The best type of coffee for espresso is one that has a rich and strong flavor profile, with a balanced acidity and sweetness. Generally, coffee beans that are used for espresso are roasted to a darker roast level to bring out the full flavor and aroma. Some of the most common types of coffee beans used for espresso include: Arabica: Arabica beans are known for their mild, fruity, and slightly acidic flavor. They are often blended with other types of coffee beans to create a well-balanced espresso. Robusta: Robusta beans are known for their strong, bitter flavor and high caffeine content. They are often used in blends to add depth and crema to the espresso. Blends: Many espresso blends are a combination of Arabica and Robusta beans, with varying proportions depending on the desired flavor profile. Blends are often crafted to produce a unique taste that sets them apart from single-origin coffees. Ultimately, the best type of coffee for espresso is one that you enjoy the taste of. Experiment with different types of beans and blends to find the one that suits your taste preferences.

You may have seen our epic truck, Sunny, out on the road, at a parkrun event or at a cold water swim. If so, we're SURE you can't have missed the big roof tent on top. Introducing Latitude Tents.. Just down the road from our garden HQ, this Frome-based company that elevates your camping experience; ready to take you on the best adventures on any car, at any time.  We're all about making people feel amazing & diving into life and what better way to do that than to get out into nature! Name a more iconic duo than coffee & camping.. How do they work? Check out our camping trip reel:  Our favourite thing about them? The Latitude Family. It's an awesome community of people who want to get out and about to explore our backyard! Latitude runs epic road-trips with it's customers and we can't wait to get on one ourselves this summer 🏕 Charlie, the founder of Latitude Tents, has also done an awesome job with Latitude HQ. You can pop to the warehouse, check out the tents, have a chat and a TrueStart.  They'll fit your tent onto your car for you and run you through how to do it yourself then send you on your way with local and far flung roadie recommendations! So if you're looking to level up your exploring in time for spring then look no further than Latitude - the coffee's already on waiting for you.  

There's a lot of talk about caffeine levels in coffee at the moment. We've been banging on about this for almost 8 years now, and it's great to finally see the media picking it up!  Yes - caffeine in coffee varies wildly! Why does the caffeine level vary so much in coffee? Loads of variables impact the caffeine level in coffee - everything from the brew method to the species of bean (Robusta, Arabica or a blend) to the altitude and even the rainfall on that particular crop. We're talking about a natural product after all, so there is a lot of intrinsic variation.  There was a BBC study a few years ago of high street coffee shops which found a crazy variation from 50mg to 700mg per cup - and if you add another espresso shot because you're feeling extra tired that morning, then you can easily be drinking 600mg caffeine in one coffee without realising. That explains why you can feel so different after drinking one cup of coffee versus another; sometimes you may feel jittery, other times you may not have much of any feeling at all! You wouldn’t be happy with such a massive variation with alcohol. Imagine buying a bottle of wine and not knowing whether it was 4% or 40%! This variation is why we created TrueStart - to have a clean, reliably caffeinated coffee that makes you feel great every time. It was the first coffee in the world with a regulated, stable level of caffeine, because we couldn’t believe that the norm was so varied and unpredictable.  So how much caffeine should we be drinking? 300mg of caffeine per day is the safe limit suggested by most health organisations around the world, which is 4 cups of TrueStart Barista Grade Instant Coffee. This suggested limit drops to 200mg if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding. Caffeinated coffee is not bad for you though, the opposite is true. There’s a lot of research that has proven the health benefits - including reduced risk of chronic heart diseases, having even Alzheimers and Parkinson’s disease. A Nurses' Health Study, associated drinking 4 or more cups of coffee each day was with a 20% lower risk of stroke compared with non-drinkers. Coffee is also a dense source of antioxidants and contains soluble fibre, which is important for your gut health. Coffee can become bad for you when you drink it with loads of milk and sugar, which is common in high street coffee shops. Drinking clean, reliably caffeinated coffee has health benefits.  When in the day should we stop drinking caffeine? The important question here is when it starts affecting your sleep. We do not all metabolise caffeine at the same rate - there is actually a gene (called CYP1A2), which dictates whether you’re either a slow metaboliser of caffeine or a fast one. I am a fast metaboliser, so I feel the effects of caffeine quickly then they disappear quickly. If you feel post-caffeine jitters for hours after one cup of coffee, you’re probably a slow metaboliser.  The key is knowing your own brain and body - how do you feel physically, mentally, emotionally after you drink coffee and a few hours after. Some experts recommend switching to decaf at 2 or 3 pm as caffeine has a half life of about 4 to 6 hours, but the key is getting to know your own brain and body.  If you know how much caffeine is in your coffee, like with TrueStart, you can regulate your intake and know you’re going to feel great every time. Drink the amount of coffee that you can rely on, and feels right for you.

