Category Archives: Saturday Supplement

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

State of the Nation(s)

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An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableDear readers. I thought I had better explain myself, especially to those of you who are new to the Coffee Spot, but also to my regular readers who could be forgiven for thinking I’ve disappeared!

Normally I post twice a week, once on a Monday and once on a Thursday. However, for the last month, I have been a bit remiss in keeping up with my schedule, for which I can only apologise. The simple explanation is that I have been away on holiday (or perhaps, given where I went, vacation would be a better term…). I had high hopes of at least posting once a week while I was away, but that slowly went out of the window…

The good news is that while I was away, I did find the odd Coffee Spot worthy of a mention (21 in all, across three cities!). The other good news is that I am now back and, starting on Monday, will be back to posting twice a week.

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Coffee Spot Tour of Edinburgh

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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.The Coffee Spot goes from strength-to-strength. When I started, I intended to publish once a week. Four months on, I am publishing twice a week and averaging over 500 views a week, with over 200 regular visitors, which is amazing! However, real life occasionally raises its head, so for the next four or five weeks, I am going to have to go back to publishing once a week.

It’s nothing serious, just that I’m very busy and then off to America two weeks today. Much as I love the Coffee Spot, I don’t want to spend half my holiday blogging, so going down to once a week makes sense. While I’m away, I’ll try to blog at least one Coffee Spot from the three main places I’m visiting: Boston, New York City and Montreal. Any recommendations gratefully received, especially Montreal, since it’s my first visit there.

In the meantime, I thought you’d enjoy a brief round-up of my recent Coffee Spot tour of Edinburgh, plus a couple of my old favourites, all in the form of a slideshow (click on the picture for the full Coffee Spot)… If this proves successful, I might do a few more roundups on Mondays, with the regular Coffee Spots published on Thursday as normal.

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The Coffee Spot Awards: Winners

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An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableSo, here it is, on the first day of 2013, the Brian’s Coffee Spot Awards for 2012… Somehow I can’t help but think I got that wrong somewhere along the line… Oh well, never mind.

Before I launch into the actual winners, I should explain that the awards are for those places featured on Brian’s Coffee Spot during 2012. This means that there are many wonderful places that I’ve visited but yet to write up (and those that I’ve yet to visit) who have missed out. Never mind: you’ll be in the 2013 awards instead!

Anyhow, it’s been a great 2012 and thank you all for supporting Brian’s Coffee Spot. It’s all about sharing the love for great coffee and great places to have coffee. Without you, my readers, I’d have no-one to share the love with, so thanks for stopping by.

I also wish to thank Andrew Rilstone who gave me the idea for the awards with his own Monty Awards (for Country Folk Music).

You can find the winners after the gallery.

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The Coffee Spot Awards

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An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableWhere’s the year gone? In some ways, it only feels like yesterday that I was launching the Coffee Spot at the end of September. On the other hand, it feels as if I’ve been doing this all my life.

Anyway, 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.

As is traditional at this time of year, it is a time for reflection and what better way of reflecting on three months of the Coffee Spot than by inaugurating the Annual Brian’s Coffee Spot Awards? In all, there are 11 Awards: the nominees are listed below. The winners will be announced on New Year’s Day…

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House of Coffee

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Hidden away down a little alley in the centre of Leighton Buzzard is the appropriately-named House of Coffee. Well, I say appropriately, but really, it’s not a house and it sells tea as well! However, in light of what’s to come, I shall overlook these little faux pas.

My minor quibbles aside, the House of Coffee does coffee. It’s a coffee bean roaster and retailer, with a side line in coffee-making equipment and the aforementioned tea. It’s not huge, just a small, two-roomed shop, with the coffee roaster in the first room and the coffee making gear in the back (sadly the roaster wasn’t running when I was there, but you can, if you’re lucky, catch it in action). Opposite the roaster is the House of Coffee’s eponymous range of beans.

The best thing, apart from the excellent coffee, is the owner, Nick, aka Hectic Hamster. Here is a man with a true passion for and knowledge of coffee. I had a lovely time chatting away with him, which made the visit worthwhile by itself. However, if you can’t get to Leighton Buzzard, then never fear: all The House of Coffee’s excellent wares are available on-line through the website.

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The Story So Far

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An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableWow! When I launched the Coffee Spot almost exactly a month ago, I didn’t really know what to expect, but so far, it’s been an amazing experience. It’s also hard to believe that it’s only been a month. It feels like I’ve been doing this for ages!

So what’s the story so far? Well, the Coffee Spot’s been to Edinburgh, the Great Glen Way, Bristol, London and my home town of Guildford. Next week I’m off to Plymouth and Exeter, hunting out more great places, so they’ll feature soon enough. Meanwhile the Coffee Spot itself is staying in Guildford to take a look at another coffee retailer and then going up to London for a takeaway coffee. After that, there’ll be more visits to London and a return to Bristol and Edinburgh.

Finally, the Coffee Shop’s going global! Well, international at least. In the first instance, this will be a retrospective of some places I’ve been in the last couple of years. The shortlist is Paris, Rome, Budapest and Chicago/Milwaukee. If you have any preferences out of those four, leave me a comment and let me know which one(s) you prefer.

However, I do have a plea to make…

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Welcome to Brian’s Coffee Spot

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Hello everyone and welcome to Brian’s Coffee Spot, a twice-weekly blog celebrating great coffee and, perhaps more importantly, excellent places to drink great coffee. And eat cake. Mustn’t forget the cake.

If you want to know about the Coffee Spot, check out the About pages. There’s no obligation to wade through them all though. If you just want to dive straight in, go for it! There are three great coffee spots already on the site:

For the first couple of weeks, I’ll be posting more than once a week, just to get everyone going, but after that things will settle down to a post a week [Famous last words! Three months in and I’m resigned to the fact Brian’s Coffee Spot is a twice a week blog. Even posting twice a week, I’m still finding great Coffee Spots faster than I can write about them!].

Please feel happy to share the Coffee Spot on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and spread the word.

Thanks for stopping by,
Brian.

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Brian’s Coffee Spot Goes Live, Friday, 14.15

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The good news is that Brian’s Coffee Spot goes live on Friday, 28th September at 14.15 (British Summer Time). For those of you who organise your lives by a proper time standard, that’s after the afternoon repeat of the Archers on BBC Radio 4!

Until then, the posts will remain password protected. So, if you want to see who’s going to be in the Coffee Spot, you can get a sneak preview by scrolling down or casting your eyes to the “Recent Posts” list on the right.