A coffee break with...

Louise Cook
Head of coffee, BEAR

BEAR recently announced plans to open its sixth site, in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. The independent coffee house, kitchen and bar brand, which recently announced an investment partnership with Poole-based private equity firm Clark Group, currently operates five other sites across the Midlands.

What does your job typically entail?
It involves leading coffee into all aspects of the BEAR set-up. I work closely with the coffee roasting team to select and profile the right coffees to meet our quality and flavour standards. 

I also spend a lot of my time developing and implementing our internal coffee program into our store teams. This entails training baristas, improving efficiency and delivering amazing coffee-focused customer service.

How did you get into the industry?
I was pretty late to the coffee game, initially needing it for the stimulatory effects while on a work/travel visa in New Zealand packing kiwi fruit. I was finally introduced to speciality coffee with a juicy Ethiopian yirgacheffe brewed using a Chemex… and I’ve never looked back!

What’s your favourite part of your working day?
It has to be tasting and sharing delicious, complex and challenging coffees from different origins! I also love teaching and chatting all things coffee with the store teams and customers

What’s your favourite food and beverage?
A hand-brewed pour over coffee, no question. My current favourite origins are Ethiopia and Costa Rica. Food wise, it just has to be cheese. Always has been, always will be!

And your least favourite?
Pineapple. It’s a texture thing. Yucky – get in the bin!

What is the biggest factor currently affecting the industry?
Hospitality is facing many challenges, but at the moment it’s mainly the cost of everything. We are seeing ever-increasing costs across the board, which is hard to contend with as a small business. It’s desperately sad to see rising costs causing some amazing places with awesome teams to disappear from towns and cities across the UK.

What one piece of advice would you give to someone working in the industry?
For my fellow coffee lovers: mindfully taste everything – the good, the bad, the ugly. It will really help enhance your experience and improve your sensory skills at a faster rate.

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