Fonthill is a high quality, pure English spring water from a historic protected source deep in the hills surrounding the 7,000-acre Fonthill Bishop Estate in Wiltshire. The water is naturally filtered through limestone rock before emerging from boreholes close to the historic Penning and Berwick wells.

It has a light, refreshing taste and a balanced mineral composition.

The luwak or palm civet cat, being partial to the ripe coffee cherries that fall from the trees it adds them to its diet. The undigested coffee seeds once passed by said cats are washed and prepared to give an intense, but delicate flavor with little aftertaste.

If you fancy some we can obtain it for you …… works out at about £25.00 per cup, very reasonable!

So we’ve chosen to partner with Guide Dogs for the Blind Association as our charity for the year, to help fundraise and sponsor the cost of breeding and training a guide dog. Our fundraising drive starts this month for the charity’s Sponsor a Puppy scheme.

The money raised will cover the first 12 months of a puppy’s training, breeding, vaccination, vets’ bills, food and equipment.

The cost associated with breeding and training puppies to meet the current demand in Wiltshire alone equates to £190k!

This is a great way of giving back to the community -we’ll get to name a puppy and know that once it has been fully trained, it will make such a difference to the independence of a blind or partially-sighted person.

Alison Selby, regional fundraising development manager for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association says that they have to relyalmost entirely on voluntary donations to fund the charity’s services. The Sponsor a Puppy scheme is a great way for companies and individuals to get involved in fundraising and to learn about its life-changing work.

We would really recommend other businesses get in touch to help this great charity, which is now in its 81st year.

For further information about Guide Dogs’ Sponsor a Puppy scheme, contact Alison Selby on 07500 993210 or alison.selby@guidedogs.org.uk. For more information on the charity’s work visit guidedogs.org.uk

From left to right: Hilary Reed, exerciser for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association with Katie, a 5-month-old puppy in training; Roy Cox from Dilton Marsh with his guide dog, Delta; Hilton Vending’s Martin and Sarah Killian who this month begin their fundraising drive to sponsor guide dog puppy training.

But those who do can really make it fun (or they’re nuts, depending on which camp you are in).

Whichever camp you are in you really can’t complain about these 3 videos.

This kid is just great! It’s called “my simple working lego vending machine”.

My simple working Lego vending machine

Then there’s this nutty working version from Denmark – with slightly annoying music.

Lego mindstorm vending machine

Finally, our favourite, this really is quite complex and rather cool.

Lego vending machine 1.5

A cup of Hot Chocolate was prepared as per the instructions – 18gm chocolate powder to 170ml water.  Being a ‘Fully built drink mix’ containing the milk, sugar, chocolate, etc., nothing else was required.

The solubility is good, and at the end of the taste, no ‘muddy’ rings in the bottom of the drinking vessel.

The taste is ‘immediate and lasting’, but the initial taste was a little weak despite a vigorous cup swirl.  The recommended 18gm of chocolate powder is unconvincing in this case and therefore, to the same 170mk of water, a further 2gm of chocolate powder was added, i.e. 20gm of powder to 170ml of water.

Better, much better – although understandably, maybe a hint sweeter.

The memory of the drink 15 minutes later, left a nice taste in the mouth, and I bet another cup will be taken sooner rather than later.  This is a drink to be enjoyed at any time, not just, as tradition dictated, in cold weather.

Maybe this 20gm into 170ml of H2O has no magical properties, but the last ‘test’ at 20.00 hours tasted beautiful, and I slept zonked out until 8.30 a.m. the following morning, that was the first time in the last 10 days!!!

Therefore, a suggestion of 20gm into 170ml or even 20gm into 175ml of water might be appropriate for manual doses of drinking.

Blogger’s Note:  18gm circa 3 teaspoons, 20gm circa 4 teaspoons.

I set enough grounds for 4 cups and filtered off 4 tablespoons of the fantastic aromatic grounds.

Within 10 minutes the result of the grind and aroma was being tested, but the result was not what I had anticipated and therefore the first tasting was a disappointment.  The black liqueur was thin and only just had a vague coffee taste almost as forgettable as some of the local hostelries given to victims after a meal!

So back to the main event, the same amount of grounds was used but this time for 2 cups – result, great taste, flavour, character and satisfaction over lips and onto tongue. But, 4 tablespoons of freshly ground beans to produce 2 cups of coffee seems a tad expensive BUT NICE!

Used generously this coffee will revive flagging senses and attention to the job at hand – perhaps.

I look forward to the next cup – black, unsweetened and satisfying to the senses.

It was a mistake to try to make 4 cups of coffee to do this coffee justice and to capture its deep roast and delicious aroma that pervaded the ground floor of my prep area.  As the name suggests Espresso, an amount of 4 into 2 is superb.  For the cream and sugar users, if you like it that way, enjoy.

Were you aware that new coins will be issued by The Royal Mint next year? Don’t worry, you’re by no means alone.

The Treasury has planned the introduction of new 5 and 10 pence coins for January 2012 and we’re working with businesses now to highlight the potential effects. The weight change in these coins will affect their use in vending and other coin-operated machines.

Not much has been made of these pending changes outside of our trade press, but given the potential disruption posed, it’s important that business owners are aware of how they could be affected. ALL coin-operated vending equipment leased or owned bycompanies will require adjustments or upgrades from an engineer, so that they continue to operate as usual.

Hilton Vending Services is an accredited member of the Automatic Vending Association, a trade body which lobbied government successfully earlier this year to delaythe implementation of new coinage.

Businesses now have more time to adapt their vending equipment and we’re helping customers think ahead, to ensure the 2012 changes won’t affect them – but we’re concerned by the lack of knowledge in the market at large.Most are simply unaware of this move by the Treasury.

Currently, 5p and 10p coins are made from cupronickel, a metal alloy. Next year they will be magnetic for the firsttime, 11 per cent thicker and made from steel with a nickel coating.

If you would like any advice on these coin changes and how the vending equipment in your business might be affected, please give me (Martin) a call on 01373 864611.