Category Archives: West Midlands

Coffee Spots in the West Midlands

Quarter Horse Coffee, Birmingham

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The Quarter Horse Coffee logo: a profile of a knight from a chess set, surrounded by an oval with the words "Quarter Horse Coffee" written around the outside.Quarter Horse Coffee opened its Birmingham café/roastery in February 2015, having moved from its original home in Oxford (which is now Peleton Espresso). Located on Bristol Street, a few minutes’ walk south of the centre, it underwent a major remodelling during the summer of 2020, making the most of the enforced shut down due to COVID-19. This saw the roastery, which had been in an open area on the left, enclosed in its own room, while the café on the right expanded its seating, even though the actual space is slightly smaller. This post is all about the café, by the way, while the roastery has its own Meet The Roaster feature.

Bright and spacious, Quarter Horse has a simple, extremely effective décor, being predominantly white, which, along with high ceilings, an uncluttered layout and windows front and back, make it feel even brighter and more spacious than it is. The coffee is all roasted on-site, with the house-blend and a second option on espresso, plus a single-origin on pour-over through the Marco SP9 automated brewers. There’s an all-day light food menu and plenty of cakes, while from Wednesday to Sunday, a full brunch menu is available from 10:00 – 14:00.

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Faculty

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Some lovely latte-art in a classic, light green cup at Birmingham's FacultyFaculty is an old hand in Birmingham’s booming speciality coffee scene. Set up in early 2014 by the previous owners of Saint Caffe (now Saint Kitchen), it’s one of the city’s pioneers. Located at the southern end of the beautiful Piccadilly Arcade, it’s right outside the New Street entrance of Birmingham’s New Street Station, literally just around the corner from Yorks Café & Coffee Roasters and a few minutes’ walk from the likes of Tilt and 200 Degrees.

It’s so close to the station that you can rush out, get a takeaway coffee and be back in time to make your connection if you’re changing trains. I should know: I’ve done it often enough! However, it would be a shame if you couldn’t stay since it occupies a lovely space, sharing with Sixteen Kitchen, which serves breakfast, lunch and sandwiches on the left-hand side.

Faculty itself is a true multi-roaster, offering two options on espresso, two more on V60, plus a decaf option. If you don’t like the roaster/options, come back next week and the chances are they will have changed. There are cakes from Sixteen Kitchen, while you’re free to sit in either section and mix-and-match drinks and food.

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Saint Kitchen

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The Saint Kitchen logo, taken from the facade above the windows on St. Paul's Square.Saint Kitchen, on the south-eastern edge of St Paul’s Square in the Jewellery Quarter, has long been a part of Birmingham’s speciality coffee scene, starting life as Saint Caffé. I first visited in 2014, not long after it had undergone the transformation to Saint Kitchen, with the new owner, Will, a chef, combining Saint Caffé’s already excellent coffee with equally great food. I visited on several occasions while Will, along with head barista, Liam, was at the helm, before, in November 2019, Will passed the reins to the owners of Warwick Street Kitchen in Leamington Spa, who took over the business.

These days, Saint Kitchen continues to offer the same essential combination of great food (all prepared from scratch on site) and excellent coffee (Origin having replaced Extract when the Warwick Street Kitchen team took over). There’s a brunch menu that has a heavy emphasis on bagels which is backed up with a selection of cake, while there’s a house espresso (usually the Los Altos from Nicaragua) plus a weekly guest (also from Origin), available either a guest espresso or batch brew filter. You can sit outside at one of a handful of tables, or inside in the spacious interior.

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Brewsmiths Coffee & Tea

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An espresso in a glass, steaming in the sunlight streaming through Brewsmith's window.Tucked in under a railway arch right beneath Birmingham’s Snow Hill Station, the first word that springs to mind when stepping into Brewsmiths is “cosy”, followed by “friendly”. If I was allowed the luxury of three words for a wider description, I’d go for “upmarket greasy spoon”. Perhaps a half-way house between greasy spoon and coffee shop would be more accurate (eight words).

