Category Archives: Saturday Supplement

A Saturday Supplement is any post that’s not a Coffee Spot

Brian’s Travel Spot: Returning from Tokyo in Club World

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My British Airways Boeing 787-900 on the stand at London Heathrow Terminal 5, having safely returned me from Tokyo's Narita Airport.On Friday I’ll be flying to Tokyo again, so I thought it was high time that I finished writing  up my previous trip, so welcome to another Brian’s Travel Spot, this time covering my return from Tokyo. On my flight out, I travelled a new route and new airline for me, flying with Finnair from Manchester via Helsinki and on to Tokyo’s Narita airport. However, for my return, I was back in more familiar territory, flying with British Airways from Narita to Heathrow, with a short hop after that to Manchester.

This is the fourth time I’ve flown from Tokyo with British Airways and the third time I’ve done it from Narita (my other flight, in July last year, was from Haneda, Tokyo’s second airport). It’s also the third time that I’ve flown Club World (business class to you and me), although the first time I went to Tokyo, in April 2017, I was in World Traveller (economy to you and me).

The first step, as ever, is getting to the airport, taking the Keisei Skyliner. For the first time, I’ve covered this in its own post, so we’ll start at the airport.

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Indigo & Cloth

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Detail from the doormat leading into Indigo & Cloth, a menswear & lifestyle shop with an in-house coffee shop in Dublin.Indigo & Cloth is in the heart of Dublin’s famous Temple Bar, just south of the River Liffey. Since opening in 2007, Indigo & Cloth has offered a blend of international and local menswear, lifestyle and design products. The in-store coffee shop, which occupies the left-hand side of the ground floor of Indigo & Cloth, opened in 2014. There’s a small amount of seating, including a window-bar and table, plus a bench outside if you need it.

Originally the coffee shop was operated as a concession by Clement & Pekoe. However, at the start of this year, Indigo & Cloth brought the operation in-house. Following the same principles as the main store, the coffee shop blends local and international roasters, with Belfast’s Bailies Coffee Roasters providing a house-blend and two single-origins on filter, joined by two seasonal guest roasters, with a single-origin on espresso and two more on filter.

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Coffee & Science with Bean Thinking

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The Coffee & Science logo, a coffee cup with an equation written in a light-beam projecting from the cup.Four weeks ago, I spent a very pleasant Tuesday evening at Amoret Speciality Coffee in Notting Hill, learning all about the properties of foam. Specifically, milk foam, in case you were wondering what this has to do with coffee. I was at the second Coffee & Science evening, organised by fellow coffee blogger, Bean Thinking, aka Karen, who (when not engaged in the important business of blogging about coffee) spends (some of) her time as a research physicist at Imperial College.

The Coffee & Science evenings are a series of informal events held on a (roughly) monthly basis, hosted by the lovely Sadiq of Amoret Coffee and organised by Bean Thinking. The next one is this Tuesday (22nd October) and is all about the science of espresso extraction. Karen is keen that the tag “science” doesn’t put anyone off: the events are fun, friendly, practical, and, most important of all, you don’t need a background in science to attend! Coffee & Science is open to anyone with an interest in coffee and science behind it.

In the meantime, if you’ve ever wanted to know why milk foams (or sometimes doesn’t), which milks foam the best, and how non-dairy milks compare, read on!

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Travels with my Coffee: Ireland 2019

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My Travel Press, at a stop on the southern part of the Ring of Kerry, overlooking Abbey Island with the Lambs Head headland beyond that, and, in the far distance, the Bere Peninsular.Welcome to another Travels with my Coffee, where I take my coffee to all the best places, particularly when there are no speciality coffee shops to be found. This is the fourth Travels with my Coffee this year, following on from my road trip through Arizona & New Mexico in January, a trip to Shanghai in March and five weeks in the USA in May.

This time I’m a little closer to home in Ireland. Although it’s my fourth time in Ireland, I’ve never before ventured south of the line between Galway (on the west coast) and Dublin (on the east). This trip was specifically designed to rectify this oversight, starting last Friday when I flew to Dublin. I immediately drove south to spend the weekend in the Wicklow Mountains before carrying on to Cork via Waterford. This was very much the specialty coffee part of the trip, with visits to Arch Coffee (Waterford) and Dukes Coffee Company, Three Fools Coffee and Filter (all in Cork). From there, I went west to Killarney, spent a day driving around the Ring of Kerry, then headed north to Galway for a couple of days before completing the loop by returning Dublin yesterday evening.

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Arch Coffee, Peter’s Street

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The Arch Coffee logo, taken from the door of Waterford's Arch Coffee on Peter's Street.I’m currently touring Ireland, having started off in the Wicklow Mountains, before driving down to Cork on Sunday. Along the way I took a detour via Waterford, partly because I thought the route would be more interesting, but mostly to visit today’s Coffee Spot, Arch Coffee. There are two Arch Coffees in Waterford. The original, on George’s Street, is closed on Sundays, so I visited the second one, which is just around the corner on Peter’s Street. This is pretty small, although I’ve been told that compared to the original, it’s huge!

A generous outside seating area has three long tables, behind which is the shop. The only seating here is a four-person bar on the left, most of the space being given over to retail shelves (right) and the counter (back). Arch Coffee stocks Dublin’s 3FE, with multiple single-origins for sale in retail bags, one of which is available via a standard espresso-based menu, along with a small cake selection. Note that it’s takeaway cups only, so don’t forget to bring your own.

