Category Archives: Saturday Supplement

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

Manchester Coffee Festival 2016 Part I

Posted on by
18

thumbnail-manchester-coffee-festival-2016-part-i-dsc_0004Last weekend saw my annual visit to Manchester for the Manchester Coffee Festival. If anyone is confused, this is what was, for the past two years, Cup North. It’s been interesting to watch the evolution of the festival. In its first year, Cup North was my favourite coffee festival, small, friendly and intimate. Last year, it had taken things up a notch, with a new venue, the Victoria Warehouse, and a significant increase in size. This year, it’s gone one better, all while retaining its friendly, relaxed nature, particularly when compared to London Coffee Festival.

All the usual suspects were there, with the roasters out in force, backed up by some equipment manufacturers and coffee kit suppliers. There were various food-related stands, including cake, bread and milk. Everything you need, really. Popping outside, there was also a range of street food in case you got too hungry. Making a triumphant return from last year was my favourite coffee competition, the UK Cup Tasters’ Championship, while Tamper Tantrum was back with a series of talks. As usual, over the two days, I saw almost everyone I wanted to, but there’s quite never enough time to get around all the stands!

Continue reading →

Idle Hands Pop-up

Posted on by
3

The Idle Hands logo, taken from the A-board outside the pop-up on Dale Street.Idle Hands started as a long-term pop-up by Manchester’s Piccadilly Station. I had a hit-and-miss relationship with Idle Hands, constantly turning up when it was closed before finally visiting during last year’s Cup North. Idle Hands moved out earlier this year, finding a temporary home with barbers Mr Beardmore in the building on Dale Street that will become its permanent home. Eventually.

The building’s being redeveloped, and, in a tale of woe which you can read on Idle Hands’ website, the opening date has been pushed back and back. Originally scheduled to move in permanently by the end of October, this now looks like early next year. In the meantime, the developer has allowed Idle Hands to move into 32 Dale Street, in the space next door to its future permanent home of 34 Dale Street. It’s a bit makeshift, but at least Idle Hands is back and serving coffee!

July 2017: By now, Idle Hands should have been in its new, permanent home, but at the last moment, the landlord pulled the plug on the deal. It’s not clear what the long-term future is for Idle Hands, but the good news is that Dave and Lucy have picked themselves up and are now back serving coffee and pie every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Grub in Manchester. You can see what I found when I visited in August.

Continue reading →

Tempo Café

Posted on by
4

Tempo Cafe in Chicago's Near North neighbourhood.When I used to stay in downtown Chicago, my hotel was just around the corner from Tempo Café, an amazing 24-hour diner in Chicago’s Gold Coast (I say “used to stay”: it was all of three times!). However, I loved the place and made sure I visited for breakfast at least twice on each trip. Therefore, when I was back in Chicago as part of my coast-to-coast extravaganza last year, and unexpectedly found myself north of the river, I made a beeline to Tempo for a late brunch.

Tempo, along with Boston’s Charlie’s Sandwich Shoppe, is one of my favourite American diners, although compared to Charlie’s, it’s a very different place, slightly more upmarket in layout and feel, but still great value for money. All the usual diner staples are there, but you can also get full meals and everything is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week. Comfort food at its best!

Continue reading →

The 2017 Coffee Spot Calendar

Posted on by
Reply

A cappuccino in a classic white cup, sitting on a tree-stump table in the window, half in shadow from the sunlight.It’s that time of year again, when I announce the Coffee Spot Calendar, which will be my fourth calendar to date. As before, the calendars will be professionally-printed on glossy paper, each month featuring a landscape, A4 picture from one of my favourite Coffee Spots of the last 12 months. Except there’s a snag…

If you’ve been following my Brian’s Travel Spot series, you’ll know that I’ve been very, very busy this year, far too busy, in fact, to sit down and pick my 13 favourite photos (one per month plus one of the cover). However, I think I have an answer to my dilemma…

Last year, as well as my main Coffee Spot Calendar, I produced the first ever Coffee Spot Lighting Calendar, with help from my friend Sharon Reed, who chose most of the pictures. So that set me to thinking: why not crowdsource this year’s calendar? Crowdsource, by the way, not crowdfund: I’ll still print them and you can buy them, just as in previous years.

What I need you to do, dear readers, is to start nominating your favourite Coffee Spot pictures. They have to be landscape and from a Coffee Spot published between 1st November 2015 and 31st October 2016.

Continue reading →

Beyond the Bean Barista Bursary 2017

Posted on by
7

The Beyond the Bean Barista Bursary logoRegular readers will remember that last year I was involved with the Beyond the Bean Barista Bursary as one of the judges, a somewhat ironic situation given my dislike of (watching) barista competitions. As I explained back then, while watching barista competitions is not for me, I fully appreciate the value that they bring to the speciality coffee industry. So many top-notch baristas I know credit the UKBCs with taking them on a massive learning curve. They talk of how competing gave a boost to their careers, something which applies to everyone, not just the winners: simply taking part has been critical to many a barista’s development.

I’m also painfully aware that competing in the UKBCs is not a trivial matter. It involves a huge investment in both time and money for the competitors, something which is in danger of shutting out baristas who don’t have a large organisation backing them. With that mind, Beyond the Bean set up its Barista Bursary last year, to provide funding for a barista who would compete in the UKBCs. I was asked to be a judge and must have done something right because Beyond the Bean has asked me back again this year!

