Meet our team of skilled baristas at our Coffee Centre and Brewing Emporium, Grainger Market and our Blaydon Showroom. - Pumphreys Coffee
Meet our team of skilled baristas at our Coffee Centre and Brewing Emporium, Grainger Market and our Blaydon Showroom.
Pop down to the Grainger Market in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne and meet our team; let James, Joey, Freya, Helena, Sophie and Trudy become your new coffee guides. If you head to our Blaydon showroom, say hello to Daisy, our Showroom Manager. They will all be able to personally advise you to help you brew the perfect cup at home, from suggesting roast for your preferred brewing method, to discussing the best grind for filters right through to espresso machines and syphons. If you’re already familiar with the Pumphrey’s team, come and meet Trudy, our latest addition bringing with her a wealth of experience from Exchange Coffee Co., Blackburn.
Behind the scenes, if you happen to take one of our introductory barista training courses or even our City and Guilds Level 2 in Barista Skills course, you’ll get the chance to meet Stuart Lee Archer, our Head Roaster, Barista Trainer, UKBC semi-finalist and general coffee enthusiast. Or his new protege Andy who has just become full time with us, after working at our Grainger market shop. Andy will be assisting with roasting and training as well.
Opening a coffee shop? Why not set up an appointment with our business development manager Matthew Patterson to discuss the opportunity of using Pumphrey’s Coffee.
If you are not from the British Isles, you won't believe where your hollowed out pumpkin comes from!
In Ireland and Scotland hollowed-out turnips with embers or candles inside, became a very popular Halloween decoration a few hundred years ago. Baldrick would have met his dream! (Fans of "Blackadder" will recognize this!) The English used beets (which they call "beetroots"). Talk about doing things the hard way!
Tradition held that they would ward off Stingy Jack and other malevolent spirits on Halloween, and they also served as representations of the souls of the dead. Irish families who emigrated to America brought the tradition with them, but they replaced the turnips with pumpkins, which, native to the new world, were plentiful. It didn't hurt that they are a lot easier to carve than turnips. Have you ever tried to hollow out a turnip? People began to carve frightening faces and other designs into their jack-o'-lanterns.
The practice of carving turnips began with an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack.", a famous cheapskate who, on several occasions, avoided losing his soul to the devil by tricking him (often on All Hallows' Eve). In one story, he convinced Satan to climb up a tree for some apples, and then cut crosses all around the trunk so the devil couldn't climb down. The devil promised to leave Jack alone forever, if he would only let him out of the tree. In another story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Of course, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin so that Jack pay for their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money! He put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the devil, again with the same promise not to take his soul.
When Jack eventually died, he was turned away from Heaven, due to his life of sin. But, in keeping with their agreement, the Devil wouldn't take Jack, either. He was cursed to travel forever as a spirit in limbo. As Jack left the gates of Hell, the Devil threw him a hot ember to light the way in the dark. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip, and wandered off into the world. According to the Irish legend, you might see Jack's spirit on All Hallows' Eve, still carrying his turnip lantern through the darkness. The Irish began to refer to this eerie figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, just "Jack O'Lantern." Click here for a web page that has the complete Stingy Jack story!
Long ago there lived a nasty, quick-tempered little drunk named Jack. After years of drinking, fighting, and all-around bad behavior, Jack stumbled into a pub on All Hallows' Eve. He proceeded to get "in his cups," so much so that he was actually facing death. As his life was slipping away, the devil appeared to claim his soul. True to his nature, Jack begged for one more drink before he was taken to hell. The devil agreed and Jack ordered a pint of beer. And wouldn't you know it, Jack didn't have the money to pay for his final drink. Here's where things get a little odd. Jack asked if the devil would transform himself into a sixpence piece to pay for the drink. And the devil agreed. (How this guy became the ruler of hell is beyond me.) The devil turned into the sixpence and Jack shoved the coin into his wallet, which had on it the sign of cross. The power of the cross trapped the poor devil.
The devil demanded Jack release him. Jack agreed, with the condition that the devil leave him be for a year. For a while, Jack was a better man, a man of moderation and kindness. But soon he was back in the pubs, drinking, fighting, and being generally unpleasant.
