Indigo & Cloth

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Detail from the doormat leading into Indigo & Cloth, a menswear & lifestyle shop with an in-house coffee shop in Dublin.Indigo & Cloth is in the heart of Dublin’s famous Temple Bar, just south of the River Liffey. Since opening in 2007, Indigo & Cloth has offered a blend of international and local menswear, lifestyle and design products. The in-store coffee shop, which occupies the left-hand side of the ground floor of Indigo & Cloth, opened in 2014. There’s a small amount of seating, including a window-bar and table, plus a bench outside if you need it.

Originally the coffee shop was operated as a concession by Clement & Pekoe. However, at the start of this year, Indigo & Cloth brought the operation in-house. Following the same principles as the main store, the coffee shop blends local and international roasters, with Belfast’s Bailies Coffee Roasters providing a house-blend and two single-origins on filter, joined by two seasonal guest roasters, with a single-origin on espresso and two more on filter.

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Shoe Lane Coffee, Tara Street

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A lovely single-origin Brazilian espresso from Full Circle Roasters, served in a glass at Shoe Lane Coffee, Dublin.A relative newcomer in Dublin’s rich and growing speciality coffee scene, Shoe Lane Coffee only opened in 2016, joined in 2018 by a second branch just down the coast at Dun Laoghaire. On Tara Street, once home to Dublin’s cobblers when it was known as Shoe Lane (hence the name), the coffee shop’s right in the heart of the city, a block from the River Liffey’s southern bank and across the street from Tara Street Station.

The shop is lovely, spread out over two floors. The spacious downstairs has the counter at the back, home (since September) of Dublin’s only La Marzocco KB90 (a source of much envy amongst Dublin’s barista community, several of whom recommended Shoe Lane Coffee to me). Meanwhile, via a switch-back staircase at the back, the upper floor is dominated by a large, communal table with a window-bar overlooking the street below.

Shoe Lane Coffee only serves single-origins from the local Full Circle Roasters. There’s a single option on espresso, two on pour-over and one more on batch-brew, all changing on a seasonal basis and all available to buy in retail bags. If you’re hungry, there’s a decent selection of cakes and savouries to choose from.

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Coffee & Science with Bean Thinking

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The Coffee & Science logo, a coffee cup with an equation written in a light-beam projecting from the cup.Four weeks ago, I spent a very pleasant Tuesday evening at Amoret Speciality Coffee in Notting Hill, learning all about the properties of foam. Specifically, milk foam, in case you were wondering what this has to do with coffee. I was at the second Coffee & Science evening, organised by fellow coffee blogger, Bean Thinking, aka Karen, who (when not engaged in the important business of blogging about coffee) spends (some of) her time as a research physicist at Imperial College.

The Coffee & Science evenings are a series of informal events held on a (roughly) monthly basis, hosted by the lovely Sadiq of Amoret Coffee and organised by Bean Thinking. The next one is this Tuesday (22nd October) and is all about the science of espresso extraction. Karen is keen that the tag “science” doesn’t put anyone off: the events are fun, friendly, practical, and, most important of all, you don’t need a background in science to attend! Coffee & Science is open to anyone with an interest in coffee and science behind it.

In the meantime, if you’ve ever wanted to know why milk foams (or sometimes doesn’t), which milks foam the best, and how non-dairy milks compare, read on!

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Coffeeangel TCD

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A V60 of a Gakui AA Kenyan single-origin served in a carafe, with the cup on one side, presented on a wooden tray at Coffeeangel TCD.Last weekend’s return to Dublin was marked by a combination of new places (such as yesterday’s Coffee Spot, First Draft Coffee & Wine) and new locations of old favourites (such as 3FE Sussex Terrace). Today’s Coffee Spot sees me back in Coffeeangel, whose HQ branch was a big hit with me when I was last in Dublin. This time it’s the turn of Coffeeangel TCD (which stands for Trinity College Dublin), on Leinster Street, which runs along the southern edge of Trinity College’s city-centre campus.

Coffeeangel, which began with a pair of coffee carts, is one of the veterans of Dublin’s speciality coffee scene. These days the coffee carts are no more, Coffeeangel having moved into bricks and mortar, now with five city-centre stores. TCD is a relatively compact affair, with outside seating, a counter at the front and a cosy seating area at the back. All the coffee is roasted exclusively for Coffeeangel by Bailies in Belfast. There’s a house-blend on espresso, served via a concise menu, joined by two single-origins, available on espresso or pour-over, the latter using a V60 on the Marco Beverage Systems SP9. If you’re hungry, there’s a wide selection of cake and sandwiches.

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First Draft Coffee & Wine

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A lovely flat white in a class white cup on a black saucer, made with an El Mirador single-origin from Guatemala, roasted by Roasted Brown and served at First Draft Coffee & Wine in Dublin.A quiet, residential street in Portobello, south Dublin, is not, at first sight, where you’d expect to find one of Dublin’s top coffee shops. It’s certainly not somewhere I would have found without the tip-off I received from Roasted Brown, whose roastery I (briefly) visited at the start of my current trip to Ireland.

First Draft Coffee & Wine is a fairly small spot, although it’s got as much seating inside as yesterday’s Coffee Spot, 3FE Sussex Terrace, in about a quarter of the space. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, serving coffee in the mornings through to the early evenings (seven or eight o’clock), with a magnificent selection of wine from noon onwards, and a small evening menu after five. There’s also a very tempting selection of cakes and pastries, while you can buy both coffee beans and bottles of wine to take home with you.

