The Coffee Spot is Ten!

The Coffee Spot cup, a classic white espresso cup, with a shot of espresso, pulled on my Rancilio Silvia espresso machime.It’s quite an auspicious day for the Coffee Spot: exactly 10 years ago, on Friday, 28th September 2012 (at 14.15 to be precise), I posted my first ever Coffee Spot. To mark the occasion, I’ve come to one of my favourite coffee cities, New York, although it’s also possible that I just happen to have a work-realted meeting here this week (I’ll leave it to you to decide which is true).

Ten years ago, I had no idea what I was unleashing on myself, hoping that the Coffee Spot might become a useful resource for coffee (shop) lovers and an entertaining way for me to spend (some of) my spare time. Instead, it has become an all-consuming passion which has spawned, amongst other things, a book (The Philosophy of Coffee) and gained me coffee friends all around the world.

This last two years have been very testing times for the hospitality industry and, consequently, very strange times for the Coffee Spot, although 2022 has seen things moving back to how they were, despite the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. In particular travel, and, for me, work-related travel, have opened up again, so I’m back to writing about Coffee Spots from around the world.

You can read a review of the Coffee Spot’s tenth year after the gallery.

  • I started the Coffee Spot's 10th year by visiting Wimbledon's Saucer & Cup.
  • Returning to the US in November, I discovered the delightful Frontside Coffee Roasters.
  • I was back in the UK in December, popping into Tintico in Soho on my way through London.
  • In January, I slipped in a visit to Tattam's in Guildford before leaving for the USA again.
  • I was back in the UK in late February, visiting Fika⁺
on Chester's city walls.
  • March saw me exploring The Wirral and North Wales, with Haus in Colwyn Bay.
  • I was back in New England in April, finding the delightful Time & Tide in Biddeford, Maine.
  • I was off again in May, taking the train to Berlin and the likes of Bonanza Coffee.
  • I spent the whole of June in the UK, where I visited Coffi in Liverpool.
  • July meant another trip to the USA, this time to San Francisco and The Coffee Movement.
  • I was back in Guildford in August, visiting the new Canopy Coffee in London Square.
  • Finally, in September, I made a day trip to Shrewsbury to visit Nomad Coffee Co.
I started the Coffee Spot's 10th year by visiting Wimbledon's Saucer & Cup.1 Returning to the US in November, I discovered the delightful Frontside Coffee Roasters.2 I was back in the UK in December, popping into Tintico in Soho on my way through London.3 In January, I slipped in a visit to Tattam's in Guildford before leaving for the USA again.4 I was back in the UK in late February, visiting Fika⁺
on Chester's city walls.5 March saw me exploring The Wirral and North Wales, with Haus in Colwyn Bay.6 I was back in New England in April, finding the delightful Time & Tide in Biddeford, Maine.7 I was off again in May, taking the train to Berlin and the likes of Bonanza Coffee.8 I spent the whole of June in the UK, where I visited Coffi in Liverpool.9 July meant another trip to the USA, this time to San Francisco and The Coffee Movement.10 I was back in Guildford in August, visiting the new Canopy Coffee in London Square.11 Finally, in September, I made a day trip to Shrewsbury to visit Nomad Coffee Co.12
Slider Script by WOWSlider.com v4.6

The Coffee Spot’s tenth year started with me sticking fairly close to home, exploring the delights of various parts of south west London. November brought a return to the USA for the first time since March 2020, as I flew to Atlanta to visit Amanda. Together we took a three-day road trip to Maine before I flew back from Boston.

December saw me keeping a fairly low profile with a couple of trips to London, while I was back in the USA at the start of 2022, flying back to Boston for another month with Amanda in Portland, Maine. I returned to the UK in February, spending my time between Guildford and North Wales for the next two months, including day trips to Wrexham, Colwyn Bay and The Wirral.

In April, I was once again off across the Atlantic, another month in Maine beckoning, while in May, much to my surprise, work travel started up again with a meeting in Berlin, where I travelled by train, taking my time to explore Köln on the way back. June saw me back in North Wales, where various day trips took me back to The Wirral and across the Mersey to Liverpool for the first time in almost two years.

The work meetings were starting to come thick and fast, so in July I flew to San Jose for a week-long meeting, followed by a week of exploring in the Bay Area. The first two weeks of August saw me in Atlanta with Amanda before my return to the UK where I again split my time between North Wales and Guildford, this time managing a day trip to Shrewsbury before taking to the air again for the Coffee Spot’s birthday trip to New York…

Looking ahead, the next twelve months is likely to bring more work-related travel, plus visits to Amanda in Maine. While in the UK, I’ll be increasing spending my time in North Wales as I work towards my long-term aim of relocating back to my childhood home in Holwell. And, of course, there will be plenty of coffee shops to visit along the way.


Don’t forget that you can share this post with your friends using buttons below, while if you have a WordPress account, you can use the “Like this” button to let me know if you liked the post.

2 thoughts on “The Coffee Spot is Ten!

Leave a Reply to Phil Stringer Cancel reply