Tag Archive for: Coffee

How To Make the Most of the Alowishus App

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Lots of our wonderful customers have taken the brave step of embracing technology and are enjoying the rewards that come with using our app.

Now, we know there are some who just want to order and pay the traditional way and that’s perfectly fine.

But… we also know that there are some people who would love to use our app more often but just aren’t sure about a few things.

Hopefully, we can clear some of those up for you.

I’ve ordered and paid for a takeaway coffee on the app. Do I let them know at the register?

No. Just come straight to the pick-up point and wait for your order to be called. We’ll also send a text message to your phone to let you know it’s ready if you happen to get distracted on your way.

Can I ‘dine in’ and pay using the app?

Sure can. 

  • Select ‘Pay In-Store’ when the app asks how you are ordering
  • You will see a number on your screen that our staff can also see on our system to match up your order
  • Go to the register and order as usual and let the staff member know you are paying with the app

I can only order drinks on the app when I order ahead – what about food?

You can order food from our Maryborough Location.  For our Bundy Grab and Go Locations, just choose what you want in store and pay at the counter with your app. See the answer above to see how to pay with the app and earn points.  

How do I make sure the app uses my rewards credit, not my stored payment method?

So long as you have redeemed points for credit, the app will automatically use that before charging your stored payment method.

Speaking of points, there’s no page on the app that tells me what I can get for ‘X’ amount of points…

Every dollar you spend earns you 10 reward points, or part thereof.  For example, if you spend $5 you get 50 points and if you spend $4.90 you get 49 points.

Once you get to 500 points the app will prompt you to redeem your points for a $5 credit. If you don’t redeem it, you will be prompted again at 1000 points to redeem for a $10 credit.

Does that help?

If you’ve installed the app but have been feeling a bit uncertain about using it, we hope that clears a few things up and gives you the confidence to go ahead and start earning points.

If you haven’t installed our app yet, go ahead and do it, there’s a nice surprise waiting for you – we’ll give you a $5 credit upfront to get you started.

Of course, as always, if you want to chat with us in person, we’re always happy to help.

 

Order catering in Bundaberg and Maryborough https://orders.alowishus.com.au/menu

 

READ about the evolution of our takeaway coffee cups.

READ – 9 Coffee Puns Guaranteed To Spruce Up Your Next Coffee Date ☕️

WATCH – The day we won Triple M’s Best Coffee in Bundy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR9-NjtvtcU

Henceforth: A journey to a new place

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The written word has always fascinated me in a way that I possibly don’t even understand yet myself. I remember as a young lad in school that I really enjoyed history, although I must confess, this interest started when I got my first copy of Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings, a computer game where you played historical scenarios and learned the historical context around which they happened; a very engaging way to learn indeed. What does this have to do with coffee? Plain and simple – I have no idea! However, this interest inevitably led me, likewise, to have an interest in what people back then were writing about: their beliefs, stories and mythologies. So, a very interesting era for me was the 17th century when the enlightenment took hold and revolutionised our world forever, but a very subtle factor of that era that I think gets overlooked quite easily, is the language of that time and how people spoke and in this particular case: English. English, in my humble opinion and many others I’m sure would agree, of the 17th century was at the height of its beauty and eloquence and would beat any hashtag or literary trend we have now: ANY DAY! It’s also the era of spoken English in which Shakespeare wrote his plays and even now still considered masterpieces.

Henceforth Cold Brew - Available at Alowishus Delicious

Henceforth Cold Brew – Available at Alowishus Delicious

So fast-forwarding to now, having recently started my journey in hospitality and particularly the coffee scene, I jumped at the opportunity when it arose to take forward a project that involved crafting cold brew coffee and also develop its own labelling. I instantly started thinking about the branding and what inspiration I would draw from. Obviously, I went for the amazing gift we have as humans, to communicate with speech, as my inspiration. Any language, of course, is just as amazing as the next but it just so happens that we live in an English speaking country. At least, for the most part, that is.

After pondering on the name of the brand for a bit, I wanted to come up with something that invoked action, as the Merriam-Webster dictionary states, “…expressing some relation of manner or quality, place, time, degree, number…” (Adverb. (n.d.). Retrieved 14 March 2018 from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adverb).