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3FE Sussex Terrace

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The bright red 3FE logo on the wall behind the counter at 3FE's Sussex Terrace location in Dublin.I spent the weekend in Dublin at the end of my week-long trip around Ireland, exploring the city’s ever-growing speciality coffee scene. It was my third visit to the city and where better to start than at 3FE, the first speciality coffee shop that I wrote about on my very first visit to Dublin, over five years ago? Back then, 3FE was already an established name, a roaster with a lovely coffee shop on Grand Canal Street. Since then, 3FE has opened two more coffee shops, as well as moving to a bigger roastery.

The subject of today’s Coffee Spot is 3FE’s second location on Sussex Terrace, which opened in the summer of 2016. Just south of the Grand Canal, it’s off Leeson Street, and about a 20-minute stroll along the canal from the original. However, it’s a very different beast, combining takeaway coffee shop with retailer, equipment showroom and training room. If you’re in the market for some home coffee kit, this is definitely the place to come.

Although focused towards the takeaway/retail market, you are welcome to sit in and, as well as two daily options on espresso, there’s also a small selection of cakes to tempt you.

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Filter (Cork)

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The front of Filter, in Cork, with the door on the left, and a solitary bench under the window on the right.Filter, one of Cork’s speciality coffee pioneers, was the third and final stop on my one-day tour this time last week. I also visited Dukes Coffee Company on Carey’s Lane and Three Fools Coffee, all recommended by local expert, Caroline O’Keeffe, with each totally different from the other two. Filter is a very homely place, with an eclectic mix of styles, kitted out almost entirely with bespoke furniture made from reclaimed wood, no single piece quite matching any other.

From the outside, it doesn’t look like much, with a narrow store front facing onto St George’s Quay on the southern bank of the southern branch of the River Lee. Inside, however, it goes a long way back, being maybe five times as deep as it is wide. There are two distinct seating areas, one at the front, the other at the back, with the counter in between.

When it comes to coffee, Filter serves the Momentum blend from 3FE on espresso, where it’s joined by a guest single-origin from Cloud Picker. There’s also a single-origin batch brew, plus a wide selection of single-origins on pour-over from either 3FE or Cloud Picker. If you’re hungry, there’s plenty of cakes and scones.

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Travels with my Coffee: Ireland 2019

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My Travel Press, at a stop on the southern part of the Ring of Kerry, overlooking Abbey Island with the Lambs Head headland beyond that, and, in the far distance, the Bere Peninsular.Welcome to another Travels with my Coffee, where I take my coffee to all the best places, particularly when there are no speciality coffee shops to be found. This is the fourth Travels with my Coffee this year, following on from my road trip through Arizona & New Mexico in January, a trip to Shanghai in March and five weeks in the USA in May.

This time I’m a little closer to home in Ireland. Although it’s my third time in Ireland, I’ve never ventured south of the line between Galway (on the west coast) and Dublin (on the east). This trip was specifically designed to rectify this oversight, starting last Friday when I flew to Dublin. I immediately drove south to spend the weekend in the Wicklow Mountains before carrying on to Cork via Waterford. This was very much the specialty coffee part of the trip, with visits to Arch Coffee (Waterford) and Dukes Coffee Company, Three Fools Coffee and Filter (all in Cork). From there, I went west to Killarney, spent a day driving around the Ring of Kerry, then headed north to Galway for a couple of days before completing the loop by returning Dublin yesterday evening.

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Three Fools Coffee

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An Americano extracting into a cup of hot water at Three Fools Coffee in CorkThree Fools Coffee on Cork’s Grand Parade was the second of my three stops on Monday’s whirlwind speciality coffee tour. As with my other two stops (Dukes and Filter), it was a recommendation from local expert, Caroline O’Keeffe.

Over the years, I’ve described quite a few places as coffee cubes, starting with Manchester’s original espresso cube (aka the sadly missed Forté Espresso Bar). In concept, Three Fools is the closest to an actual cube, despite not being cube-shaped (it needs to be twice as high and maybe 50% wider). However, it feels like a cube, with its timber-framed windows on three sides and a slightly incongruous concrete floor and ceiling.

At first sight, you might think that Three Fools would be a takeaway joint, or a mainstream coffee bar (Cork has plenty of these, by the way). Stepping inside dispels those notions instantly: this is a no-holds-barred, full-service third-wave coffee shop. There are two single-origins on espresso, roasted in-house, with a house or guest single-origin on filter, with a choice of batch brew, cafetiere (for one or two), V60 or Chemex (for two). If you’re hungry, there’s a choice of three sandwiches and three toasties, plus a selection of cake.

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Arch Coffee, Peter’s Street

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The Arch Coffee logo, taken from the door of Waterford's Arch Coffee on Peter's Street.I’m currently touring Ireland, having started off in the Wicklow Mountains, before driving down to Cork on Sunday. Along the way I took a detour via Waterford, partly because I thought the route would be more interesting, but mostly to visit today’s Coffee Spot, Arch Coffee. There are two Arch Coffees in Waterford. The original, on George’s Street, is closed on Sundays, so I visited the second one, which is just around the corner on Peter’s Street. This is pretty small, although I’ve been told that compared to the original, it’s huge!

A generous outside seating area has three long tables, behind which is the shop. The only seating here is a four-person bar on the left, most of the space being given over to retail shelves (right) and the counter (back). Arch Coffee stocks Dublin’s 3FE, with multiple single-origins for sale in retail bags, one of which is available via a standard espresso-based menu, along with a small cake selection. Note that it’s takeaway cups only, so don’t forget to bring your own.

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