Category Archives: Saturday Supplement

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

Caffeine Magazine Newcastle: Pumphrey’s Coffee

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The Pumphrey's Coffee sign: 'Pumphrey's Coffee Served Here'As promised in my recent State of the Nation(s) 2014 post, I present the first of four Saturday Supplements taken from an extended version of my article in Issue 6 of Caffeine Magazine. This was my feature on the coffee scene in Newcastle, which, since Scott wouldn’t let me fill the entire magazine with one article, had to be cut down somewhat. This left me with lots of interesting things to say, but nowhere to say them.

Until now, that is…

We start, appropriately enough, with where it all began in Newcastle, and that’s Pumphrey’s, a venerable company which can trace its roots all the way back to 1750 when Leigh Smith established the company that was to become Pumphrey’s.

Each of these Special Saturday Supplements can be read as a stand-alone article or the four can be read together as a coherent whole. It also forms part of the Meet the Roaster series, although it wasn’t written specifically a Meet the Roaster. The more astute amongst you will appreciate that I’ve actually published this Saturday Supplement on a Thursday, but that’s just the way it is…

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State of the Nation(s) 2014

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An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableThis is my second State of the Nation(s) post, coinciding with my annual trip to North America. Readers with long memories may recall that I made a similar trip this time last year, taking in Boston, New York City and Montréal. This year’s itinerary is slightly different, starting in Boston and ending in New York, with a stop in Philadelphia to catch up with Greg Cohen of Coffee Guru App fame (still no Android version, Greg?). And, of course, I’ll be visiting lots of coffee shops along the way.

The purpose of this post is to let you know what will be happening to the Coffee Spot while I’m gone. In an ideal world, I’d be posting regularly about all the fantastic coffee spots I’ll be visiting, but the reality is that I won’t have time. This is, after all, supposed to be a holiday and while I do dearly love the Coffee Spot, I can’t spend all my time blogging or I won’t actually see anything!

However, last year I hardly posted anything while I was gone and I think that the Coffee Spot suffered for it. So, this year I do intend on posting on a regular basis…

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Birthday Coffee Tasting

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The set-up at my Birthday Coffee Tasting at Bar des ArtsI celebrated my birthday last weekend by inviting a group of friends down to the closest thing I have to a local, Guildford’s Bar des Arts, for a coffee tasting. I’d originally been given the idea by Lee Hall of Matthew Algie when he did a similar demo at the Caffé Culture Show. There he put two different coffees through a pour-over filter and a Chemex and I was astounded by how different they tasted.

So, when thinking about how I wanted to celebrate my birthday, I could think of nothing better than surrounding myself with some friends and replicating this experiment. I approached Bradley of Horsham Coffee Roaster, who supplies Bar des Arts, and he provided three very different coffees for us to try. Meanwhile, I brought along my trusty Aeropress (and one of the guests, Richard, brought his down) to go with Bar des Arts pour-over filters and cafetiere.

So, the scene was set for an afternoon of good company, coffee tasting and cake (although, very disappointingly, I seem to have taken exactly no pictures of the cake!).

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Clifton Coffee Company

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Cupping at the Clifton Coffee Company: Guatemala Finca la Bolsa filterToday’s Saturday Supplement is the second in the occasional series, Meet the Roaster This time it’s Bristol-based Clifton Coffee Company, which invited me over to its warehouse, roasting and training facility at Avonmouth. Clifton Coffee Company has a very different business-model and set-up to Rave Coffee, the subject of the first “Meet the Roaster”, although both roast a similar volume of coffee. As well as in-house roasting, Clifton has its finger in a number of other (coffee-related) pies, including equipment supply (espresso machines, grinders and boilers), engineering support and training in a dedicated training suite.

My visit was also the first time that I have attended any formal coffee cupping (although as formal coffee cuppings go, this was pretty informal). As part of the normal quality-control procedures, the recent output (all filter coffee) was being cupped during the afternoon and Andy, my host for the day, had invited me to join in. For the record there were three Central American single-origin beans (Guatemalan, Finca la Bolsa; Nicaraguan, Finca la Argentina; and a Costa Rican; I think!) along with three more single-origins from Africa (Kenyan, Gatomboya AB; Rwandan, BUF Café Nyarusia; Ethiopian, Shakiso Sidamo).