A Cold Brew for Yea-Sayers

And so, Henceforth was born! I loved the fact that one word encapsulated so many things at once but also made a call to action. Henceforth simply means from this point on (Merriam-Webster dictionary). Furthermore, other elements that fit well with Henceforth were a compass and finally – THE COFFEE! With all the elements together, the concept I hoped to convey through the labelling was that ‘from this point onwards (Henceforth) having a cold brew of your choice (THE COFFEE!) will direct your day (the compass) no matter what errand you’re on (YOU the coffee drinker). So with this branding personality in place and the help of David whom I consulted for help on a regular basis and will continue to do as the brand develops, and without whose help wouldn’t have made it possible, we have arrived at what is only the starting point of something special. FIN!

 ~Heinrich

 

Watch Now: Alowishus Visiting Local Bundy Farms

We surprised 3 local Bundaberg businesses with some of our delicious, house-made gelato. What’s even better, we made it using their very own produce!

 

5 tips for making the perfect coffee at home

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Don’t you love watching those amazing baristas grind, stamp and froth their way to a flawless cup of coffee in no time at all? While it looks easy enough, home coffee machines work a little differently. But if you get the basic techniques right, you can turn into a barista yourself, making incredible coffee for your household in the comfort of your own kitchen. Let us show you how…

5 tips for making the perfect coffee at home

Note: This is a guide for people who use a domestic coffee machine.

1.     Buy Beans

If possible, buy whole beans (ideally Organic + Fairtrade) and grind the beans yourself at home. Grinding the beans immediately before use will make sure that the flavour will be fresh and tasting its best.

 2.     Store Coffee Correctly

Most people believe that to keep coffee fresh you should store it in the fridge or freezer. This is false. The best way to store coffee (hopefully beans) is in a cool, dark, dry place. A pantry cupboard is ideal. It’s also best that once you’ve opened the coffee from it’s packaging, that they are kept in an airtight container.

3.     Clean your machine

To keep anything nasty out of your coffee cup, you should regularly clean your machine. See the manufacturer information  for your machine to see how often you should do so.

There are also some things that you should do with every use. The most important is to purge and wipe down the steam arm before and after use in order to flush out any milk residue that may be left behind from the previous coffee. In layman terms, blow some steam out of the steam arm before putting it into your milk jug. Never soak the steam arm in water or leave it sitting in milk. To clean, only purge and wipe down the steam arm.

 4.     Tamp evenly

To get perfect extraction, it is important to tamp correctly. Everyone will have slightly different techniques though these are the two most important things to remember. The first is to distribute the coffee grounds evenly in the group head and the second is to tamp the coffee so that it lays flat in the group head.

5.     Heating the Milk

Milk is hard to master and will take time and practice. We could write five tips alone on how to properly steam milk. As a general rule however, this is what you should look out for.  If  you’re getting a loud pitch ‘scream’ when heating the milk, then it is not getting enough air. Bring the tip of the steam arm closer to the surface of the milk so that you start to hear a slurping noise. Be careful not to let too much air in as this will cause bubbles in the milk froth. Secondly, to texture the milk evenly, you want to aim to have your milk swirling in a clean 360 degree circle in the milk jug.

Now just relax and enjoy!

 

This post was originally posted by Emma Watson on http://sacredgroundsorganic.com/5-tips-for-making-the-perfect-coffee-at-home/

Chai Me – Find Your True Inner Spice (video)

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He travelled 40,000km on his motorcycle through 12 countries looking for the perfect chai recipe. The result is Chai Me, the highest quality and most authentic chai available. Marcus Child, the founder of Chai Me, has dedicated his life to providing you with ‘the one’ recipe which you can now enjoy at Alowishus Delicious. Are you ready to find your inner spice?

 

 

Secrets From Our Samurai’s

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The 3 Steps of Coffee Tasting

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At Alowishus we are addicted to making great coffee. It is important to us to get it right and make your experience with us a great one, every time. Knowing that you will enjoy our coffee is what drives us. We put great effort into training our baristas and continue to work hard on improving consistency and flavour in our coffee. In order to improve your experience even further, we would like to invite you into the world of coffee tasting. Taking the time to truly smell, taste, feel and appreciate a good cup of coffee is something we easily forget in our busy lifestyle. We have put together this short guide to help you not just enjoy our delicious coffee, but experience it with all your senses. Follow these 3 simple steps to get the most out of your coffee experience.

