This is another Saturday Update where the answer to the question “what’s changed?” is “not a lot”. Regular readers will know that Beany Green’s Paddington branch became my local while I was working in Sheldon Square. However, at the start of June, my contract expired and so my weekly visits abruptly ceased.

After an all-to-brief hiatus, I was offered another contract mid-way through July and so found myself back at Sheldon Square, this time for two or three days a week (which is a shock to the system, I can tell you!). The upside of this (other than getting paid, so I can continue to finance the Coffee Spot) is that I was able to renew my acquaintance with the lovely Beany Green.

During my six weeks absence, not a lot had changed at Beany Green. However, now that I’m back two or three days a week, I have the opportunity to sample more of the range of coffee on offer. Previously, I’d largely confined myself to a flat white to take back to the office, but since my return, I’ve made a concerted effort to get through more of the coffee menu. I’ve also started working through the cakes…

July 2016: my contract finally came to an end at the end of 2015. Since I left, the Paddington branch has undergone a major refurbishment and so I popped back in to see what had changed.

You can see how I got on after the gallery.

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Beany Green gets its coffee from Winchester’s The Roasting Party. The house blend, “The Captain”, (50% Columbian, 25% Sumatran, 25% Kenyan) is a lovely, sweet coffee that goes very well with milk in my regular flat white. I recently tried it as a piccolo and was surprised at how different it is. I had a double shot (some could argue that’s a cortado, not a piccolo, which is a single shot, but frankly, life’s too short) and found that the sweetness of the coffee was less apparent, with much more of a dryness/bite to the coffee. It’s rare I say this, but I think I prefer The Captain in a flat white.

I also tried the decaf, which I first had at this year’s London Coffee Festival. Back then I was very impressed and even though the actual bean has changed, I was just as impressed with the new decaf. Compared to The Captain, it’s just as sweet and cuts through the milk just as well.

My main exploration has been of The Captain as a straight espresso. When I’d previously tried it, I thought it a little too bright. However, with more opportunity to experiment, I found myself very impressed. It was excellent, darker than I remembered. Given how sweet it is with milk, I was sufficiently surprised to check that it was actually the same coffee! There was an initial fruity hit (don’t ask me what sort of fruit) with a front-of-the-mouth/tongue taste and no sides at all (a good thing). There is, however, very little roof-of-the mouth taste and nothing at the back either.

It struck me that how I was drinking the espresso had an impact on how it tasted, so the next time I tried swilling it rather than sipping it. This time I could pick up more of the fruity notes and the sweetness was back, but there was still very little side- and back-of-the-mouth taste.

When I was only going to the office once a week, I took my own cake. This ritual has continued, but since I only do this once a week and I’m now in the office at least twice a week, I’ve been able to sample Beany Green’s cake range. Naturally I had to start with the famous banana bread, which smells excellent and tastes just as good. I had mine toasted (the default option it seems) with a little butter. It had great body to it, with a strong taste of banana and lots of nuts (so technically its banana and walnut bread). It was quite sweet, but not sickly: an excellent mid-afternoon snack or morning pick-me-up.

I followed that up (on subsequent visits, I hasten to add) with more sweet things, starting with a very large square of Rocky Road. This was quite fruity, packed with marshmallows and the occasional kick of aniseed. It’s ideal for sharing, but was a bit too large/sickly for me on my own. I also had an equally-large dark chocolate and raspberry brownie, with roughly the same result.

Finally, I tried the gluten-free almond and lemon polenta cake. This had quite a subtle taste, and was coarse-grained and moist, giving it a lovely texture. Like the banana bread, it wasn’t too sweet, and, next to the banana bread, it’s my favourite.

Don’t forget the original Beany Green Coffee Spot, which includes the complete write-up and an updated gallery.

You can also see what I made of all the other branches of Beany Green that I’ve visited.

Disclaimer: In the second half of 2015, Beany Green launched a bond to fund its future expansion. I invested in this bond, and, like all bond-holders, receive free coffee as a reward. This Coffee Spot was published before the bond was launched.

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