It's that time of the year where the world tries to tell you it's a sucky time. The weather doesn't help. Nor does the news. But we had a trick up our sleeves..  The 16th Jan is traditionally the saddest day of the year. Not this year. INTRODUCING..TRUE MONDAY. Jog on Blue Monday - we're here to spread all the good vibes.  We gave out sachets of our Barista Grade Instant Coffee at four Co-op's across Bristol to hundreds of customers. It was awesome to be out & about spreading positive energy and meeting faces that already had our coffee stocked in their own cupboard! QUEEN SQUARE RUN CLUB We teamed up with our buddies at Queen Square Run Club to give out our delicious coffee at their 5.30pm Harbourside Run too. QSRC puts on a couple of different runs a week so if you're nearby then come & join us! Everyone's welcome 🚀 We are firm believers in the fact that getting out and about is fantastic for the old noggin' so watch this space for more and more runs with QSRC throughout the year! We want to showcase that every day you can beat the blues by celebrating the small things and by spreading positive energy everywhere you go. We know everyone isn't going to feel 100% all of the time but we will always aim to make you feel that little bit better every day through our delicious coffee and good vibes!   

We all love Spotify wrapped but here's your coffee version..  2022 has been MEGA and it's all thanks to you team 💛 Check out the Instagram here.. - You dived boldly into the world of TrueStart in 2022.. - Your ethical coffee consumption added up to around 8 million cups of TrueStart this year.  - Out of these there were 5 favourites which stood out to you all.. - Taking the #1 spot was the Barista Grade Instant Coffee. - Following that was our Energising Colombian Fresh Coffee. - Another fave was our Strong Coffee Bags. - Keeping things cool at number four was the Salted Caramel Iced Coffee.. - Then rounding our top 5 off was our new 100g tin of the Barista Grade Decaf Instant Coffee!  We got our coffee listed in 5 major retailers this year!   - You can now find TrueStart in Co-op, Booths, Morrisons, Center Parcs and SPAR. - As well as Wholefoods, Touts, H&B, Blue Diamond Garden Centres, local farm shops.. the list goes on!  Check out where to find your nearest store to you here..  - We became Carbon Negative and with your help invested in four carbon avoidance and removal projects in our coffee producing nations.  - We rebranded! How do you like our new look? 👀 - We visited 60 different events and tastings this year.  - We donated coffee, cans and money to over 10 different local and national causes because of your support. - We made 3 new products this year and you are going to LOVE what's coming next year..  - Whatever your coffee personality this year, there was a TrueStart for that 🚀 2022 has been a belter and seeing you love your TrueStart and how it makes you feel has been incredible! Bring on 2023..

🚀 WE'VE LAUNCHED OUR INSTANT COFFEE'S INTO CO-OP NATIONWIDE 🚀 The rocketship has landed and we are thrilled to be working alongside Co-op as a values led retailer who are truly walking the walk.  You can now find our Barista Grade Instant Coffee & Decaf Instant Coffee in 1,500 stores ALL across the UK 🤯 Of course, in TrueStart style, we made a video about it! You can hit play on it below.. but we also wanted to make a blog touching on the gravity of this milestone for us.  Ready for take off? 🚀 We are incredibly excited by this launch because it means that it's easier than ever for you to enjoy a healthy, ethical, sustainable and delicious instant coffee from the comfort of your own home. Let's face it.. Instant Coffee isn't the sexiest of products. It's not changed massively for years and it's alienated a lot of coffee lovers. We are here to change this, for good! 🔥 Our Instant Coffee exists to make you feel good. It's delicious. It's healthy. It's ethical. It's premium quality. AND it costs you as little as 10p a cup. Now THAT'S a sexy offering if we ever saw one. TrueStart was born 8 years to the day that we got our order from Co-op. So it was pretty mind blowing to sit for a second and realise how far we've come with your support. However if you think that this is it for us, our "we made it" moment.. then don't worry - that's far from the case. This is just the beginning of this journey into space. We won't stop till you are always able to easily get your hands on a TrueStart... even if we're living on Mars 👽 Much love to you x

