WE have had craft beer and artisan gin but now speciality coffee is on the rise in the area thanks to a Grappenhall couple.

Joe Mullarkey and Sarah Whitfield became fascinated with the science and art behind the perfect cup of coffee after discovering Homeground coffee shop in Windermere.

Then they fell in love with the romance of crafted coffee when they spent time with husband and wife team, Carvetii, who roast coffee beans at the foot of a mountain.

Now Joe and Sarah run LD24 in Stockton Heath which is thought to be the only speciality coffee shop in Warrington.

Joe, a former Lymm High School student, said: “We have a favourite coffee shop in the Lake District that we always visit and that was where we had our first cup of speciality coffee.

“So when we were thinking of opening this place we got in touch for some advice and they said the key was to get a good relationship with your coffee roaster.”

That was when they teamed up with Carvetii Coffee in Cumbria who roast LD24’s house blend, which changes seasonally.

Joe added: “It’s a husband and wife team and they’ve got a little unit where they roast coffee at the foot of a mountain and we spent the whole day there with them. That opened our eyes to it but coffee has always been a passion. On our days off we’d go to nice coffee shops.

“The closest speciality coffee shop was in Altrincham. We could see the world of speciality coffee growing and I thought someone is going to open one in Warrington soon and if it’s not me I’m going to regret it.”

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For Joe and Sarah, it is not just a matter of calling their coffee ‘speciality’ either.

Joe, 28, said: “When coffee is picked it’s graded on a 100-point scale and for it be classed as speciality it has to score a minimum of 80 points.

“The points system is determined on the quality of the beans, where it’s grown, the altitude and the time of the year that it’s picked.

“It’s very similar to wine in the way that different grapes from different countries will provide different taste notes.

“When we opened we were serving a particular blend of coffee but with coffee being a seasonal product those beans are now out of season.

“So our coffee roaster has come up with another blend. We started off with a central American coffee and now we have a blend from Ethiopia and Peru. It’s a lot more than just serving up a cup of coffee.”

In fact, there is quite an art form to it.

Joe, who met Sarah when they were both working as personal trainers at the Village Hotel, added: “We weigh every shot of coffee that goes through the machine. So we have one set of scales and we measure the amount of ground coffee that comes out of the grinder so it’s consistent every time.

“We also weigh the amount of liquid coffee that comes out. So we put the same amount of coffee in all of our drinks and then depending on whether you’re having a flat white, cappuccino or latte we steam the milk slightly differently or there’s different volumes of milk in the drink.

“It makes a massive difference.

“We also want the liquid coffee to come out in a specific amount of time. We aim for between 25 and 32 seconds and we call that the extraction time. If you go beyond 32 seconds your coffee is ‘over-extracted’ so it’s going to be very bitter. And if it’s ‘under-extracted’ it’s going to lack any depth or flavour and you get a bit of a naff, washed out coffee.

“So you’re trying to create a nice balance in the cup of bitterness, acidity, sweetness and the milk we use is a really high-quality milk that has more fat and protein in it so it’s slightly sweeter than your usual milk. Regulars have been interested in hearing what goes into making them a cup of coffee. It’s got a story behind it.”