Monthly Archives: October 2015

Glasgow Coffee Festival 2015 Preview

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The poster for the 2015 Glasgow Coffee FestivalCoffee Festivals come thick and fast this time of the year. The end of September saw not one, but two inaugural festivals, the New York Coffee Festival, and, slightly closer to home, the Northern Ireland Coffee Festival. Then, last Saturday, along came the first Edinburgh Coffee Festival, while this weekend, it’s the turn of Prague’s Coffee Festival.

The coming weekends see two of last year’s favourites making their second appearances. At the start of November (7th/8th), Cup North returns to Manchester, while next Saturday (October 17th) we have the return of the Glasgow Coffee Festival. Sadly I wasn’t able to make it last year due to various diary commitments, plus Glasgow annoyingly being at the other end of the country from where I live (how dare it!). This year, however, it’s been circled on my calendar for a long, long time.

Held in the Briggait, a soaring hall that was built as Glasgow’s fish market over 100 years ago, it’s just around the corner from festival organisers, Glasgow’s very own Dear Green Coffee roasters. Tickets are just £11.25 (including booking fee), which gives you access to nine hours (10:00 – 19:00) of coffee-based events, including the UK’s first-ever roasting championships.

PS If you’re heading up to Glasgow for the Festival, don’t forget to check out my Coffee Spot Guide to Glasgow for some of my favourite places to go.

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Brew & Brownie

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Four mini-American pancakes, in a clover-leaf arrangement, seen from above.Brew & Brownie, on York’s Museum Street, is just over the river from the original Perky Peacock. It had just celebrated its first birthday when I visited York last summer. Unfortunately, I was there on a Monday, and Monday is the one day that it’s closed, so I missed out. This year, I made sure I went back on Sunday, partly because the coffee comes from Cumbria’s Carvetii, one of my favourite roasters, and partly because several people had independently raved about the American-style pancakes, and regular readers know what I think about pancakes!

As well as pancakes, Brew & Brownie offers comprehensive breakfast and lunch menus, plus sandwiches. Breakfast is served until 11.30, at which point lunch takes over until the end of the day. I arrived at 11.50, but fortunately, the aforementioned pancakes are available as a brunch option throughout the day. There’s also an extensive range of cakes, which, unsurprisingly, features a wide variety of brownies. Throughout, though, the emphasis is on locally-sourced, high-quality, seasonal produce.

As well as Carvetii’s house-blend espresso, Brew & Brownie offers an Aeropress option, with loose-leaf tea from Merseyside’s Brew Tea Co, plus hot chocolate and a range of soft drinks.

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Full Court Press Update

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A cup of filter coffee from in a classic white cup, seen from above at Full Court Press.I first visited Full Court Press, or FCP Coffee as it is also known, the day before it opened, back in May 2013, then again two days later, when it still smelled faintly of paint. Since then I’ve been in a few times during my regular visits to Bristol.

In many ways, Full Court Press is much as I first found it, with owner and head barista, Mat, still regularly changing up the coffee, bringing in exciting beans from roasters from all over the country and beyond. For example, during my latest visit, one of the filter coffees was a Sumatran Blue Batak from Italian speciality roaster, Gardelli, the first time I’ve had its coffee. And very fine it was.

One change is behind the counter, where Will, of Didn’t You Do Well fame, has found a permanent role following Didn’t You Do Well’s sad closure. It was great to have a chance to catch up and to see him looking so well and so happy.

However, the biggest change had taken place beneath my feet…

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Saint Espresso

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From a black board behind the counter at Saint Espresso: "Crafting Coffee with Religious Care".Saint Espresso is an offshoot of Leyas in Camden Town, although it doesn’t advertise the link, so it’s easy to visit the two and not realise the connection. This is particularly true since the two are like chalk and cheese in almost all respects, except that they both serve excellent quality coffee from a regularly-rotating cast of roasters.

Saint Espresso is at the eastern end of Pentonville Road, just around the corner from Angel Tube station. The busy Pentonville Road does not, at first sight, seem the ideal location for a coffee shop, but Saint Espresso has perhaps the best spot, on the northern side of the road, well set back from the traffic on a broad expanse of pavement. This means that even the outside tables are well away from both pedestrian and road traffic, making it a comparatively sheltered spot.

South-facing and with a tall frontage that’s entirely glass, Saint Espresso’s a sun-trap. Even on a gloomy day, it’s flooded with light. Much smaller than Leyas, there is commensurately less food; just a decent selection of cakes and sandwiches for lunch. Where it excels, of course, is in the superb coffee (one espresso and one filter option).

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Wild & Wood, London Wall

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A lovely, creamy piccolo in a classic espresso cup, seen from above on an over-sized floral saucer.Wild & Wood is something of a pioneer in London’s speciality coffee scene. When it opened in 2008, the number speciality coffee shops in London could still be counted just using your fingers and toes. It’s also one of the first Coffee Spots I ever wrote about, Wild & Wood having been a regular haunt of mine in the years before I started the Coffee Spot. I also revisited it in April last year.

For seven years, Wild & Wood went about its business in its own uncompromising way from a small shop on New Oxford Street. Then, earlier this year, the building was cleared for redevelopment and Wild & Wood was left homeless, much to the consternation of its many fans and regular customers.

However, this particular story has a happy ending as, at the end of August, Wild & Wood reappeared on London Wall. Those who fear that the move will have ruined Wild & Wood needn’t worry: owners Bozena and Kit have pretty much transplanted Wild & Wood, keeping the same atmosphere and attitude that made it so popular.

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Darkroom Espresso

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A lovely latte-art swan in a flat white from Darkroom Espresso.For almost as long as I’ve been writing the Coffee Spot, my friend Sharon has been nagging me to visit Swindon. Initially, there was the well-regarded Cafelicious, but that closed down (the owners going on to open Cotswold Artisan Coffee in nearby Cirencester) before I could get there. Oh well, I thought.

Then, in 2014, two coffee shops opened within a few weeks of each other: Monday’s Coffee Spot, Baila, and the subject of today’s Coffee Spot, Darkroom Espresso. Darkroom almost didn’t survive long enough for me to visit: set up by Anglo-Australian couple, Andy and Jacky, our wonderful Government decided to deport Jacky (the Aussie), almost destroying a much-loved small business in the process.

The good news, however, is that Andy and Jacky were able to sell Darkroom before they left to Arthur and Will, co-owners of Oxford’s Brew, who took over this summer. These days you can find Arthur behind the counter, along with good friend of the Coffee Spot, Steve, the only man to get me to visit a Harris & Hoole…

Darkroom gets all its coffee from the nearby Round Hill Roastery, with single-origins on espresso and bulk-brew. There’s also tea from Cardiff’s Waterloo Tea.

March 2019: some excellent news! For a little while, it looked as if Darkroom was going to have to close, but I can confirm that from today, it’s under new ownership, with old friend, Steve, stepping in to take over the place. If you’re in the area, do pop in and say hello!

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