Arnhem Blend (Old Spike)

Photo by Jack Gregory

Peckham is not the easiest of places to run a business from and that is before you start having to cope with the jokes about the place. Nevertheless, there are some real gems in Peckham, one of them being the Old Spike coffee roastery. One of their products is Arnhem Blend which contains beans from Colombia and Guatemala.

The notes of Arnhem Blend are red berries, caramel, and milk chocolate. You will definitely taste the berries with the note being most prominent at grind setting 3 and slightly subdued at 1. The best balance of notes seems to be achieved at grind setting 2.

Watch out for tamping. Arnhem Blend seems to be very stubborn when it comes to brewing time and no matter how hard you tamp it, the longest brewing time will be between 24-26s for a 36g of espresso out of 18g of ground coffee. You will need a grinder that can produce finer ground than Smart Grinder Pro, if you want to lengthen brewing time to bring it closer to 30s.

MIXING WITH MILK

For flat whites or cappuccinos with a sharp red berry note, grind it at 2. Lovely jubbly!

Brewing with Peckham Spring

Should be OK as long as you run water through a filter first.

WHERE TO BUY

Arnhem Blend is available online from Old Spike.

EQUIPMENT

• Coffee grinder: Sage (Breville) Smart Grinder Pro

• Espresso machine: Sage (Breville) Bambino Plus