A CAFFEINATED ADVENTURE!

Tom and Anouche are an offbeat adventuresome duo who joined the Café du Cycliste tribe around a year ago. A creative pair, their passions extend to running, hiking, film- and image-making, and even to being baristas – an activity that has led to the creation of Anom Café Club.

They dreamed up the idea of creating a premium coffee brand last winter while enjoying the breathtaking views and balmy climate of South Africa’s Cape Province. There, they spent six months finding the best roads, lining up for races and getting to know the local cycling community. After each ride they made a beeline for the closest café, to share a moment with friends and discover the local specialities – Anouche enjoying mochas and lattes while Tom explored the region’s best espressos – and began to develop a passion for exceptional coffees, particularly those awarded more than 80/100 by the Specialty Coffee Association.

When they got home to France, their first sips of coffee were a revelation – but not a good one. What they found was burned coffee made with low-quality, chemically treated beans produced by underpaid workers… how could coffee culture, which has such deep links to cycling, be in such a poor state in the home of the Tour de France? They decided to take a stand. “When we decide on a project we move fast, it’s in our DNA as entrepreneurs,” explains Tom. Less than two months after that first germ of an idea, the first packet of Anom Coffee Club coffee beans arrived.

Sips of adventure.
For Anouche and Tom, coffee represents many things: tasting pleasure; sharing with others, and, of course, caffeine! But coffee is also a way of exploring the world: since the best coffee is grown in mountainous regions, every sip is a story of geography, climate and adventure.

Mexico was their first destination when buying beans, thanks to Tom’s love of the country and the complexity of its coffees: some of the best anaerobically fermented beans come from there, and so it was an easy choice. And both Anouche and Tom found something they both loved in Mexico, the kingdom of coffee: Cafe de Olla. This heady brew mixes coffee, raw dark sugar and cinnamon for a tastebud-tickling sensation.

Next stop? Maybe Rwanda – but there are so many places to explore. Some might find the task intimidating; for them, however, it’s a challenge they’re eager to tackle. During their meetings with producers, they were amazed by the warm welcome they received from these passionate artisans. Tasting a freshly picked coffee cherry was an unforgettable experience.

Now, with hundreds of tastings and even more kilometres behind them, their passion for this precious grain has only grown, thanks to the range of the world’s finest coffees they’ve tasted. But it has also opened up a world of adventure. While exploring high-altitude coffee plantations in Guatemala, where taking part in the harvest was almost akin to mountaineering, they decided to climb Acatenango, the country’s highest volcano.

It was a sizeable challenge: after a 3 a.m. start they were heading through the jungle in the dark, to the sound of distant booming. Then, on the climb, the sun rose: it was “breathtaking”, according to the pair. “It was like we were the only people in the whole world.” After 1,600 metres of ascent in only 8 kilometres, it was a dizzying climb, but their courage was rewarded: from the summit they could see across the coffee plantations to the growling, grumbling Fuego in full eruption.

In just two weeks, Mexico changed their ideas about coffee forever. It transformed coffee into a story of friendly faces, men and women dedicating a lifetime’s hard labour to a quest for exceptional beans. As the local saying goes: “La vida es sólo una taza de café tras otro y no preocuparse por otra cosa” “Life is just one cup of coffee after another, and nothing else really matters”

Tom and Anouche returned home with their pockets full of beans and mouths full of tastes! They’ve thrown themselves into putting extraordinary coffee into our cups, and they’re not stopping there.

If you live in their environs, they’ll deliver to you by bike by the pannier full. Or how about a taste test… that could be arranged! Having tested a Bialetti of their first Mexican beans, we can say, you’ll be in for a tasty journey.