Category: Food

Husband and wife coffee connoisseurs from Warwick are hoping to brew up a storm as the doors open on their latest venture.

Lisa and Rafael Hernandez are building on the success of their Caffeine Project coffee house and deli in Binley Woods, with a new Afternoon Tea room.

The modern 35-seater space, previously occupied by a furniture shop, is a hidden gem behind their existing café, which opened on Rugby Road in 2021. It marks the latest chapter for the couple whose entrepreneurial journey began seven years ago with their coffee brand.

It’s also another ambition realised for Rafael who has a background in hospitality and a degree in Culinary Arts from his native Mexico. His experience includes time spent working as  a chef in Stratford before spending 10 years with Illy Coffee, where he learned about the industry from the ground up – literally – getting hands-on with coffee bean picking in Honduras.

He said: “Because of my line of work, I’d had the opportunity to visit practically every single coffee shop in the country and could see what was missing and what needed to change.

“When we opened Caffeine Project it was a gamble, but we wanted to be true to what we believed in, which is to have a place with great quality coffee and food. Likewise, when we opened the deli, we knew we had to offer quality products that we could sell to the public.”

He added: “I like afternoon teas and I knew that it would be something that could complement the café business really well. Also, as customers ourselves, we realised that there is more need for a high-end afternoon tea experience in Coventry.

“We wanted to offer a really nice contemporary experience, something with a different feel rather than the usual vintage style. It may not have the setting of a stately home or period building but we are confident it is equal in quality and ambience.”

The Caffeine Project signature coffee brand always looms large in Rafael’s business ethos – one of his three blends even brewed especially with locals in mind.

“I developed a coffee especially for Warwickshire, where people seem to really like strong coffee and that is our Ban de Blend, which is from Honduras, Brazil and Vietnam. Because Vietnamese coffee is quite strong,” he explained.

“If you’ve got good coffee, people will come back again and again. I worked hard to find a blend of coffee that cuts through milk really well because latte and cappuccino and flat white now are the main drinks consumed in the UK.

“And our decaf beans use a Mexican water process, so it’s decaffeinated with spring water rather than chemicals.”

The new licensed tea room opened on October 30^th with the support of Rugby Borough Council grant funding. Work is now under way on creating an on-site baking space to help further expand their offering.

The menu, all prepared fresh on the day by chef Jake Rouse, offers a choice of Afternoon Tea or Sparkling Afternoon Tea in relaxed contemporary surroundings with Vegetarian and Vegan alternatives available. Their Festive Menu is also now running until December 28^th.

Meanwhile, longstanding Caffeine Project Brazilian Head Chef Gustavo Eckhardt is keen to bring both his and Rafael’s international cooking influences to some of the café menu dishes.

Lisa added: “We are incredibly proud of the coffee shop and the community we’ve grown here. One of the things we have always done since the very beginning was to invest back into the business and the people.

“The staff in the coffee shop and deli are fantastic. They work so hard and they care about the customers. They all have their own part to play in the success.

“When the deli first opened and people started to come in, they were just delighted that they had somewhere like this. We are now getting people that pull up regularly for goods from the shop, especially our coffee and double yoker eggs!

“We’re trying to create a local one-stop quality shop. We listen to our customers. If they suggest stocking certain things, we give it a try. We have so many wonderful regulars that come in the café and deli all week.”

She added: “We always envisioned what we wanted to do with this new space once it became available two years ago, but we knew we had to focus on one business at a time, so we focused on the deli first.

“We’re excited to be widening our offering even more to create a different kind of experience for people who want something that bit extra special. The area was crying out for something like this. We look forward to welcoming both familiar and new faces through the doors.”
Caffeine Project Afternoon Teas are available between 12-5pm Thursdays to Sundays.

 To book visit HERE.