After a year had passed, the devil returned for Jack's soul. And get this: Jack asked the devil to climb up an apple tree and get him an apple for the trip to hell. When that gullible old devil agreed and climbed up the tree, Jack carved the sign of the cross into the trunk and trapped the devil once again. Jack released him, on the condition that the devil never bother him again.
Eventually, Jack died. When he arrived at the gates of heaven, he was refused entry due to his mean-spirited nature. He then tried to find a home in hell, but the devil, still angry with Jack, wouldn't let him in. So Jack was forced to wander. The devil threw a burning coal to him, so he could light his way through limbo. Jack took the coal, put it in a hollowed-out turnip, and spent eternity looking for a home in the darkness.
I’ve mentioned a few times before that the Citi mtvU Visa card is one of my favorite credit cards, and it’s also a favorite of many people who have one. That’s because it offers 5% back in rewards on purchases at restaurants, book stores, music stores, movie theaters, and video rental stores. For a college student whose purchases consist largely of food, books, and entertainment, this card is golden. And that’s just what Citi was hoping college students would feel when it limited the mtvU Visa to students currently enrolled in an accredited institution of higher learning.
Yup, that means ordinary working folks like you probably won’t be picking up one of these babies anytime soon… or will you? Some internet discussion about the card has revealed a few secrets that could help more people qualify for the card. In a nutshell, here are some tips you can use to get your hands on (and effectively use!) one of the sweetest reward cards around.
“Student” has a broad definition. When applying for the card, Citi will ask you in what state you attend school, and then a separate menu will appear asking you to select your school. From the list I saw for Maryland, any community or four-year college qualifies.
“Enrolled” has a broad definition. Nobody who graduated from college has admitted to losing the card once their student status ended. They did, however, lose the ability to submit their semi-annual report card to earn extra reward points for good grades. So if you’re looking for an easy way to become an “enrolled student,” find the cheapest one-credit class you can at your local community college, sign up and pay the tuition, and apply for the card. Heck, you could even drop the class and get a partial or full refund if you’re approved for the card and Citi doesn’t ask for additional documentation–something which a couple of applicants have reported Citi will do on occasion.
You get access to the Citi ThankYou Network. In addition to that 5% back at various merchants, you can earn more than the typical 1% at a slew of other vendors.
Turn those reward points into gift cards. That 5% back rate assumes you’re going to trade in 100 points (5 points earned per dollar spent at restaurants and the like) to obtain $1 worth of rewards. Of course, you’re going to need far more points before you can obtain anything in the 100:$1 ratio. Gift cards for various retail stores, restaurants, and gas stations are available in that ratio starting at 5,000 points for a $50 gift card. But why settle for gift cards when you can…
Turn those reward points into cash! You won’t see “cash” as an available reward in the Citi ThankYou Rewards catalog, but all cards eligible for those rewards (not just the mtvU Visa) can obtain “student loan rebates” available in the 100:$1 ratio starting at just 2,500 points! And if you don’t have any student loans, you can reportedly still deposit the check Citi will send you into any bank account.
If you’re wondering how I, a professional who hasn’t set foot in a school in over two years, have one of these cards, just ask my wife, the college student. The card is in her name, but it sits in my wallet. At the end of every meal where I use the card, I’ll turn to her and say, “Thanks for paying for dinner, sweetie.”
I am not vegan. If I have to name my diet in one word that word is seagan. I eat a land & air free animal and their derivatives diet. I eat fish, yet only certain types, but not for the protein. I eat it for the B12 content. That’s my decision, and even though you, my family, or my friends, think it is silly, irrational or even dangerous, I don’t care! My decision is completely a conscious-well thought one, so, I back it up one hundred per cent. And again. It is my own. Now that this is clear, lets do this!
Complete, Plantbased sources of Protein is an article I wanted to put together for some time now, because I find it extremely helpful for all of you trying to go plantbased but are too confused and lost in all the data from the internet, especially because you might not know what the reliable sources are and I can assure you, you are right!
