Category Archives: Saturday Supplement

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

Anthony’s Italian Coffee House

Posted on by
2

A classic, Italian espresso in a classic white cup at Anthony's Italian Coffee House, PhiladelphiaAnthony’s Italian Coffee House, on 9th Street, is a slice of culture/history in Philadelphia’s Italian Market district. Recommended (once again) by my friend and guide, Greg Cohen (of Coffee Guru App fame), Greg comes to the Italian Market to do his shopping. After taking me around several old-fashioned grocers and delicatessens, themselves a delight to visit, particularly if you like Italian food, he abandoned me at Anthony’s (“left” would be a more accurate statement, but abandoned has a more dramatic quality to it, don’t you think?).

Anthony’s is an old-fashioned (in style; Wifi being just one of the concessions to the modern age) Italian-American espresso bar/café of the type that I love. Less grand than say Boston’s Caffé Vittoria or New York’s Caffe Reggio, it has more in common with Soho’s Bar Italia. This, I feel, is much more in keeping with Philadelphia’s working class, blue collar roots.

Don’t come here looking for the latest third wave coffee experience though. The espresso is good, but you won’t find any single-origins or fancy hand-crafted pour-overs (although there is the obligatory bulk-brew filter). Instead, come for a slice of character and history, plus to put your feet up after all that shopping!

Continue reading →

Gasoline Alley, Grand Street

Posted on by
5

A shot of Intelligentsia's Black Cat seasonal espresso blend served by Gasoline Alley in a white cup with oversized handle, the beautifully-mottled crema clearly visible.I first discovered New York City‘s Gasoline Alley in 2013, when I visited the original branch on Lafayette Street. This, the second branch, which opened in 2014, is just around the corner from one of my regular breakfast spots, the Landmark Coffee Shop (a very typical American diner). The original Gasoline Alley could actually be an alley and, while the same is true of this one with doors at either end, it’s more corridor than alley. Considerably smaller than the original, there’s space for two bar chairs at its solitary window-bar, with a pair of benches outside, one for each window.

I much prefer the atmosphere in this Gasoline Alley. However, where it wins hands down, just like the original, is that it serves Intelligentsia coffee and serves it extremely well. In fact, it might have served me the best shot of Intelligentsia’s seasonal Black Cat espresso blend that I’ve ever had!

Continue reading →

Flat Caps Coffee Update

Posted on by
14

An espresso in a classic white cup, plus a glass of water, on an oval wooden platter, separated by a tea spoon.Flat Caps Coffee, brainchild of the lovely Joe Meagher, is not only one of my favourite coffee shops in Newcastle, but it’s one of my favourites in the whole country. The only problem is that I don’t get to Newcastle very often… However, whenever I’m in town, I make a point of popping in to say hello.

I first wrote about Joe and Flat Caps in April 2013, writing a longer piece after I visited in October that year for Caffeine Magazine. So, what’s changed since then? Well, honestly, not a lot. Joe’s still Joe, Flat Caps is still Flat Caps and the coffee’s still excellent.

However, since I published my Coffee Spot on Flat Caps, Joe has, in the way that coffee shop owners do, redecorated and also started using single-serve Kalita Wave pour-over filters. And every time he sees me, he nags me that the photos on the Coffee Spot are out-of-date…

March 2017: I’ve just learnt that Ridley Place is closing at the end of the month. Sad news, but I understand Joe’s reasons for taking this step. If you’re interested, this is what I wrote about the closing of Ridley Place. The good news is that Flat Caps will continue at Flat Caps Carliol Square and Flat Caps Campus North.

Continue reading →

Meet the Roaster: Tandem Coffee Roasters

Posted on by
22

A light bulb in the shape of a tandem bicycle from the wall of the Tandem Coffee Roasters RoasteryI first came across Tandem Coffee Roasters in Boston, where I enjoyed a cappuccino at Render Coffee, made using Tandem’s seasonal Time and Temperature espresso blend. I also met with Larry, owner of Boston’s Pavement Coffeehouse chain, who sang the praises of Tandem’s co-founder, Will (an ex-Pavement employee). That pretty much sealed it for me, and when, a few days later, I popped up the New England coast to Portland to start my coast-to-coast, Portland-to-Portland train trip, I naturally sought out Tandem’s roastery.