We’ve told you about our B Corp status and our Carbon Negative status but we haven’t let you in on one of the main ways we achieved those… our recyclability!  You may have noticed in our Carbon Negative blog that 92.6% of our range is recyclable but what makes up the 92.6%? How come it’s not 100%?  This blog aims to answer those questions by examining our whole range product by product so you can easily see how to dispose of your favourite coffee when you’re done.  We want to make it easy for you to put your TrueStart packaging straight back into the system because it has a positive ripple effect throughout the supply chain So let's dive in.. 💦 Barista Grade 100g Instant Coffee 100% Recyclable and looking 100% better... our new packaging for our Instant Coffee looks good on the shelf and good in the recycling bin.      Barista Grade 500g Instant Coffee Tub We're super happy to announce that since we launched the new packaging for these big boys in October they too are 100% recyclable! Using them in the office? Put them in the green bin from now on!        Cold Brew Coffees Always have been and always will be 100% recyclable. Aluminium requires 95% less energy recycle rather than produce it raw so don't want these in the bin that would be a waste! Coffee Bags We love this one. We worked super hard to find materials for this product that were as green as possible after seeing that other coffee bags on the market at the time weren't as environmentally friendly! The outer box goes in with your card. The bag itself goes in your food waste or straight out to your compost. The plastic film is recycled at all large supermarkets and in some parts of the UK, is collected curbside - check your council!  Ground Coffee / Coffee Beans  Here's one of the ones we're working on, we're currently in the process of swapping these bags out for fully recyclable ones. Why didn't we do it before? At the time of launching this product, there was no recyclable option on the market. Recently, a recyclable film has become available and now that our volume has increased we can buy into that system.  The new ones are on their way by the end of the year and they will have our updated branding on too... double whammy!      Instant Coffee Sachets This is something we're working on and if you're reading this and you think... hmm.. I know someone who makes these then please let us know! In the meantime though we are unaware of any material that exists on our planet which can keep our coffee delicious, fresh & dry whilst also going in the recycling.  What's the plan? Once our fresh coffee range has gone recyclable then our whole range by weight will be 98% recyclable which is awesome. This is due to be completed by the end of 2023! However it's not 100%, so until we hit the hundred we will not stop searching for solutions.  

The aim of this blog is not only to leave you with a head buzzing with new knowledge but also some questions that you can challenge us with. We’re not perfect.. but, we’ll always be transparent and open to learning more. So with that in mind let’s dive in 💦

