Viva Brighton Issue #45 November 2016

COFFEE
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eightpointnine
Blended to order
“It’s the perfect amount
of coffee you should
use to make a single
cup,” explains Jenny
Spires. “Eight-pointnine
grams.” I’ve asked
about the name of the
company, eightpointnine,
whose office is in
the same building as
ours, and whose brown
paper pouches of coffee
I’ve been eyeing up
in our shared kitchen
for the last few months.
Apparently it’s a personalised-coffee-subscription
service: you go online, fill in a bit of info about your
caffeine habit and preferences, and they’ll deliver a
bag to your door weekly, fortnightly or monthly -
or you can just order a one-off bag. I meet up with
Jenny and Susannah to find out how it all works.
“The company was started in 2011,” says Susannah,
“by two friends who believed that coffee should be
about what you like and not what someone tells you
is the best bean. Our founders developed a coffeeflavour
algorithm” - I’d hoped they would give
away a bit more on its inner workings, but nobody’s
spilling the beans - “resulting in a range of around
220 different blends.” There are a few restrictions,
like you can’t choose ‘fruity’ and ‘rich’, because the
outcome is ‘not nice coffee’, but 220 blends is plenty
of choice.
Back in our office I have a play around with the
online-ordering system. The interface is simple
to use, but if, like me, you find it difficult enough
to pick from the choice of coffees available in the
shops, this decision-making process will take you
some time. There are two sliding scales; the first
prompts you to select your preferred flavour, ranging
from ‘fruity’ to
‘sweet’ to ‘spicy’,
the second alters
the ‘body and
mouthfeel’, from
‘light’ to ‘medium’
to ‘rich’. At the bottom
of the screen,
there’s a responsive
flavour indicator,
which suggests
blending options
based on flavours
you already know
you like - for example,
apricot, milk chocolate or almond.
We decide to go for two totally different blends,
kindly given to us by our new favourite neighbours.
They arrive in our post tray, each packed with a
little information card. The first is named ‘Viva Va
Va Voom’, and its card tells us that it’s made with
59% Brazilian, 24% Kenyan, 15% Guatemalan and
2% Costa Rican beans. The tasting notes describe
it as a ‘sweet, light blend, ideally made as café com
leite and served with shortbread.’ The second is a
less complex combination of 71% Sumatran and
29% Colombian coffee, which creates a ‘rich and
spicy blend, ideal for drinking after dinner or on
moody mornings.’
Although we didn’t completely follow the instructions
(there’s no shortbread in the Viva office, and
we don’t often stay past dinner time) both coffees
were a welcome change from the norm. At £8.95
a bag it’s a bit pricier than the sort you’d pick up in
the supermarket, but it’s well worth the occasional
splurge for that rich, freshly ground coffee aroma
when you tear open the bag, and for the excuse to
break out of your coffee rut. Rebecca Cunningham
eightpointnine.com
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