It was a day for finding great coffee in unexpected places. Having run into About Coffee in Colne that morning, I called in on Coffee Fix in Gatley on the way back that afternoon. Neither were chance encounters, having come across both on twitter, but neither location immediately springs to mind when thinking of where to find excellent coffee.

A friendly, neighbourhood café with top-notch coffee (roasted by James of Coffee Circle in Manchester), excellent cakes, lovely breakfast and lunch menus (all made on the premises), Coffee Fix has something for everyone, breaking my rule that you should do one thing and do it well. Instead, Coffee Fix does everything and does it to an excellent standard, especially the coffee, which is as good as anywhere I’ve been in a year of Coffee Spotting. Coffee Fix offers a full range of espresso and filter coffee, including V60, Aeropress and cafetiere.

In fact, the only thing I can think off that would improve it (in my opinion) is a move about 150 miles south so I don’t have such a long drive when I want to visit.

Or I could move nearer to Manchester… It’s a tempting thought!

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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Until I came across Coffee Fix, I’d never heard of Gatley, perhaps best described as a suburb south of Manchester, just off the M56/M60 (although it’s also within walking distance of Gatley train station for those on public transport and, this being Manchester, I suspect that there are buses). It sits on Church Road, in a little parade of shops with parking right outside in a lay-by set back from the road, making sitting outside an option. Although Gatley is very suburban, it’s quite leafy and the view from Coffee Fix is very pleasing. If I didn’t know better, I could have easily believed that I was in a little village in the countryside.

I got to Coffee Fix just in time for the post-school run, when it was full in equal parts with school-children ordering milkshakes and families in with their kids for tea and cookies. This might explain why I was one of the few people there drinking coffee. In some ways this is a shame, since it’s mighty fine coffee, but it does show the wider appeal of Coffee Fix. Every now and then, it does me good to remember that there’s more to life than coffee (and cake, of course!).

Coffee Fix felt very much like a neighbourhood café, but with top-notch speciality coffee thrown into the mix. The layout is simple but effective: generous windows either side of the door let in plenty of light, helped by a large mirror on the back wall, while the bare wooden floor goes well with the simple painted walls. The seating is an interesting mix of tables, some with benches, some with chairs. It is mostly two- and four-person tables, with one six-seater thrown in for good measure. The counter is at the back on the left, with more seating opposite it on the right.

However, what had drawn me there was Coffee Fix’s reputation for having the best coffee south of Manchester. The coffee comes from Coffee Circle, roasted in nearby Stockport by James, who I was fortunate enough to meet, along with Coffee Fix’s owner, Gareth. It’s pleasure to meet a roaster who is also a barista and who is not afraid to get his hands dirty serving his own coffee to the public!

Coffee Fix’s menu is split into “black coffee” and “coffee with milk”. Black coffee includes filter (which begs the question, can you have it with milk? Naturally I forgot to ask!) while white coffee includes macchiato, piccolo (single or double), flat white, cappuccino and latte.

Gareth had just changed over the guest bean to an Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Doyo, which I had as a V60 (I didn’t think it would go well through the alternative, a cafetiere). It was a very fine cup of coffee, which was well presented, the cup and carafe coming on a tray along with a little slip of paper with the tasting notes and the origin of the coffee, which is a nice touch. I followed that up with a single piccolo, which was very fine indeed. The milk had excellent body, while the taste of the coffee came through strongly, blending well with milk.

I felt that such great coffee deserved a classic accompaniment so had a very gooey chocolate brownie which was close to exceptional.

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