We’re shining a spotlight on our amazing majority-female team as part of Women's History Month, and International Women’s Day on Tuesday 8 March. Helena Hills, Founder of TrueStart Coffee shares her insights on the professional challenges she’s overcome, and her work to #BreakTheBias Who is TrueStart? ☕️🌈 Founded by husband and wife team Simon and Helena, TrueStart launched their first product in 2015. The now-legendary Barista Grade Instant Coffee was the first coffee in the world to provide a boost with no crash thanks to a reliable, stable caffeine content. Working with independent suppliers, sustainable packaging and a family-owned logistics team, TrueStart’s vibrant, healthy, hyper-sustainable approach to coffee helped them become a proudly Certified B Corporation in 2021. They’re committed to making the world a healthier, happier place through delicious, uplifting coffee and by providing opportunities for disadvantaged communities through the Bags of Good initiative and food bank donations. Meet the woman behind the beans As a co-founder alongside your husband, what does your half of the role entail? Our skill sets are completely different, which is lucky because they complement one another. I think this is what makes it possible to work together! I’m much more outward facing, leading on sales and marketing while Simon is much more focused on product, operational efficiencies and ensuring the best possible customer experience. We do pretty much all the overall strategy, direction and brand work together, though. I want to change the world by lifting traditionally feminine characteristics up and spreading more positive energy and emotion. Helena - Co-founder, TrueStart Have you found that you and Simon have been treated as equals throughout your journey? I have found that Simon and I are generally treated as equals. But I believe that this is because we have the privilege of being largely surrounded by people who believe in what we’re doing, lift us up and give us confidence in ourselves. The coffee industry, like most industries, still has a culture of bias and inequality. What bias have you faced during your career? Generally speaking, I see such a huge gap in the confidence levels between women and men. Often, it is the women with stereotypically masculine characteristics that are able to rise up and be heard. In Western society, these characteristics include assertiveness, logic, low sensitivity and independence. By contrast, characteristic traits that are stereotypically viewed as feminine – such as expressiveness, sensitivity, empathy and modesty– have been viewed as weaknesses for as long as human memory goes back. Stereotypically feminine traits are so crucial to the world becoming a better place, and we need to start recognising their value and importance. We need to listen to women more, and recognise that they may not have the confidence to voice their opinions. This means we need to create more opportunities and platforms for women and their ideas to be heard, valued and acted upon. We also need to make sure that men and boys value and nurture these traits in themselves too. The importance of this, and the reality of inequality has become even more obvious to me since having children. Instilling confidence starts on day one – if we’re shaping children to conform to particular stereotypes and not giving them the confidence to be their true selves (especially girls) then it’s no wonder we have such a confidence gap in adults. We have such a long way to go. I think maybe I come up against fewer barriers than many women because my outward personality is quite confident and assertive, although I am extremely sensitive which perhaps is not immediately obvious to others. As I’ve got older I’ve become more confident in asserting my empathy, sensitivity and excitement, which feels like an oxymoron. I want to change the world by lifting traditionally feminine characteristics up and spreading more positive energy and emotion. What advice for navigating the workplace as a woman would you give your younger self? Know that there is nothing wrong with you. You feel emotions to an extreme extent, and I promise this is a good thing even though it is often overwhelming, confusing and frustrating for you. Right now it might feel like your energy levels are out of control, particularly in your brain, and coupled with your frustration this can make you feel angry and aggressive, mostly towards yourself. Don’t worry. Your brain is just wired atypically, and through experience and the support of others you will learn how to use your energy to lift people up, including yourself. What’s important to you as an employer of women? To unlock the potential of each individual by ensuring that their unique talents, characteristics and desires are uncovered, seen, heard and acted upon with opportunities. Regardless of what they are, it’s important to view these natural traits in a positive light so they can be developed. It starts with proper mutual respect, an understanding of each other and aligned values. Our Commercial Director recently got the whole team to do a personality assessment and it has helped me so much to have a deeper understanding of how each of us work, which definitely improves team happiness and dynamics. I’ve been getting my family and friends to do it, too! Thank you for reading! Helena was interviewed by our fantastic parters, Huggg for this blog post. You can read the full article here: https://www.huggg.me/blog/international-womens-day-with-truestart 

TrueStart is all about creating a happier & healthier world, through the power of positive energy. We're absolutely delighted to announce The TrueStart Legs Programme. "If an idea, plan, or activity has legs, it is likely to continue or succeed."- Collins English Dictionary Do you have a big idea that will make the world healthier and happier? Our founders Helena and Simon love getting ideas off the ground. Giving ideas a TrueStart, you could say 😉 So if you have a big idea to make the world healthier and happier but aren't sure what to do next, you could be in the right place. Armed with their experience getting a variety of successful projects and businesses off to a TrueStart, Helena and Simon want to hear from applicants that would get value from a structured mentoring programme that ensures dedicated time with Helena and Simon and any other relevant members of their wider team.  Successful applicants will get: A structured 3-month mentoring and support programme designed to get your idea off the ground, with dedicated time from Helena and Simon, Co-Founders of TrueStart Coffee Free welcome pack & 3-month supply of TrueStart Coffee  Your story told through TrueStart's channels 30% discount off TrueStart, forever When you successfully complete the programme, you'll be awarded with a reclaimed wooden plaque, to celebrate that your idea got off to a TrueStart! So if you think your ideas has legs, apply today! There are 2 categories we are inviting applications for ideas centred on: Happier, healthier people Happier, healthier planet We have a short application form for you to fill out just here: Applications are open to individuals, groups, businesses & charities across the UK and will be reviewed by our team each month.  Every 3 months, 2 ideas will be invited to join the mentorship programme (1 from each category). We'll chose ideas that we believe we can have the biggest impact on based on our own skills and experience. We can't wait to hear from you!

