2013 Awards – Most Unlikely Place

The sign at the entrance to the Abriachan Campsite and CafeThe second shortlist for the 2013 Coffee Spot Awards is the “Most Unlikely Place to Find a Coffee Spot” Award. This was won in 2012 by Abriachan Campsite and Café. Finding Coffee Spots in cities such as London, Edinburgh and Bristol is to be expected. However, good Coffee Spots are everywhere, some of them are in very unexpected places, both geographically and in terms of setting.

This Award is very much defined by the nominees on the shortlist. Some of these are geographical, a reward for bringing great coffee to unexpected places. Others are a recognition of a great or unusual setting for a Coffee Spot.

You can see the shortlist after the gallery.

  • Wild At Heart's impressive coffee menu
  • Coffee Aroma's beautiful presentation
  • Flat Caps Coffee, one of the best cups of filter coffee I've had
  • Ten Belles, a lovely coffee shop that could just as easily be in Soho or NYC
  • Attendant, a coffee shop in an old public toilet
  • Waterloo Tea, which, despite the name, serves excellent coffee.
  • The lovely Rave Coffee Cafe just outside Cirencester
Wild At Heart's impressive coffee menu1 Coffee Aroma's beautiful presentation2 Flat Caps Coffee, one of the best cups of filter coffee I've had3 Ten Belles, a lovely coffee shop that could just as easily be in Soho or NYC4 Attendant, a coffee shop in an old public toilet5 Waterloo Tea, which, despite the name, serves excellent coffee.6 The lovely Rave Coffee Cafe just outside Cirencester7
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There are seven Coffee Spots on the shortlist this year, all listed in order of publication.

Wild at Heart's Coffee Menu

Wild at Heart Emporium

Take a coffee shop, barbers and vintage store all rolled into one and you have the wonderful Wild At Heart Emporium on Bristol‘s Broad Street.

There’s been a few changes since I was there at the start of the year, and I don’t believe that the coffee menu is as impressive (or scary) as it was when I took this photo, but it’s still a great place to drink your coffee!

A carafe of coffee and a bright red cup from Coffee Aroma, Lincoln.Coffee Aroma

Lincoln does not immediately spring to mind when you think about top notch coffee, but in Coffee Aroma Lincoln boasts a Coffee Spot that would grace any town or city in the land. As well as being a lovely place to drink your coffee it serves some of the best coffee out there!

Perhaps the nicest cup of filter coffee I've ever had from Flat Caps Coffee in Newcastle, served with the filter in place.Flat Caps Coffee

Regular readers will know that I really rate the coffee scene in Newcastle and Flat Caps Coffee, run by the lovely Joe Meagher, is one of the best Coffee Spots I’ve been to. It’s been nominated for the Most Unlikely Place Award because it’s so damn hard to find. It’s down in a basement under a gift shop with a sign the size of a postage stamp the only clue to its presence. Despite this, it’s extremely popular, a testament to Joe’s hard work and excellent coffee. Also in the running for “Best Filter Coffee” Award.

The Ten Belles Coffee MugTen Belles

Ten Belles is one of a growing number of speciality coffee shops in Paris. The reason for its inclusion is not just that it’s in Paris (since I reckon Paris has plenty of good coffee) but more that it’s brought a slice of Soho/NYC to the heart of Paris. With an international customer base, coffee from the UK’s Has Bean and (when I was there) a Geordie barista, it was all too easy to forget you were in France!

The entrance to Attendant, in an old men's public lavatory on London's Foley Street.Attendant

What can I say? A coffee shop in a disused gentlemen’s public toilet? Well, that was always going to make the shortlist! However, the great thing about Attendant, on London’s Foley Street, is that while it kept most of the original features, including the urinals, it avoided just being a gimmick and instead serves up some lovely coffee from London roasters Caravan. Attendant also featured in the Coffee Spot Calendar for 2014.

A teapot brewing at Waterloo tea with dual egg timers (one orange, one green; what tea you have determines which one you use)Waterloo Tea

It’s not that Waterloo Tea is in Cardiff, since Cardiff has plenty of great coffee. It’s more a combination of the setting (out in the suburbs) and the fact that Waterloo Tea, as the name implies, is rather focused on the tea, yet still serves great coffee (and cake)!

Rave Coffee, Speciality Coffee RoastersRave Coffee Café

Rave Coffee is a specialist coffee roaster (which features as such in the “Saturday Supplement” Award) with a wonderful café attached in the unlikely setting of an industrial estate south of Cirencester. Also in the running for the “Best Takeaway Coffee” Award.

A special mention also needs to go to the following for bringing top-notch coffee to Cirencester itself (Cotswold Artisan Coffee), Colne (About Coffee) and Coventry (Kahawa Café).

And the winner is Attendant!
Runners-up: Flat Caps CoffeeRave Coffee Café

You can find all 20 of the 2013 Coffee Spot Awards here.


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5 thoughts on “2013 Awards – Most Unlikely Place

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