Cafédirect – New at Babipur

The Brand

We are excited to have recently introduced hot drinks brand Cafédirect at Babipur. Founded in 1991, to bypass the conventional coffee market, in search of a new way of trading that put farming at the centre, with a more personal approach. Cafédirect is a business that is built on mutual trust and respect.

Cafédirect believes in three main principles; that growers are the central focus of all they do, that their business should be used for integrated environmental action, and they should be held to be an inspirational and accountable business. 

Producers Direct

An amazing 50% of profits is invested directly into ‘Producers Direct’. This UK Charity works directly with farmers to improve sustainability and livelihoods across coffee growing communities around the world.

Cafédirect engages farmers in leadership programmes. They work for fairer trading systems, whilst empowering smallholder farmers around the world to improve business practices and livelihoods.

Cafédirect is now a certified B Corporation and believes in a world that celebrates good business partnerships as a force for good, where success is measured in the shared well being of all its stakeholders. 

Top testers

Some of our (very willing) staff and buddy team have been giving the range of hot drinks a try to tell you what they really think!

Handing over to the Team…

Hannah – Team Babipur

I never turn down the offer of a cup of tea so was more than happy to try out new brand to Babipur Cafe Direct Everyday Tea. This is a Fairtrade certified tea with fantastic ethical credentials – and it tastes great too! All good things come to those who wait and this tea is no exception – it takes a good 3-5 minutes to brew, particularly if you like a stronger cup of tea. With 50% of profits being reinvested with the growers to create sustainable livelihoods, and it’s lovely full flavour I’ll be adding it to my basket again.

Rosie – Babipur Buddy

We love the decaffeinated tea from Café Direct, it’s the first decaffeinated black tea that we have come across that we actually like! We drink our tea without milk so there’s nothing to mask the subtle nasties in the flavours and that’s a problem with most decaff teas, but not this one.
A delicious, light a refreshing cuppa, ethically produced and packaged perfectly in plastic free packaging, this tea ticks all the boxes. 

Jaime – Babipur Buddy

It’s so tricky to find ethical, yet delicious tea and coffee but this ticks all the boxes. Love the minimal packaging for the tea bags and they make a really good cuppa. I’ve used both soya milk or oat milk in my cups of Cafe Direct tea with great results. The decaf coffee is delicious – a good rich flavour and it works well with my oat milk, which I enjoy in coffee. I was so pleased and impressed when I read about the company’s ethics. Definitely switching to Café Direct for all my tea and coffee now!

Jo – Team Babipur

I was sent the strength 5 Intense roast ground coffee and ground Arabica Espresso from new brand CafeDirect.

In brief; it is fabulous coffee. I’m half a bag in to the Intense stuff now and it is exactly that. I drink mine with a good glug of milk. I’ve tried it with a variety of dairy and non dairy options and throughly enjoyed it. My husband is a big fan too and drinks his black. Delicious, smooth and the perfect hit you need to get you through the day. 

I will definitely be keeping a bag of this in the cupboard from now on for those days when I need a stronger mug…. like weekdays… and Saturdays and Sundays!

Moving onto the espresso coffee. I keep my espresso beans in my baking cupboard and I had something extra indulgent in mind for this bag. You could smell this one before I opened the box, it was genuinely divine!

In all honesty, espresso isn’t something I drink anymore. I outgrew tiny cups years ago and to be frank I prefer my shots poured over ice! Just pass me a decent sized mug and an adult sized drink thanks … or better yet just give me a martini glass! 

This espresso will make you a lovely coffee but it makes an ever better martini! It also tastes even better when added to a chocolate brownie mix, which is why I continue to buy espresso! I’m really pleased Babipur are stocking a Fairtrade option and I’ll happily be keeping this in my baking cupboard from now on! 

To try and give a fair review of the espresso coffee my husband has enjoyed a couple this week for research purposes. He had nothing bad to say… so we’ll take that as high praise!

Cheers Babipur!

Sarah – Babipur Buddy

I’m a huge tea lover and drink my tea black so taste is really important to me in a tea. I absolutely love the Cafédirect tea. It has a lovely smooth taste to it. The fact that it’s ethically produced and fairtrade means it ticks all the boxes!

Its the perfect brew for my Klean Kanteen – so I can always have a cuppa on hand.

Beth – Babipur Buddy

I’ve been so impressed with the Cafédirect products I’ve tried. I’m really picky about coffee – it has to be ethical, Fairtrade, have recyclable packaging and be decaffeinated with CO2 rather than chemicals. But it also has to pass the taste test, and I’m really fussy so it’s really tricky to find a coffee that does all of this. I’ve only ever found one in the past and was really dubious that I’d ever find another. However, when I heard about Cafe Direct I wanted to try it, because its ethical credentials are second to none. And I was delighted to find I actually prefer it! It has a mild, subtle aroma and taste, but a really beautiful depth of flavour. It also works really well with oat milk, so it’s a huge thumbs up from me!

I also tried the Cafédirect hot chocolate, and again I’m hugely impressed. I generally avoid hot chocolate drinks and make my own cocoa with cocoa powder and sugar. Other hot chocolate drinks tend to be laden with unnecessary ingredients and this puts me off. But Cafe Direct literally has the two ingredients, cocoa powder and sugar, that my usual cocoa has. It just comes in a more convenient form and with better ethical credentials. Win, win! I’m a definite Cafe Direct convert. I need to try the tea next!

Maria – Team Babipur

As a serious tea lover and a fussy one at that, I’m so pleased with the Cafédirect hand picked everyday tea bags. They do not take much brewing to achieve a nicely flavoured strong cup of tea. My favourite way to drink tea is strong with a dash of milk and these tea bags give me exactly what I like easily without a long brewing wait. The large box is a great value buy for regular tea drinkers like us. A really refreshing tea that has a wonderful fresh tea leaves smell and taste. As tea bags go, they do a good job of impersonating a brew made from loose tea. Super impressed and now our regular go to tea bag.

Heather – Team Babipur

Me and my hubby are big coffee lovers. Neither of us like particularly strong coffee, so we are always looking for great taste without a massive kick to it. We have been drinking the coffee a few weeks and have managed to try quite a few already! We go for strength 3 or 4 coffee which is perfect for us.

Rob, my husband, rarely gets excited about stuff but he is so chuffed with Cafédirect coffee. We have the Machu Picchu coffee beans and I have to say, grinding your own bean gives the most smooth, delicious cup ever! But the other ground coffees have come close second. Smooth, flavoursome, and depth without being overpowering. Topped with frothy oat milk for perfection. We are definitely both sold on Cafédirect.

I enjoy an afternoon Mocha sometimes as a treat. The San Christobal Hot Chocolate is amazing! Very simple ingredients (sugar and cocoa) with a rich, chocolaty flavour that isn’t too sweet. Great in my coffee or as a drink before bed.

Finally the tea! We always get the same tea so it’s interesting trying something new. We drink decaf in the afternoons, so I’ve tried both varieties. It makes a lovely cuppa! I don’t brew for too long, as just like coffee, I don’t it too strong. Even in a weaker cup there’s loads of flavour.

All in all very impressed!

Buy Cafédirect at Babipur >>HERE<

Share with us!

Thanks to all our team and buddies who volunteered to be top tasters! We hope you’ve enjoyed their reviews as much as we have.

We would love to know what you think about Cafédirect; share your pictures and thoughts with our community! Tag @Babipur on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or share your pictures with the Babipur community in our Facebook group, Babipur Hangout!

If you would like to read more about ethical chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely over on this blog.