Coffee. A legal aid to cycling that’s also able to improve your performance on days when you’re stuck behind a screen and not a pair of handlebars. From teams like Café de Colombia and Trek-Segafredo, to speciality roasters, the fact that cyclists are easy prey to coffee marketing is well established. Rounding up some of the best coffee with a connection to cycling, here are a few of the perkiest.
Alex Higham founded Exhale Coffee after discovering not only the performance benefits of caffeine, but also the health benefits coffee can have. Grown in Colombia (Mexico for its decaf option) and roasted in London's Brixton, the coffee is packed with natural antioxidants, polyphenols and vitamin B3 to support your health, brain and longevity.
Exhale offers a medium roast, which has flavours of smooth milk chocolate with notes of mango, honey and cantaloupe melon, as well as a dark(ish) roast – roasting coffee too much can make it lose its goodness – with indulgent caramel shortbread notes with Brazil nut, apple and pomegranate. Exhale has a decaf option, too, for those avoiding caffeine or those who want to add an extra dose of antioxidants and polyphenols into their afternoons post-ride.
Five Rings Cali Crash
£8.49 for 250g | Shop Rouleur
Based in Scotland, Five Rings Coffee is run by three elite cyclists. Philip Hindes, Olympic Champion in 2012 in 2016, EF Education-Nippo rider Owain Doull, an Olympic Champion in 2016, and Callum Skinner, twice a medalist at the 2016 games. Having met through the Great Britain Olympic programme, their friendship eventually also led to the creation of Five Rings Coffee.
They have a shop in Edinburgh but if you can’t make it up there, they also do delivery. A favourite among their blends, we’re very keen on Cali Crash, a single-origin coffee from Colombia with flavours of raspberry, brown sugar, caramel and apple.
Il Magistrale Café Colombia
£14.50 for 500g | Shop Rouleur
Dutch coffee brand Il Magistrale was set up to serve cyclists in need of coffee. Its Café Colombia blend also pays homage to one of the most famously caffeinated teams in cycling history. Founded in 1986 to give Colombian riders the chance to race in Europe, its sponsor was the Federacion National de cafeteros de Colombia (Colombian coffee plantation owners).
When Colombian Luis “Lucho” Herrera won the general classification at the Vuelta, the team’s cult status was assured. However, within a few seasons, falling coffee bean prices caused the team to fold. Sourced close to the squad's base in Columbia, this coffee with sweet flavours of Spanish orange and hints of honey resurrects the name and spirit of the team.
Grand Tour Coffee Wheel Sucker
£9 for 250g | Shop Rouleur
Having travelled the world as a sports therapist, Ben Jenkins has had the opportunity to try a lot of coffee. A member of Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers for the past seven seasons, he’s responsible for ensuring the squad’s riders are in tip-top condition. One would also assume he’s not adverse to also taking care of the rider’s coffee requirements. The most sedate of Grand Tour Coffee’s single-origin products, Wheel Sucker uses an Arabica from Brazil treated with the Swiss water process to remove the majority of its caffeine content. Perfect for when you need to get an early night. It still retains a full flavour, though, including sweet notes of roasted peanut, milk chocolate and cookie dough.
Ground Ichamama AA
£8.50 for 250g | Shop Ground
Receiving positive reviews from cyclists in South West London, Ground in Putney has become a regular haunt for riders returning from laps in Richmond Park. Assuming south of the river is a bit far for you to cycle, they also do delivery. Offering bags up to a kilo, its Ichamama AA filter roast from Kenya is a particular favourite. Grown in the Othaya region at around 1,800 metres, once brewed, it offers up notes of milk chocolate, lemon, caramel and red berry.
Segafredo Intermezzo
£4.99 for 450g | Shop Segafredo
I rarely get invited into the houses of the upper-classes. However, I do subscribe to World of Interiors. One constant I’ve gleaned from this is that posh people’s drinks cabinets only ever feature corner shop brands. Johnnie Walker or J&B for whiskey, Gordons or Beefeater for gin, and Smirnoff for Vodka. It would seem anything fancier just marks you out as nouveau. It’s kind of the same in Italy.
Despite being idolised as the home of great coffee, everyone invariably drinks Segafredo. Seeing as they also sponsor a cycling team, why not buy yourself a big bag and avoid looking like a bozo.