So, vegan, seagan, vegetarian or meateater, I hope this article brings light to your questions and helps you really to understand the nature and the logic behind animal and plantbased protein food intake. The most important part of this journey is to make all of you actually get, what is really going on with all this protein bullshit everyone is talking about for years and years, and to be honest, I am doing this for me too, as I need a complete understanding as well.
Proteins are organic carbonated substances containing specific chain of aminoacids. Aminoacids in cells, are formed from our DNA sequence and basically every protein out there is produced by a specific DNA sequence called gene. Yet, humans cannot produce all of the 20 aminoacids we have. Only 11 of those are able to be produced in our bodies, called non essential aminoacids, while 9 (His, Ile, Leu, Lys, Met, Phe, Thr, Trp, Val) must be provided to us by food. Thus, called essential aminoacids.
Now why do we even need protein? To get big muscles? Nahhhhh! We need protein to build cell structures, enzymes, heme: the protein of erythrocytes, hormones like insulin, important cell mediator substances that keep us alive!
So, having said that, we need proteins containing all aminoacids. Right? Right. The big question is why is it important to be animal flesh, or plants? Is it important? Yes it is! The answer of course is very, very complicated, reaching global economics and planet ethics, but lets keep it nutritionally.
Answer: Why is that even a question? Why are we comparing two so different things? Who is making us choose? What is behind all this propaganda? But again, focus Angela, lets keep it nutritionally.
The source is different. So inevitably there are some differences. The mean in which this protein exists, is different. Not the protein itself. Animal protein foods contain saturated fats, while plantbased protein foods don’t. On the contrary plantbased foods help lower cholesterol due to the other nutrients they contain and also provide so many more precious components like fiber, minerals, electrolytes. But the protein is the same.
There is no problem. None whatsoever. Just eat plants that contain these aminoacids. Simple right? You would think it should have been…
These three aminoacids ladies and gentlemen are not found in rare mountain tops or in species of weeds that must be found with sweat or money. They can be found in every day food.
So now we arrive at our title. Complete Plantbased Protein Foods: They are foods, or combination of foods that together complete the essential aminoacid chart, containing all 9 of them. By together, I don’t mean in the same meal necessary. They can just be eaten in the same day. So you can consider this myth busted. It’s been busted for a long time you know. The thing is, Nobody talks about it.
Plantbased protein foods COMPLETE plantbased protein foods Methionine rich plantbased foods Tryptophan rich plantbased foods Lysine rich plantbased foods
Is it bad for you to follow a diet that is low in methionine, lysine, or tryptophan? Nature is wise. Wiser than us that is. So, nature knows like we do, that too much methionine may cause cardiovascular disease since it is a precursor of omocysteine, a marker implicated in arteriosclerosis and vascular disease. Increased lysine intake may increase cholesterol levels in the human body. On the other hand tryptophan converts in serotonine in the human body a neurotransmitter that regulates our mood. Lack of it causes depression & anxiety. No nutritional overdose of tryptophan has been recorded.
Yet. Lets go back. Are these combinations even necessary? Or are we again obsessing with this irrational plant to animal flesh comparison? Answer: No they are not. Yes we are obsessing…
Calculate your protein intake which should be between 46 grams/day if you are a she and 56 grams/day if you are a he, for an average weight adult. And that’s it! Was that too complicated? No , it wasn’t!
Scientists have been trying to access the protein quality matter for many years, with not much success! All this promoted by the athletic society who wants to know exactly which protein to eat in order to achieve better outcomes. Numerous ways to measure protein quality have been proposed. The one most commonly accepted is the digestibility percentage. Which means how much of the protein is actually absorbed by the intestines. Otherwise, it’s useless! This method though has many flaws and cannot be trustworthy when it comes to real intestinal absorption of aminoacids.
Result: Why bother yourself with all this math? Is it truly necessary, or is it again an obsession of the athlete and muscle gaining community to eat the best protein to gain ultimate results?
When you are on a plantbased diet, inevitably you will eat all plantbased foods. I mean, that’s what plantbased eaters do. They eat everything in variety. So, inevitably complementary proteins will meet each other. You don’t have to write things down. Just eat the rainbow every day. Your body will do the rest. I promise. Let them talk and argue and talk again about protein quality, digestibility, absorption, fecal disposal. Go ahead and laugh at them too. You know best.