Category Archives: Saturday Supplement

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

Terrone & Co at Netil Market

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A flat white, seen from above, with a simple tulip pattern latte art.It’s been well over a year since I ventured into northeast London in search of Terrone & Co and the Irrepressible Edy Piro. Back then, I paid a visit to the Terrone & Co stall at the Village Green Market in Hackney Downs. A few weeks later, Edy, the man behind Terrone & Co, decided to rationalise the number of pop-ups and stalls he was running and the Village Green stall was no more. Hopefully the visit I paid to Terrone & Co’s original venue at Netil Market on the last Saturday before Christmas won’t provide a similar kiss of death…

Occupying a convenient pitch right at the entrance to Netil Market, which is on the south side of Westgate Street, between the railway lines and London Fields, Terrone operates out of an old container (similar to the one that Beany Green uses on the South Bank). Although the operation is strictly takeaway (so bring your own cup), there are a couple of tables should you want to take the weight off your feet and, as well as coffee, Terrone also serves a wide range of spirits from its well-stocked shelves. Beware though: Terrone & Co only opens on Saturdays.

April 2019: Sadly Terrone at Netil Market is no more, although its espresso bar, Sottoscala, is still going strong.

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Outpost Coffee Roasters

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A stylised bear with very short legs sitting in a rocking chair and drinking a cup of espresso. The bear is wearing a smoking jacket, (small) top hat and a monocle and is smoking a pipe.Nottingham’s speciality coffee scene has come a long way since I first visited 2½ years ago, coming away disappointed. Now there’s a flourishing café scene, led by the likes of 200 Degrees, Wired Café Bar, The Pudding Pantry and, out in Beeston, Greenhood Coffee House. However, a good coffee scene needs local roasters too, and Nottingham is now blessed with both 200 Degrees Coffee Roasters and, more recently, Outpost Coffee Roasters.

Although a new name to the speciality coffee world, Outpost brings a wealth of experience in its founders, Greg and Alex. Greg has a long and distinguished history in coffee roasting, having owned Café Boutique, while Alex used to manage The Bean, a family-run coffee shop in Beeston (Alex’s mother still owns it). Greg wanted to take things to the next level and start roasting speciality coffee, while Alex wanted to branch out from the role of barista/shop manager. Together with Liz, who does the all-important admin, they make the perfect team.

Outpost has a training facility/espresso lab in a lovely first-floor space on Stoney Street, in Nottingham city centre, while the roasting takes place in an industrial estate on the city’s outskirts, using a 10kg Petroncini from Italy.

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Mother’s Milk Update

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A flat white in a glass from Mother's Milk as seen from above with a simple tulip motif.The original Mother’s Milk was on Little Portland Street, one of a growing number of speciality coffee shops in Fitzrovia, an area once the sole preserve of Aussie legends, Kaffeine. Mother’s Milk joined the likes of Attendant and since opening, Workshop, Curators Coffee Gallery and several others have moved in. But now Mother’s Milk has moved… all the way to Little Portland Street! That’s right, Mother’s Milk has upped sticks and headed east, all the way across Great Portland Street, shifting from No 12 to the far more excitingly-named No 22-23.

Many of the Mother’s Milk hallmarks remain from the original: Will and James are still behind the counter, while the delightful Victoria Arduino lever espresso machine is still on it, the coffee’s still from Munich’s JB Kaffee and it’s still frustratingly hard to find unless you know where it is!

The original Mother’s Milk at least had windows onto the street, but was confusingly called Rosalind’s Kitchen (which is why I walked past three times one my first visit). The new premises are a great improvement, but are in the back of a communications agency called Exposure, the only real clue to Mother’s Milk being the A-board outside.

January 2016: Bad news. Mother’s Milk has announced its closure with immediate effect.

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2016 And All That

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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.So, that’s the Coffee Spot Awards done. As ever, it was fun and a chance to look back at 2015. However, it’s a new year and I want to look ahead to see what 2016 will bring. The simple answer to that, at least in the short term, is more of the same.

I’ve been writing the Coffee Spot for over three years and for the last 2½ years, I’ve supported it by working three days a week as a contractor. However, that came to an end in December. I’ve mixed feelings about this. On the plus side, I won’t miss the early starts or the 3½ hour round-trip commute (although a lot of Coffee Spot posts got written on the train ride to/from Waterloo). On the downside, the considerable drop in income may prove to be problematic…

For a long time, I’ve joked that the Coffee Spot is a five-day-a-week job, which, combined with a three-day-a-week job, didn’t leave me much time for anything else. There’s a lot more I’d like to do with the Coffee Spot, but that all takes time, time I don’t have if I’m also working. So, what am I going to do about it?