Whatever the description, Brewsmiths is a lovely place, a neighbourhood coffee shop under a railway station. In that respect it’s similar to Coffee Affair, although that’s where the similarity ends. Although there’s a comprehensive coffee menu with piccolos, flat whites and ristrettos rubbing shoulders with more traditional espressos, lattes, cappuccinos and mochas, Brewsmiths doesn’t aspire to Coffee Affair’s level of coffee geekery. The food is also more down-to-earth, although, in common with Coffee Affair, it’s all produced on the premises.

Brewsmiths has been a feature of the Birmingham coffee scene for a while, but since Christmas Eve it’s had a new owner, Andy. I never visited it back in the day (I got close though, arriving at ten past three last summer only to discover Brewsmiths closes at three) but Andy tells me he’s not changed much.

March 2016: It looks like Brewsmiths has had to close for good.

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Boston Tea Party, Birmingham

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The Boston Tea Party on the corner of Birmingham's Corporation Street.Here I am in Boston, Massachusetts, and so I thought to myself, what’s more appropriate than posting about The Boston Tea Party? Well, I’ll be the first to admit, it’s probably not very appropriate at all, but it suits my sense of humour, so there you go.

Today’s Boston Tea Party is, to date, the most northerly Tea Party. Yes, you’ve guessed it, it’s the Birmingham branch, which has been going just over a year. As a chain, the Boston Tea Party has the commendable habit of taking iconic buildings and turning them into excellent cafés. In Birmingham, it’s done it again and, what’s more, I think it’s surpassed itself this time with its most handsome branch so far. It’s also got the largest single-floor area of all the branches I’ve visited.

Being a Boston Tea Party, there’s the usual Tea Party offering, including a full range of food (with the all-important all-day breakfast menu), extensive cake selection and coffee from Bristol roasters, Extract, with espresso-based drinks and single-origin on the bulk filter. It also pulls off the usual Tea Party trick of simultaneously being a Boston Tea Party and yet being very much its own place.

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Shrewsbury Coffeehouse

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An exceptional Has Bean espresso in a classic white cup from the Shrewsbury Coffee HouseClose enough to Shrewsbury Station to be worth running out for a quick visit when changing trains, the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse is a delightful place. In fact, it’s so delightful, it’s worth making sure you have about an hour between trains so you can pay it a proper visit!

Many things mark the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse as something special, starting with the friendly, welcoming staff who add so much to the atmosphere. Then there’s the space itself, bright and airy, with lots of seating options and a cosy basement for those winter days when you just want to spend all snuggling up with a cup of coffee.

Which brings me to the main point of a coffeehouse, the coffee. The Shrewsbury Coffeehouse serves Has Bean. Oh well, I thought to myself, can’t have everything. Except… I really liked the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse’s house blend. That was two Has Bean espressos I liked in the space of a week! What’s the world coming to? As well as the house blend, the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse does single origin Sundays, showcasing Has Bean’s extensive range.

After all that, I had to have a slice of cake to calm me down. And excellent cake it was too!

January 2016: the talented Cherie Jerrard is displaying some of her excellent cafe illustrations at the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse until the end of February. Pop along and have a look if you can, or take a look at my pictures at the end of the gallery. You can also read a little piece that Cherie wrote about the exhibition and see what I made of it in the Saturday Supplement.

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6/8 Kafé

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A 6/8 Kafe takeaway cup6/8 Kafé isn’t a big place. Located at the bottom of Temple Row, a few minutes’ walk from Birmingham’s New Street, Moor Hill and Snow Hill stations, it’s so small that, momentarily distracted by the branch of Coffee Republic (a chain which I thought had become extinct) across the street, I walked right past it. Fortunately I realised my mistake and retraced my steps.

