Portsmouth cafe Canvas Coffee closed in lockdown sees demand for home-roasted coffee soar across city

MOST people enjoy at least one steaming hot cup of coffee a day but ever since the coronavirus lockdown forced cafes to close their doors aficionados have had to make their own brews.
Pravin Isram from Canvas Coffee and Sunday Coffee Roasters in PortsmouthPravin Isram from Canvas Coffee and Sunday Coffee Roasters in Portsmouth
Pravin Isram from Canvas Coffee and Sunday Coffee Roasters in Portsmouth

This has given one small Portsmouth business an unexpected upturn in custom, which its owner hopes will help it survive the tricky times.

Canvas Coffee, an award-winning social enterprise and speciality coffee shop at Portsmouth and Southsea Train Station, originally began to roast its own blend on days when the shop was closed.

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Since lockdown has forced its temporary closure, owner Pravin Isram has used the time to perfect a roasting technique - and his produce has been snapped up by thirsty customers.

Pravin Isram from Canvas Coffee and Sunday Coffee Roasters in PortsmouthPravin Isram from Canvas Coffee and Sunday Coffee Roasters in Portsmouth
Pravin Isram from Canvas Coffee and Sunday Coffee Roasters in Portsmouth

Now Pravin is encouraging people to buy local, and help him to keep his 10 staff in jobs.

Pravin, from Southsea, said: ‘Sunday Coffee Roasters has been a side project I started five years ago, a year after starting Canvas Coffee.

‘I wanted to learn more about coffee so decided to do a course then I jumped in with both feet and bought a 2.4kg coffee roaster and put it in a back kitchen at Canvas and began roasting on a Sunday when the shop was closed.

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‘We began exclusively selling the coffee at Canvas and it’s become quite popular. We set up a website and have been selling online.

‘Since the lockdown we’ve had to close Canvas Coffee but have seen a significant increase in online sales.

‘If I can get more people to buy our coffee and shop local, it is more likely that I can start a roastery and keep people employed.’

Pravin roasts ’speciality coffee' - a term used to describe the highest grade of coffee.

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He said: ‘I try to pick speciality coffees that are fresh, in season and accessible to our customers, and roast flavour profiles that usually have body and a pleasant mouth feel - the sort of coffees that you can drink everyday, like the Colombians.

‘I try and keep four to six coffees on at any one time and always have something different in there that stands out - at the moment it’s the coffee we have from El Salvador.’

Now orders are flooding in, Pravin hopes to use this popularity surge to go bigger.

He said: ‘I have outgrown the smaller 2.4kg roaster and am hiring time on a larger roaster out of town.

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‘The goal is to find a site in Portsmouth, buy a bigger roaster and hopefully begin roasting more seriously in Portsmouth.’

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Pravin is currently refurbishing the coffee shop and has brought in measures so they can reopen safely on June 15, although he says he is worried about the significant drop in footfall as people avoid public transport.

He said: ‘It’s going to be hard to pick things up again but we are trying to stay positive.’

Canvas Coffee is offering free delivery on orders over £15, for more go to canvascoffee.co.uk. Enter FREEDEL1VERY at checkout.

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