1. Smell

Our sense of taste is directly influenced by our sense of smell. When tasting a coffee, smell it first. Place your hand over your coffee mug. Hold the cup close to your nose and inhale. What do you notice? Some examples of aroma are earthy, spicy, floral and nutty. These distinctive scents are directly related to the actual flavour of the coffee. Certain aromas can be subtle and challenging to recognise for the new coffee connoisseur. What aromas can you smell?

2. Taste

When tasting a coffee, it is important to slurp it. By slurping, you spray the coffee across your entire palate. This allows the subtle flavours and aromas to reach all the tasting zones of your tongue. Try identifying the four tasting terms: aroma, acidity, body and flavour.

You’ll taste and feel the acidity of a coffee in the sides and tip of your tongue, in much the same way that you experience acidity when tasting citrus. Coffees with high acidity are described as bright, tangy and crisp with a clean finish. Coffees with low acidity feel smooth in your mouth and tend to remain longer.

What flavours can you identify? Citrus, cocoa and berries are just a few of the flavours you may taste in coffee. Some coffee flavours are bold; others are very subtle.

3. Feel

Locate the experience on your tongue. As you taste a coffee, think about where you are experiencing flavours on your tongue. Note the weight of the coffee on your tongue. Does it feel light or full in your mouth? This sensation is similar to what you experience when you compare the feel of full cream milk with nonfat milk. A coffee with light body will feel light on your tongue and its flavour will not linger. In contrast, you’ll feel the weight of a full-bodied coffee on your tongue and its flavour will remain in your mouth for a while.

 

We hope this short guide will help you enjoy our coffee even more and look forward to seeing you again soon.

The Barista Team at Alowishus Delicious

5 Amazing Facts about coffee you probably didn’t know

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1. Coffee beans aren’t really beans

There you go! All your life you were tricked into thinking coffee came from beans. Truth is, coffee is a fruit. Coffee berries, also known as coffee cherries, are edible fruit containing seeds that look very similar to beans and are therefore called coffee beans. After the harvest, these seeds are dried, shipped, roasted, ground and lastly, turned into the wonderful beverage that you so love to enjoy at Alowishus.

 

2. Coffee & wine have more in common than you might think

Just like wine, coffee comes in numerous different varieties. Every variety has its own characteristics. And just like with wine we can look at the aroma, acidity, body and flavour of a coffee. Next time you enjoy a black coffee, try to dive into the fascinating world of coffee and ask yourself these questions. Does the coffee smell earthy, spicy, floral or nutty? Does it taste bright, tangy and crisp or rather smooth? Does it feel light or full in your mouth? Do you taste citrus, cocoa or berries? Pay attention and you’ll learn to love your coffee even more.

 

3. Coffee prevents Alzheimer’s & dementia

According to a 2009 study, three to five cups of coffee per day won’t just help prevent, but even reverse Alzheimer’s and dementia. Other studies have shown that there are other health benefits of coffee in association with exercise. People, who consumed caffeine before their workouts, lasted longer and worked harder to achieve their goals. Coffee beans also share many properties with the now so popular açaí berry. Just like açaí, coffee is rich in antioxidants that counter the negative impact of free radicals in our bodies.

 

4. The quality and taste of a coffee are determined by 4 main factors

Besides from which part of the world a particular coffee is grown and a number of other aspects, the main factors that determine flavour and quality are summarised by the 4 M’s: Macinazione – the correct grind; Miscela – the mixture, or as we say, the blend, Macchina – the machine used to make the coffee and lastly, Mano – which translates to ‘hand’, the barista who prepares the Espresso.

 

5. It takes 2000 hours to make a cup of coffee

From the day the seeds are planted to the day you get to enjoy a delicious beverage about 2000 hours have gone into the cup. This fact alone is reason enough for us to take some extra time when having coffee to really appreciate and savour it. Breath in the Brazilian air, listen to the sounds of the Indonesian jungle, close your eyes and enjoy the views of the Vietnamese coffee plantations and rice fields.

 

6. BONUS FACT

Just for the record: There is no X in Espresso.

 

Stay caffeinated & hydrated!

David Lee-Schneider