Unlike Yorks Bakery Cafe, which I’d just come from and had fallen in love with the moment I stepped in the door, 6/8 Kafé took a while to grow on me, but grow on me it did. It’s the sort of place I could easily spend all day in without realising it. While Yorks is a large, buzzing, sprawling barn of a place, 6/8 Kafé is small, intimate and chilled out.

Although 6/8 Kafé does sandwiches and cake, the focus is firmly on the coffee, with an offering very similar to Yorks. There’s a full espresso-based range, backed up by a choice of three single-origin beans via Chemex, V60 or Aeropress, plus cold brew, the latter served with or without milk. The only thing that’s missing (compared to Yorks) is a cafetiere.

May 2017: Sadly, 6/8 Kafé has had to close. It will be sadly missed, although the Millennium Point branch is still going strong.

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Yorks Bakery Cafe, Newhall Street

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The Yorks Bakery Cafe logo: does what it says on the board.A short walk north of Birmingham’s New Street Station (its website says seven minutes, I reckon I can do it in five, even if it’s all uphill) and even closer to Snow Hill Station, Yorks Bakery Cafe has just about everything you could want: fantastic coffee from espresso machine or brew bar, including cold brew, a choice of 16 teas, a brunch menu served until four o’clock, loads of fabulous cakes…

Pause for breath…

… a wide range of seating, in three different areas, free wifi, friendly, helpful staff (who even arranged for the sun to come out for my visit).. The list goes on. If you’re not convinced by now, I’m not sure you ever will be, but just in case…

The coffee is from London roasters, Caravan, which is consistently turning out coffee I like, and Yorks is up there with the best of them when it comes to making great coffee. There’s a comprehensive range of espresso-based drinks, but the real sign of excellence is the brew bar which offers V60 pour-over or Aeropress for one and Chemex or Cafetiere to share. There’s a choice of three beans at the brew bar and a seasonal single-origin espresso bean.

February 2016: Newhall Street has now closed, the building undergoing a major refurbishment. As a result, the mantle of Yorks Bakery Cafe has passed to the new cafe/roastery on Stephenson Street, which is even closer to New Street Station.

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Boston Tea Party, Worcester

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The model aeroplane at the Worcester branch of the Boston Tea Party.Regular readers will know of my love affair with the Boston Tea Party, the coffee shop chain which started off in Park Street, Bristol, and is steadily spreading north, east and south. That’s not to say that I like all the branches, but the ones I don’t tend to be the exception rather than the rule. So, when I found myself in Worcester on a rainy Saturday afternoon with an hour or so to kill, I made a bee-line for the Boston Tea Party on Broad Street.

Like its siblings, the Worcester BTP is instantly recognisable as a BTP, but sufficiently different to be its own place. Also, like every one I’ve been to except the Cheltenham Road branch, it’s split over two floors. And this one has its own aeroplane! With lots of windows, plenty of space and a great layout, this is a relaxing place to drink good coffee with friendly, helpful staff, which is all I’m really looking for.

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Kahawa Cafe

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Kahawa Cafe, occupying its corner spot with pride in the centre of Coventry.Coventry is not the first place that springs to mind when you think of top-notch coffee. However, Kahawa Café is doing its best to change that perception. It had only been open for two months when I visited in February, but it already seems to have established itself and gathered a loyal following. As is often the way, I found out about it through twitter, where lots of good things were being said.

The great thing about Kahawa Café is that it’s a really relaxing place. It also helps that it serves excellent coffee! It’s the sort of place you could easily spend the afternoon and, I suspect, even when it’s busy, it wouldn’t feel crowded, such is its uncluttered nature. Free wi-fi, a few power sockets and a lovely big sofa at the back all add to the allure.

What’s really impressive is that Kahawa Café seems to have achieved its success largely through word-of-mouth (and twitter) which says to me that they’re getting things right. It’s another of those places which, if I lived in the area, I’d be in all the time!

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