Interview with Rick Tingley, Taylors of Harrogate Coffee Specialist

Rick Tingley is Taylors of Harrogate’s Coffee Specialist and will be talking about game-changing coffee bags. Rick’s job is to create new coffee creations. He is fascinated with the fine details of flavour and has been working with coffee for over 25 years.

What are coffee bags?

Taylors of Harrogate Coffee Bags bridge the gap between roast and ground coffee and instant making them perfect for hotels, travel, conferencing and workplaces. Each coffee bag is individually wrapped for freshness and contains fresh roast and ground coffee. They work like a tea bag, brewing in just two minutes.

When and why did you launch them?

Coffee bags were launched to our out of home customers in 2019. We recognised that certain foodservice businesses like hotels wanted to offer their guests a proper coffee, but their only options were instant or investing in an expensive coffee pod machine. Game-changing coffee bags offered hoteliers the proper coffee they were looking for, without mess or fancy equipment.

What process did you go through to choose the beans?

Some coffees work best with some specific brew methods and some work best for others. In my day to day role I am tasting coffees from all over the coffee producing world and so I could ascertain which coffees were going to be most suitable for the coffee bag format.

How do you choose the coffee that goes into them?

At Taylors we’ve been making coffee for over 100 years so we have extensive knowledge and expertise in this area. It was vital that the coffees I picked produced a fast and consistent extraction of flavour and body into the cup in just two minutes. This presented a significant challenge for us but I’m really pleased with the final results. Of course, it is not just the beans that contribute to the flavour and body, but also how the coffee is roasted and ground, as well as other technical and scientific considerations.

Is there a range of flavours/beans/provenance?

Our most popular blend, Rich Italian is available for out of home businesses. It is an elegant coffee inspired by the local roast style of Northern Italy, delivering flavours of dark chocolate and almond.

Can you tell us anything else about coffee bags?

Earlier this year, all Taylors of Harrogate products, including the Yorkshire Tea range, became 100% CarbonNeutral® from field to shelf. We’re proud to have achieved carbon neutrality across all our products, but we’re especially proud of the proper way in which we’ve done it, by setting up projects that not only offset carbon but improve lives and livelihoods directly with our farmers.

Building strong relationships with our suppliers has always been important to us and our sourcing approach puts quality, sustainability and relationships at its heart. Key elements include long term contracts and fair prices, as well as working closely with our suppliers to address the social and environmental challenges they face within their operations and wider community.

Sign up to our emails for hot off the press news & advice from the Taylors Out of Home team*

*In accordance with our privacy and cookies policy, we’ll only use these details to send you emails about our teas, coffees and other things we think you’ll find interesting. You can opt out whenever you like by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email we send.