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Cornwall is full of beans about UK coffee venture
A restaurant is preparing what is believed to be the first cup of coffee made from beans grown in the UK.
A bar manager at celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen Cornwall was inspired after seeing the coffee growing at the Eden Project.
Eden agreed to let 2kg of coffee "cherries" be harvested, and they should create about 300g of dried beans – enough to make about 50 cups.
The Cornish coffee experiment has been led by Fifteen Cornwall's bar manager Tristan Stephenson, who saw it growing in Eden's Rainforest Biome.
Among the fifteen hundred species of plants in the biome, the horticultural team have created Robusta and Arabica coffee plantations.
Mr Stephenson said: "Coffee traditionally comes from very hot humid countries so it's amazing to think that we can harvest, process and roast coffee grown right here in Cornwall.
"Picking the cherries containing the coffee beans was an absolute joy, for a short while it really felt like we were up in the hills in Ethiopia.
"I hope that our Cornish coffee harvest will help people to appreciate the amount of work that goes into growing, picking and processing the beans."
After the harvest the cherries were taken to the kitchen at Fifteen Cornwall where they were pulped to remove the beans, which will be dried until the moisture content is reduced to between 10-12 per cent. Then the beans will be stored in a container to prevent further drying ahead of being roasted and ground.
A tasting session will be held at Fifteen Cornwall when Mr Stephenson and some of the apprentice chefs will sample the fruits of their labour.
It is anticipated that the coffee will also be available in the restaurant for a limited period.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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