Continue reading →

Manchester Coffee Festival 2016 Preview

Posted on by
2

A stylised outline of a white cup on a black background with letters cupnorth written above it (also in white).In two weeks’ time (Saturday/Sunday, 5th/6th November), Cup North will return, although this year it’s re-branded itself the Manchester Coffee Festival. Once again gracing the halls of the Victoria Warehouse in Stretford, where last year it spread itself out over a rabbit warren of interconnected spaces, you’re in for a real treat.

I’ve watched the Festival evolve over the last three years. Starting out as Cup North in 2014, it was a modest, relaxed affair in a pair of adjoining rooms in Manchester’s Artwork. Last year it expanded to Victoria Warehouse, occupying a number of rooms on the first floor, feeling more like a mini London Coffee Festival, although on a much more manageable scale. Even so, I still didn’t have time to get around all the stands I wanted to!

Whether it’s your first time or you’re wondering what this year’s festival will hold, this preview is for you. There’ll be plenty of speciality coffee and related kit, with numerous cafes, roasters and equipment suppliers amongst the exhibitors. Food, as always, will play a big role, with a range of local street food traders on hand. Finally, the Festival will once again host a series of Tamper Tantrum talks.

With weekend tickets for just £18, or £10 if you only want to do a single day, it really is a bargain. Get your tickets now!

Continue reading →

Brian’s Travel Spot: Shanghai to Chicago

Posted on by
10

The Willis (was Sears) Tower, Chicago's tallest building.Welcome to fourth instalment of my Brian’s Travel Spot series, which started with my flight out to Hong Kong, continued with my adventures in Hong Kong itself, then moved onto Shanghai, where I was spent a week on business before having the weekend to explore. This instalment covers the next leg of the trip, my flight across the International Date Line to Chicago, where I spent the next 10 days staying with friends before flying home, in the process, completing my first round-the-world trip.

Originally, this was going to be two separate trips. Chicago had been in my calendar for almost a year before work asked me to go to Shanghai. Since I had it in my head that I would already be flying to/from Chicago, my initial planning was based around returning from Shanghai after my meeting, spending a couple of days at home, suffering horrible jet lag in the process, then flying out to Chicago to do the same again. That, I decided, would be no fun. I briefly thought about cancelling the Chicago trip before checking out the (with hindsight) obvious option of flying from Shanghai to Chicago, a solution which had the bonus that I’d fly around the world in the process!

Continue reading →

Manner Coffee

Posted on by
10

The word "Manner" written partly across an inverted triangle.Manner Coffee was a recommendation from Anna, my barista at Monday’s Coffee Spot, Sumerian Coffee. Handily placed just a few streets away from Sumerian Coffee on the quiet Nanyang Road, I was very grateful for the tip since I’m not sure I’d have found it by myself, particularly since it doesn’t show up on any on-line maps that I know of and has no social media presence.

I’m not even sure I’d have noticed it if I was just walking past since Manner Coffee is literally a hole-in-the-wall operation (for the pedants out there, technically it’s a window-in-the-wall operation). However, the crowd of people standing outside, waiting to order their coffee, might have drawn my attention.

And what coffee! Despite its size, Manner offers espresso (house-blend) & pour-over (various single-origins) from a selection of beans, all roasted in-house. It’s takeaway cups only though, so don’t forget to bring your own.

Continue reading →

Brian’s Travel Spot: Shanghai

Posted on by
27

The futurist Oriental Pearl TV tower on the Pudong side of Huangpu River, as seen from the Bund at night.Welcome to third instalment of my Brian’s Travel Spot series about my around the world trip, which started with my flight out to Hong Kong and continued with my adventures in Hong Kong itself. This post covers my time in Shanghai, which is the second leg of my trip. I’d never been to China before this trip, so when I got an opportunity to go there on business, I took it with both hands.

I arrived on Sunday, then spent the most of the next five days in a meeting room on the first floor of the Hyatt, an interesting mix of modern western hotel, with Chinese architectural influences and a contrast with my own hotel, the Astor, just down the street. I then spent the weekend exploring the city before flying off on the third leg of my trip, across the international date line to Chicago.

As with all the Travel Spots, this post is split into a number of sections, starting with the relatively short flight from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Continue reading →

The Coffee Spot is Four!

Posted on by
2

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.I really should have posted this yesterday, but I’m currently in Shanghai, attending a week-long business meeting, which requires socialising with my colleagues in the evenings, so free time for writing Coffee Spot posts is something of a premium. Anyway, the significance of yesterday is that it marked the Coffee Spot’s fourth birthday!

I launched the Coffee Spot on Friday, 28th September 2012 (at 14.15 to be precise). Back then, I had no idea just how big it would become and how it would evolve to drive much of what I do. This weekend, for example, I have a list of coffee shops to visit in Shanghai…

In the Coffee Spot’s fourth year, I published 234 times, covering 152 Coffee Spots, with the remaining posts covering various coffee events, roasters and the Coffee Spot Awards. The Coffee Spot has been visited by over 80,000 people and between you, you’ve looked at more 135,000 pages on the Coffee Spot (up from 115,000 views last year).

So, thank you, everyone, whether you dip into the Coffee Spot every now and then, or whether you read every single post and page. Without you, there really would be no point in my doing this.

Continue reading →