2015 café culture trend predictions
Firstly I would like to wish a very Happy New Year to all our customers and fellow coffee geeks. 2014 was a big year for me as it marked the start of a wonderful new job as the Barista Trainer for Refreshment Systems. It has flown by and I already can’t wait to get stuck into the many exciting things that 2015 has in store. If you have spent some time talking coffee with me last year then I hope you enjoyed yourself and that our paths cross again this year.
If you have been following this blog then you have already contributed to one of my Christmas presents. Just before we broke up, Ian our Marketing whizz informed me that blog traffic to the website is massively up from when I posted first this time last year. Unless my Mum has been repeatedly clicking “refresh” on her new laptop this means that more and more of you are coming back, so many thanks and keep reading!
My other coffee related gift this year was a beautiful Barista apron given to me by my lovely wife Poppy. If you want to see how I look in it, all you have to do is book yourself some Barista Training and learn to pour perfect Rosetta into the bargain!
So, without further ado, here are my 5 predictions for what new trends or ideas might enter the mainstream in 2015…
1) Cave man coffee:
If you are fairly well informed about all things “foodie”, you will probably have already heard that buttered coffee is a hot trend. Exactly as disgusting as it sounds, this calorie and caffeine double whammy is a reflection of the move towards “pure” or “paleo” eating. Rejecting man-made processed food in favour of low-carb, natural and nutrient rich foodstuffs, this diet movement has inevitably turned it’s attention to coffee. Whilst a 16oz full-fat mocha with cream and syrup is undoubtedly diabetes in disguise, butter in coffee is a step too far for my liking. I can’t quite see it catching on, but I sure can see a lot of people talking about it in 2015.
2) Size isn’t everything:
A more likely reflection of our increasing interest in diet is the move towards smaller drinks sizes. As consumers become more discerning about their coffee they increasingly want to taste a stronger drink, which is leading cafes to introduce a more “European” standard to their drinks size (8-10oz cup with double espresso) rather than the 16oz plus as favoured by Starbucks and their ilk. When even Costa offer a 6oz “Cortado” you know that the high-street is getting it’s palate attuned to full flavoured brews. I expect this trend to become further ingrained this year.
3) More Tea Vicar:
As the cutting edge of the food scene (I’m looking at you London) hurtles towards what can only be described as “peak coffee”, I predict that the hardcore will turn away from the bean in favour of more esoteric delights. The world of speciality tea is yet to be hipster-fied, and it can only be a matter of time before asking a tattooed man for a brew is met with the same baffling range of options as when ordering coffee in a city centre cafe.
When I took my professional Barista qualification last summer, the SCAE trainer Paul was more excited by his tiny earthenware teapot than the array of espresso technology that surrounded us. As he re-brewed the same tea several times and instructed us to note the changing flavour profiles it was clear that an interest specialty tea went hand in hand with a love of coffee. I must admit that since then I have been drinking more tea and often order it out when interesting loose varieties are available.
The Guardian it seems, agrees with me (so it must be true) – Forget coffee and shave off your beard!
4) Back to the future
It’s 2015 and we are going back to the future. This can mean only one thing – hoverboards right?!! Sadly not, but instead expect some coffee trends associated with the past to make a bit of a comeback in the speciality sector. Light roasted coffee was a (necessary) reaction to the often cremated styles favoured 90’s heavyweights such as Starbuck’s. However, I don’t think this is ideally suited to all coffees, particularly in a market dominated by milk based drinks, and I think that bolder and more forward thinking roasteries may feel they have missed a trick by holding light roasting as the one true gospel. Expect to see the same superb single origins lauded by 3rd wavers but roasted at different profiles, both to explore their potential and to create more customer friendly blends.
On the same tack, I think that Bulk Brew and Commercial Filter are due some serious re-evaluation as respectable brewing methods. Pour-overs can’t cut it in busy cafes so for fresh single origin brews I imagine leading 3rd wave cafes and forward thinking restaurants and bars looking at other ways to serve great tasting non-espresso coffee.
5) Faulty Towers
I think the hotel sector is going to come under increasing scrutiny when it comes to their coffee provision. With aggregation websites making competition amongst hotels fierce and price transparent, the added extras hotels provide will surely become more crucial than ever. A stick of Nescafe and a custard cream is unlikely to wow the average punter who wakes up to George Clooney (or his coffee machine at any rate) at home every morning. I expect to see pod machines in hotel rooms becoming the norm in all but budget hotels this year.
So, there it is – my cards on the table. If I am completely wrong then you are welcome to mock, but you’ll have to keep reading to do that. So, see you next year to find out exactly how 2015 panned out…
RSL / Refreshment Systems Ltd – National vending machine supplier UK, smart vending machines, intelligent vending machines, coffee vending machines, bean to cup machines, table top machines, office vending machines. Buy, rent or lease vending machine. Vending machine supplier UK.