What I found wasn’t just a thriving roastery, but an excellent, friendly coffee bar too. The coffee bar aside, which features in its own Coffee Spot, this Meet the Roaster post focuses on the roastery side of the business. When I first visited in 2015, the roastery was in one half of a single-storey, L-shaped building, also home to the coffee bar. These days, it’s become so busy, it’s had to relocate to a separate building just behind the first, where a 35 kg Loring roaster takes pride of place, roasting all of Tandem’s coffee, for use in-house in the coffee bar and Tandem’s bakery/coffee shop on Congress Street as well as for Tandem’s growing wholesale business.

Continue reading →

Brooklyn Roasting Company

Posted on by
5

The Brooklyn Roasting Company's 25kg Loring coffee roaster in its current home on Brooklyn's Jay Street.The subject of today’s Meet the Roaster is the Brooklyn Roasting Company. Tucked away on Jay Street, under the Manhattan Bridge, it was a highlight of my visit to Brooklyn back in March. Occupying the ground floor of a sprawling five-storey building, it’s an amazing place, which, as well as being a wonderful coffee shop, is also the Brooklyn Roasting Company’s headquarters, with all the roasting taking place on-site.

So, as well as popping in for a great cup of coffee, you can also sit in the far corner watching the green beans being hoovered into the 35kg Loring roaster and enjoying the spectacle of freshly-roasted beans pouring out some 12 minutes later. Don’t worry about when to come if you want to catch the roaster in action; it’s pretty much a nonstop, all-day operation!

Although the Brooklyn Roasting Company is a very modern affair, the building on Jay Street is steeped in coffee history. It used to be the stables of the famous Arbuckles’ coffee roastery, which was situated across Jay Street, the horses being used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to haul the sacks of green beans from the ships docked at the nearby waterfront.

Continue reading →

London Coffee Festival 2015: The Coffee

Posted on by
10

The London Coffee Festival LogoWelcome to the fifth and final of my detailed London Coffee Festival Saturday Supplements to go with my round-up of the festival as a whole. In this series, I’ve covered the interesting coffee kit that I came across, followed with my coffee experiences, my time at the La Cimbali Sensory Sessions and the various reusable cups that I picked up at the festival. For this, the final instalment, it’s the turn of the coffee, arguably what the Coffee Festival is all about!

As was the case in previous years, I could have spent all three days I was at the Festival visiting roasters old and new and I still wouldn’t have got around them all. So, with apologies to all the wonderful roasters I failed to visit, here’s a round-up of all the wonderful roasters I did manage to catch up with. As I did at Cup North, I’ve split them into two categories: Old Friends and New, representing roasters that I’ve met before and those who I ran into for the first time. I’ve also taken a look at the True Artisan Café, the innovative Dear Origin & Sons, and a general round-up of everything else I saw!

Continue reading →

Mastering the Cezve with Vadim Granovskiy

Posted on by
9

A cezve on the gas burner, with the crema almost at the top, signifying it's time to serve it.I first met Vadim Granovskiy in 2014 at a London Coffee Stops Awards event, where he gave a fascinating presentation on the ibrik, or cezve, as Vadim prefers to call it. A few days later, I had the pleasure of watching Vadim win the Ibrik Competition at the London Coffee Festival, which only confirmed my interest in this unique way of making coffee. So, when I caught up with Vadim at this year’s London Coffee Festival and he offered me a private cezve lesson, I jumped at the chance!

The cezve is an ancient method of making coffee, with more in common with the stove-top moka pot than espresso or modern pour-over methods. My lesson took place one evening in early May and although the focus was the cezve, it wasn’t all about making coffee. We explored the cezve itself and how to look after it, as well going on a journey of taste and perception which was every bit as fascinating as, for example, the Cimbali sensory sessions at this year’s Coffee Festival.