June 2016: Quick update (more details at the end of the post): I got another contracting job, so I’m back to the old 3+5 ≠ 7 conundrum.

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Coffee Spot Awards 2015: Winners

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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.Happy New Year to all my followers old and new! As we get 2016 underway, here are the winners of the fourth annual Brian’s Coffee Spot Awards. As before, there are 20 Awards, celebrating all the wonderful Coffee Spots I wrote about during 2015. The shortlists for all 20 Awards were announced between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve and now we have the winners!

Before we go on, I know I’ve said this before, but a big thank you to everyone who’s visited the Coffee Spot, followed me on Twitter, liked my Facebook page, +1ed me on Google+ (not many of you in that category!) and liked my pictures on Instagram. While I do this for the love of coffee, it means a lot to me that so many of you take the time to read and comment on my writing. Without you, it really would be pointless.

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2015 Awards – Most Popular Coffee Spot

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Artigiano Espresso & Wine BarSo, here it is, the final Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2015, the only one that you, my readers, decide. It’s the “Most Popular Coffee Spot” Award, which is based on the total number of views received by each Coffee Spot in 2015. This year I’ve decided to exclude Coffee Spots published in previous years, a tricky call since 12 of the 20 most popular Coffee Spots (by views) were published in previous years!

Last year this was won by Artigiano Espresso, Exeter with 1,324 views. This year, no-one got that close, but the winner got past 1,000 views, while three more Coffee Spots had over 900 views. Of the 12 most viewed Coffee Spots, two are from London and two from Nottingham, with one each from Bath, Brighton, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Manchester. The remaining three are Saturday Supplements.

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2015 Awards – Special Award

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The window Edinburgh's Machina Espresso, showing off some of the wares, including cups, grinders and espresso machines.Welcome to the penultimate Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2015, the Brian’s Coffee Spot Special Award, which was won last year by Machina Espresso.

This is a special award for those Coffee Spots which don’t quite fit into the other categories, but which nonetheless I absolutely love… It’s also a chance for me to recognise and reward those wonderful Coffee Spots that I come across during the year and which mean something special to me.

Some of the Coffee Spots here haven’t made it to any of the other shortlists, so this Award gives me a chance to recognise some special places. Others have made it onto many other shortlists, so this is another chance for me to let you know just how much I like them! Either way, enjoy.

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2015 Awards – Most Passionate About Coffee

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The coffee menu at Colonna & Small's, with three beans on espresso and three on filter.Welcome to the next Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2015, the “Most Passionate About Coffee” Award, which was won in 2014 by Colonna & Small’s. For me, this is one of the most important awards, and also one of the hardest to judge, which is why I’ve left it to the last day.

It’s not just about the coffee, it’s also about people who love and care about coffee. Everyone who I’ve covered in the Coffee Spot is passionate about coffee and one of the great things is how much love there is out there, both for the coffee and for those who make it. However, those shortlisted for this award stand out from the crowd.

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2015 Awards – Best Breakfast

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Breakfast at Saint Kitchen: toast, in the foreground, and a lovely field mushroom soufflé muffin in the backgroundWe enter the final day of the 2015 Coffee Spot Awards shortlists with, appropriately enough, the “Best Breakfast” Award, which in 2014 went to Saint Kitchen. Along with cake, breakfast has a special place in my heart. The only snag is that I rarely get up and out of the house early enough to get to places before they stop serving breakfast, so they don’t feature on the Coffee Spot as often as I would like!

That said, I still managed to get up early enough to generate a healthy shortlist this year, helped by those wonderful places that serve all-day breakfasts! In fact, given how often I have things from the breakfast menu for lunch, I wonder if I should rename this award “Best Brunch”…

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2015 Awards – Happiest Staff

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One of Beany Green's A-boards, promising Aussie Coffee, Home-made Banana Bread and FREE hugs!I present the final shortlist of the day, which is for another of my favourite Coffee Spot Awards, that of “Coffee Spot with the Happiest Staff”. Last year it was won by Beany Green, Paddington and once again this year’s shortlist is particular strong. I was blessed as I visited numerous places with some very happy staff this year.

In my opinion, staff are probably the most over-looked part of any Coffee Spot. Good staff can make a place and bad staff, no matter how great the coffee and wonderful the location, can kill a place. Everywhere that features in the Coffee Spot has great staff, but these were exceptional, with some infectiously happy staff.

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