Cumbria’s not renowned as a hot-bed of speciality coffee, but that’s slowly changing, led by local roasters such as Carvetii. I first met Stephen, who plays an important role in this story, in 2015 at the Carvetii stand at Cup North (forerunner of the Manchester Coffee Festival). When I looked for him the following year, I learnt that he had left (with Gareth and Angharad’s blessing) to fulfil his dream of opening his own coffee shop, The Moon & Sixpence, in his home town of Cockermouth, just to the west of the Lakes.
It took me a year to get around to visiting, of course, but finally I managed to call in, just after The Moon & Sixpence’s first birthday, Stephen having opened the shop on 1st October 2016, (which happened to be International Coffee Day, an auspicious start if ever there was one!). Naturally, the coffee is from Carvetii, with the seasonal blend and decaf on espresso, plus a single-origin on batch-brew. This is joined by a selection of tea, plus hot chocolate from old friends, Kokoa Collection. Unusually, The Moon & Sixpence doesn’t offer food, just a range of pastries and cakes, all made in-house by the staff.