Recently a friend asked me about the link between caffeine and the frequency and extremity of menopausal symptoms. It's not the first time a menopausal woman has asked me, with palpable despair, whether they're going to have to give up one of their greatest daily pleasures - their coffee! I can really relate to this quandary - I have severe ADHD and there is a lot of misinformation out there telling individuals with ADHD to cut out caffeine, when actually it is a neurological stimulant that massively helps me manage my ADHD symptoms. It increases the dopamine availability in my brain and genuinely calms me down. I also really enjoy it, and the importance of that enjoyment should not be underestimated, under any circumstances! The more I've read about caffeine and the menopause, the more I've realised that it’s a similar situation. There are loads of "wellness" blogs out there telling menopausal women to immediately completely eliminate coffee and chocolate and other delicious things from their diet. But actually, there isn't a single, simple answer. There are pros and cons to caffeine where the menopause is concerned, and every individual is different. So what’s the science? There has been a lot of conflicting research on whether caffeine has an influence on the extremity and frequency of menopausal symptoms.  There are indeed studies that suggest that there may be a link between caffeine use and vasomotor menopause symptoms — namely, hot flashes and night sweats. But at the same time, there are studies like this 2014 one of 2507 menopausal women that suggest women with higher caffeine intake experience fewer menopausal problems with mood, memory and concentration (ie - the neurological menopause symptoms). I’m even more confused! So what does this mean for me?! We can safely say that over the years, caffeine and the menopause have been both positively and negatively linked. If you regularly consume caffeine and you're troubled by vasomotor symptoms like hot flushes or night sweats, the Mayo Clinic says you might consider cutting back on or eliminating caffeine from your diet to see if that eases your symptoms.  If drinking coffee is helping you to ease neurological symptoms such as mood swings, or issues with memory or concentration, then keep enjoying it.  Remember, you are unique. Blanket advice isn’t necessarily right for everyone, we all need to listen to our own bodies and find out what makes us tick. A great option to keep enjoying your coffee but still reduce your caffeine intake is TrueStart’s new range of super clean, super flavoursome decaffeinated coffees. From Barista Grade Instant Coffee to specialty grade Fresh Brazilian Beans and Ground, reducing your caffeine intake doesn’t have to mean forgoing your delicious coffee!

We are SO HAPPY and proud to share that we have submitted TrueStart's completed B Corp assessment for review!! B Corporation certification is the GOLD STANDARD for ethical business practices. It is a holistic approach to using business as a force for good that we just resonate with so much. We've been hard at work on this behind the scenes for a long time and have always been open about the fact that we've been on the path to becoming B Corp certified. This milestone is a huge step towards becoming certified and we’re delighted to share it with you! What is a certified B Corp? B Corporations are a new model for businesses that are tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues and challenges, and building a new economy led by shareholder capitalism rather than profit at the expense of people and the planet.  It’s far from easy to become certified. B Corporations meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. We are totally on board with this new vision of a world where business is used as a force for good. I’m massively optimistic that profit, people and the planet can not only co-exist, but actually enhance one another. B Corps are proof of this! What have we done during the assessment process? In order to submit a B Corp assessment, you need to score at least 80 points. I’m proud to say that when TrueStart first looked at the assessment we naturally scored above average, even though we hadn’t yet reached the threshold of 80. Covid put the brakes on the work we were doing on our B Corp assessment (as we suddenly had so much unexpected new work to do!!) but it also gave us the opportunity to step back and implement some major projects and changes to improve our social and environment impact even further. Some of these projects have included; Moving our drinks production to the South West, which has saved 2.2 tonnes of CO2 with every regular small batch produced, whilst simultaneously helping create and safeguard jobs Moving into an awesome new eco-first HQ on the Bristol-Bath cycle path, where we’ve implemented lots of eco-first processes and ways of working, including harvesting rainwater, planting trees and tracking our energy usage and waste disposal. Moving our warehousing & logistics to a fantastic local family business who share our values Eradicating plastic from our drinks production line, including our outer packaging Officiating some of the work we do with with schools with a commitment over the next 3 years, improving understanding of neurodiversity and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs Changing the legal structure of our business to report a triple bottom line - profit as well as our impact on people and the planet These awesome changes have increased our B Corp score well beyond what’s needed and we’re just so excited to have reached this milestone. What’s next? We’re now in a queue, waiting for our assessment to be reviewed by the B Corp team which could take 5 months. Then, they may come back with specific feedback for us to action before proceeding to certification, which we hope to achieve this year. Watch this space! 💚