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Workhouse Coffee, King Street: Update

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Workhouse Coffee Company on the ground floor of the George Hotel in ReadingLet’s get 2014 underway with a Saturday Supplement. I visited the King Street branch of Reading’s Workhouse Coffee at the end of August, just before it was due to undergo a re-modelling of the counter/serving area. Prior to the re-modelling, the front part of the store was conventionally laid-out, with the counter on the right and a small seating area on the left. The espresso machines were tucked away in a corner at the end of the counter, with grinders and the filter-rack (Workhouse’s owner, Greg Costello, refuses to use the term “brew bar”) behind the counter itself. It was all very self-contained and had a certain logic/flow to it, but idea behind the re-modelling was to open it all up to the customers.

I went back in December to see the new layout; this Coffee Spot Update is partly about what I found on my return. It’s also about the reasons why Workhouse went to such lengths to re-model an already successful coffee shop. This speaks volumes about its passion for great (and accessible) coffee and was one of the main reasons why Workhouse won the 2013 Coffee Spot Award for “Most Passionate About Coffee”.

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Coffee Spot Awards 2013: Winners

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An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableHappy New Year to all my followers old and new! As we get 2014 underway, here are the winners of the second Annual Brian’s Coffee Spot Awards. This time there are 20 Awards, celebrating all the wonderful Coffee Spots I wrote about during 2013. 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 has visited the Coffee Spot, followed me on Twitter, liked my Facebook page or +1ed me on Google+. While I do this for the love of it, it means a lot to me that so many of you take the time to read and comment on my writing. And help spread the love for good coffee.

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2013 Awards – Most Popular

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A deliciously sweet espresso in a glass from Boscombe's Cafe BoscanovaSo, here it is, the final Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2013 and the only one that you, my readers, decide. It’s the “Most Popular Coffee Spot” Award, based on the total number of views received by each Coffee Spot in the year.

Last year this was won by Café Boscanova, with 125 views in 2012. To give you an idea of how much the Coffee Spot has grown since then, Café Boscanova actually had 199 views this year, which while beating last year’s total by 50%, only puts it 34th in this year’s list! This year’s winner, by the way, has received 999 views!

I’m presenting the top 10 Coffee Spots in the shortlist, nine of which are Coffee Spots proper, the other being my article on Caffeine Magazine. Nine of the top 10 were published this year, while one, Abriachan Campsite and Café, was published in 2012 (only the views in 2013 were counted for the purposes of this Award). Of the nine Coffee Spots featured, only two are from London, confirming the Coffee Spot’s national reach. Three are from Bristol, one from Southsea, one from Scotland and two from Newcastle. The top overseas Coffee Spots is the Pikolo Espresso Bar from Montréal, which came in 14th.

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2013 Awards – Special Award

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Single Espresso, Bar des Arts Style. Isn't the saucer just the perfect size?Welcome to the penultimate Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2013, the Special Award, which was won in 2012 by Bar des Arts. 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.

2013 Awards – Most Passionate About Coffee

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The (initially) bewildering coffee menu at Brew Lab. It all seems so simple now...Welcome to the next Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2013, the “Most Passionate About Coffee” Award, which was won in 2012 by Brew Lab. For me, this is one of the most important awards, 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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2013 Awards – Best Cheese Toastie

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The self-proclaimed Best Cheese Toastie in the World from Newcastle's 9 Bar!Continuing the food theme, we have another new Coffee Spot Award for 2013, the “Best Cheese Toastie” Award. This might be a one-off: cheese toasties are not really high on my list of culinary delights. On the other hand, having had some quite lovely cheese toasties this year, maybe I should be eating more of them…

This all started because I went to Newcastle’s 9Bar, a place that boasted the “world’s best cheese toastie”. Well, if you’re going to make that sort of claim, then there needs to be an award to go with it! However, given my lack of cheese toastie eating, it’s a fairly short shortlist…

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