snacks ready, thank GOD (because Has was getting dangerously close to hangry, and anyone who knows Has knows that he's literally useless once he reaches a certain level of hunger). Once we restored Has to a baseline function, the real fun started.

(BTW: MEGA credit to Miyoung for the sickest photos I've ever seen. She took all the good/cool ones)

Unroasted coffee beans smell like grass!!! And then when you start the roasting process, they smell like toast!

I was immediately drawn to the sparkly tube, which Giancarlo explained is a custom tool he uses to determine the water content in a coffee bean before roasting. He took us through the roasting process twice, checking every variable at every step, ensuring the highest quality roast. I ate one of the roasted beans, it was awesome.

Funnily enough, that's a habit I picked up from Kaz--- I saw him pick one up off the ground once and eat it. And that's when I knew we'd be best friends.

After we finished the roasting, Has let us each pick a retail bag of beans to take home!! I picked the Colombia, Maya and Miyoung both got the Peru, and Malaika got the Brazil. We may make the best espresso in Camden, but we all LOVE a proper filter coffee. Around 16:00 we all piled into our cars and rendezvoused at Cantuccio for some of the best pizza I've had in a while. Honestly, Penelope was the star of the show, she is so funny and has so much to say, we all spent most of the meal asking her questions. By the time we finished, Has was antsy to get on the road, so we grabbed some ice cream for the drive and made off for London.

All in all, one of the best days I've had in a while. A big thanks to Has for being our designated chauffeur, we felt so cool being driven around in a sick ass Mazda.

If you're still reading this, I love you and will probably give you a free coffee if you come by my shop to talk about it.