Chemistry and the art of coffee making have been blended by the University of Nottingham to create an exclusive new roast, ‘Poliakoffee’ that is launched across campus today (Monday 1 April 2019).

‘Poliakoffee’ has been specially percolated to celebrate the Year of the Periodic Table and is a tribute to the university’s own periodic hero, Sir Martyn Poliakoff, who helped to create this special blend.

Sir Martyn Poliakoff worked with the University of Nottingham’s catering department and artisan coffee roasters 200 Degrees Coffee to bring his chemistry expertise to the process and brew up this unique new roast that has all the elements to be a hit with latte lovers and espresso enthusiasts.

Chemistry in a cup

Martyn said: “This was an exciting project to work on – I know how much my colleagues and students love coffee so I was keen to work with colleagues across the university create something truly unique.  I was also pleased that our labs could be used to promote this project.  As I’ve always said, chemistry really is everywhere and now it’s being sold in cups on campus!”

To celebrate the launch of Poliakoffee free samples will be available in the Portland building until lunchtime on launch day. You can even share your coffee break with the creator as life-size cut-outs of Sir Martyn Poliakoff will also be in Portland and the chemistry foyer for a coffee break selfie — #Poliakoffee!

Matt Douglas from 200 Degrees said; “We pride ourselves on creating the perfect cup of coffee and this new blend really does deliver something different to anything we’ve done before. The added ingredient of input from Sir Martyn has been the key element to what makes this blend so unique and we hope our customers enjoy it!”

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the creation of the periodic table and events and celebrations are running throughout the year.

Update: Only joking – April Fool!

But it really is the International Year of the Periodic Table and you can find out more about it here: https://www.iypt2019.org.