As well as the intensive lesson I had, Vadim also runs introductory workshops for 10-15 people. For more details, take a look at his website www.coffeeinaction.com.

Continue reading →

Foundry Coffee Roasters

Posted on by
17

A V60 at Foundry Coffee Roasters, standing on a glass beaker half full of coffee, all on a set of scales.As I have written elsewhere about Sheffield’s coffee scene, it very much grew up independently and spontaneously about three years ago. This holds true as much for its cafés as it does for its roasters, typified by the subject of today’s Meet The Roaster series, Foundry. Set up almost three years ago by founder, Lee, Foundry is content to do its own thing, in its own way and at its own pace.

Concentrating on roasting solely single origins and on selling primarily directly to the consumer through the internet, Foundry initially focused more on the filter market than espresso, which makes up the bulk of a typical roaster’s sales. Then again, there’s nothing typical about Foundry! Foundry diversified into espresso when the second member of the team, Callum, came on board.

These days, Foundry roasts five or six single-origin beans, looking to extract the flavours that Lee identifies in the green bean. The aim is to get the optimum roast profile and then work out what extraction method best suits it, with a focus on the clarity of the taste. You can find Foundry’s output on its website although the coffee’s also available in a limited number of coffee shops.

January 2017: Foundry now has a coffee shop of its very own on Bank Street in Sheffield City Centre. You can see what I made of it when I visited in February 2018.

November 2019: Foundry has moved to the Cutlery Works, a food hall on the banks of the River Don, combining its coffee shop and roastery operations. As a result, it’s closed the original roastery and the coffee shop on Bank Street (the coffee shop being taken over by Cassinelli’s).

Continue reading →

London Coffee Festival 2015: The Cups

Posted on by
28

The London Coffee Festival LogoWelcome to the fourth of my detailed London Coffee Festival Saturday Supplements. To see what I made of the festival as a whole, take a look at my round-up. In this series, I’ve been covering individual aspects of the festival. So far I’ve looked at the interesting coffee kit that I came across, written about my coffee experiences and recounted my time at the La Cimbali Sensory Sessions. Now it’s the turn of the cups, which, much to my surprise, turned out to be by far the most popular of my posts about last year’s London Coffee Festival.

I’m very picky about my cups: a bad cup can ruin an otherwise great cup of coffee. If there’s one thing I can’t stand it’s good coffee, especially espresso, in a paper or plastic cup. The advent of the glass reusable cup was therefore just what I was looking for. Last year, I picked up a couple of re-usable glass cups from KeepCup and its Australian cousin, JOCO Cups, which revolutionised my experience of drinking takeaway coffee. This year, I widened my net to include two new entrants onto the market, both of whom had plastic re-usable cups: UPPERCUP and Frank Green.

Continue reading →

Coffee Break Delirium + Assembly at Leyas

Posted on by
5

The poster for the preview evening of Timothy Shaw's "Coffee Break Delirium" show at LeyasOn Thursday evening, I was fortunate enough to be invited to Leyas to attend the launch of Coffee Break Delirium, a display of artwork by the wonderful Timothy Shaw which will be hanging in Leyas for the rest of the month. The event also doubled as a launch for Assembly, the new roasters/coffee collaboration, who over two new coffees for us to try. Leyas, as part of its regular roaster rotation, will be switching over to Assembly this month, so you can try the coffee first-hand if you want.

You may have come across the work of Tim when he graced the cover of Issue 4 of Caffeine Magazine (which some still consider to the best front cover). He also drew the amazing illustration on the counter at White Mulberries, while his work has graced several other coffee shops.

Assembly, which launched at this year’s London Coffee Festival, is a collaboration between the roaster Volcano Coffee Works and various leading figures in the coffee industry. Assembly was represented by Michael, who I knew from his time with Dunne Frankowski at Sharps, and Nick, who does all the quality testing. They had with them two new coffees from Kenya and Nicaragua.

Continue reading →