DAILY GRIND: Orchard Lane Coffee House
Orchard Lane Coffee House in Sandgate puts pour-over passion into the grounds of every cup
There’s nothing quite like stepping in from a battering by Channel wind and rain to be greeted by the scent of fresh coffee. Looking out on to Sandgate beach, the Orchard Lane Coffee House has the enviable task of providing something livening and refreshing in the summer months and something warm and inviting in the winter.
The 2020 pandemic has been an eye-opener for all of us, but for the early adapters it has also been an opportunity to pause and think. Quickly becoming a takeaway specialist, the stylish High Street coffee house run by couple Jon and Joanna Lane got to grips with the Covid conundrums and used the time to evolve their business.
“It has given us a chance to reset the business a little bit,” says Jon. “It has always been a place that has never stayed the same – we’ve always tried to grow it and push it, and it has evolved a lot.
“We wanted to be a ‘coffee house’ rather than a cafe. So it has been a nice step-change to what we were doing.”
Part of that change has been the building of high-backed booth-style seating to allow for easier social distancing. But you wouldn’t know.
The stunning succulents, rustic furnishings, low lighting and shining brass give it a very cosy feel, while the uber coffee knowledge is the product of a passion that started long before Orchard Lane opened in April 2017.
Jon Lane: ©CENE MEDIA LIMITED
Having worked in digital marketing for more than a decade, Jon wanted to escape the London commuter confines, spend more time with his young family and do something he was passionate about.
“Opening a coffee shop was something we’d wanted to do for a long time,” he explains. “And we thought shall we just stop saying ‘one day’ and just do it.”
You could say they were ahead of the curve in this corner of Kent, with the look and feel already posted on a mood board in Jon’s mind.
“We always got comments saying it was like being in a London coffee shop without being in London. I guess that’s because I used to spend a lot of time doing my work in London coffee shops and you pick little things from each place that you liked.”
So, why Sandgate?
“It may sound arrogant, but we felt that there wasn’t anywhere to get good coffee around here,” says Jon. “And we enjoy good coffee. We always used to think the best coffee we could get was in our kitchen at home.
“But, we had the idea of creating a space for people to enjoy, come to and call their own and to really create a community down here.”
©CENE MEDIA LIMITED
Having used East east London-based Square Mile as the coffee roasters of choice for the first year, the Orchard Lane team have since been engaged in researching new blends both near and far, such as Curve in Margate and Strangers from Norfolk. Not to mention some more experimental flavours from around the world.
“Over the past year, we have been looking around much more and going to other places with our coffee,” says Jon. “We wanted to explore.
“We have two different types of customers. There are the customers that want good coffee, and know that we serve good coffee. And there are the coffee nerds who will ask what we have on filter that day, or what we are serving on espresso.
“But we had the idea of creating a space for people to enjoy, come to and call their own and to really create a community down here”
“So, it’s a bit of a balance on what you offer. You can use some natural coffees on espresso, and when you add milk it will be a lot sweeter. Ten per cent of people, the coffee nerds, will love it, but then others won't.
“It’s with the filter coffee where we can explore coffees with different flavour notes and things.”
FIlter Filter coffee has come back in a big way over the past couple of years and Jon puts it down to caffeine aficionados looking for quality over quantity.
“I think it’s knowledge,” he explains. “People know more about it now. Joanna and I used filter coffee as a gateway to try different styles, and I think other people are doing that, too.
“With a lot of our customers, we get to know them, and we will sometimes slide something over the bar and see what they think of it. Generally, people are becoming more attuned to things like that.
“Look at craft beer, for example, or cheese or wine. You can go in and buy something basic, but you can spend a little bit more and find something that has got a lot of flavour. And I guess that is where coffee is now, too.”
The counter is stocked up with bread from Folkestone based bakersy Docker, as well as multiple sweet and savoury vegan options.
“We have always been vegetarian and never had meat in the building,” explains says Jon. “But a lot of our savoury food was vegan, too. When we opened up in 2017, veganism was just starting to get well known, and we were there at the beginning, pushing it here.”
Swedish buns (kanelbullar) are made down the road in Deal by local company Bygga Bo, while they the make their brown vegan cakes are made in-house (as well as some saucy vegan snickers snickers and twix bars).
There is Minor Figures Oat Milk on sale, as well as speciality roasts on sale, not to mention home- brew gear for coffee fanatics to create their own. The whole place has the aroma of passion for its craft.
Jon adds: “We wanted to do something of our own, something that was a little bit more exciting than the day day-to- day grind.”