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Meet the Roaster: Chromatic Coffee

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A bag of Chromatic Coffee's Gloria from San Jose, El Salvador, the very first farm that Chromatic worked with.Serendipity’s always played a large part in the Coffee Spot, even from its inception over seven years ago when someone said “why don’t you start a basketball blog” and I thought “a coffee blog! What an excellent idea!”. No matter how much I plan, chance discovery always plays its part and today’s Meet the Roaster is no exception

Visiting Chromatic Coffee was always part of the plan for my return to San Jose earlier this year. I’d heard great things about the coffee shop from my friend Richard on my first visit in 2017. Getting out to Santa Clara was also going to be the issue, so when Richard offered to drop me off on his way to work, I jumped at the chance.

Before I left, I had a long chat with the manager, who, on learning that I was staying in San Jose until the end of the week, suggested attending Chromatic’s public cupping, which takes place in the roastery every Thursday morning. And that led to me discovering that Chromatic’s roastery is a couple of blocks from Richard’s flat.

Naturally I went, enjoying not just the cupping, but also receiving a tour of the roastery to boot!

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Press Coffee, Victoria Market Hall

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A lovely Brazilian single-origin espresso, served in a classic cup at Press Coffee in Victoria Hall Market, London.Press Coffee began life as The Fleet Street Press in 2013, although I didn’t visit until 2014. Since then, it has started roasting its own coffee, as well as steadily expanding, first in the neighbourhood around the Inns of Court, then moving further west. It currently has six outlets, including the subject of today’s Saturday Short, its coffee counter in Victoria Market Hall, just opposite Victoria Station, an area now packed with good coffee, although it wasn’t always that way.

Press Coffee is at the far end of the ground floor, although you’re welcome to take your coffee anywhere within the building, including the roof-top terrace. There’s a seasonal single-origin on espresso and another on batch brew, plus tea and a small range of cakes and toasted sandwiches. That said, you do have all 11 of the market’s kitchens at your disposal, plus three bars, so you won’t go hungry!

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The Coffee Spot is Seven!

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An espresso, made by my Rancilio Silvia espresso machine, in a classic white cup and saucer from Acme & Co., New Zealand, distributed in the UK by Caravan Roastery.Another year, another post wondering where all the time has gone! The Coffee Spot celebrates its seventh birthday today! I launched the Coffee Spot exactly seven years on Friday, 28th September 2012 (at 14.15 to be precise) with a vague idea that it might become a useful resource for coffee (shop) lovers and an entertaining way for me to spend (some of) my spare time. Little did I know just how much the Coffee Spot would take over my life!

In the Coffee Spot’s seventh year, I published 240 times (up on 219 since last time), covering 185 Coffee Spots of various sorts, with the remaining posts covering coffee events, roasters, my travels and the Coffee Spot Awards. Since 2016, the contents of Coffee Spot has been largely shaped by my work travels and the last 12 months have been no different, with six major overseas trips, and short jaunts to Rome and Prague.  Despite this travel, I only visited six countries outside the UK, including three visits to the USA and two to Japan (the other countries were Canada, China, Czechia and Italy).

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Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden

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Details from the curtains hanging in the door of Bread, Espresso & Arashiyama Garden, Kyoto, showing a man pouring latte art.I first discovered Bread, Espresso & when I visited in its original Omotesandō location. Conveniently located a short walk from my hotel in Tokyo, it became a regular weekend brunch spot on that and subsequent visits. While I knew there multiple locations in Tokyo and, increasingly, around the country, I was unaware that Bread, Espresso & had opened in Kyoto, until I was alerted by the lovely baristas at % Arabica in Arashiyama. It was timely advice, since I was looking for breakfast (% Arabica only serves coffee) and Bread, Espresso & was a mere five-minute walk away!

Kyoto has some amazing coffee shops in outstanding locations and Bread, Espresso & can be added to the list. It occupies a restored 200-year-old traditional Japanese farmhouse and associated buildings, set in a small compound. There’s a café in the farmhouse, the majority of the seating at traditional, low tables, while a separate takeaway bakery occupies another building.

Bread, Espresso & very much does what the name suggests. There are excellent (bread-based) breakfast and lunch menus, along with a selection of cakes, all baked on the premises, plus a concise, espresso-based coffee offering, all coupled with the usual high standard Japanese service.

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Brian’s Travel Spot: Narita Airport and the Keisei Skyliner

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The platform notice for the Keisei Skyliner service from Tokyo.Welcome to another instalment of Brian’s Travel Spot, following on from my flights with Finnair from Manchester via Helsinki and on to Tokyo’s Narita airport. I ended that particular Travel Spot at Narita Airport, where, as every seasoned traveller knows, the journey’s not quite over. You still have to get from the airport to your ultimate destination. Sometimes, this is fairly straightforward. However, in the case of Narita, you are faced with a bewildering array of options…

Part of the trick is knowing where in Tokyo (or, in my case, where beyond Tokyo) you want to get to. This Travel Spot is dedicated to getting to and from Narita Airport using just one of the options, the Keisei Skyliner, although I will talk about the merits of the other routes/options.

Narita, by the way, isn’t the only airport in Tokyo. There’s also Haneda, which, in contrast to Narita (65 km east of Tokyo), is much closer to the city centre, on the western edge of Tokyo Bay. You also have a similarly bewildering array of options there, including a monorail! For more on getting to Tokyo from Haneda and getting back to the airport, check out my trip from July last year.

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