Next up today, the 2014 Coffee Spot Award shortlist for “Best Physical Space”, which was won last year by Cardiff‘s The Plan. One of the most important things for me is how a Coffee Spot looks and feels. This, to me, is just as important as the coffee.

This award celebrates those Coffee Spots in which there’s a pure joy in just sitting there, soaking it all in. It’s not just about physical beauty and elegance. Instead, it’s as much about atmosphere, layout and overall feel. It’s another where I could have made two or three different shortlists, all with worthy winners. However, I have managed to whittle it down to just a single list for this year’s Award.

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Next up in the 2014 Coffee Spot Awards is the shortlist for the “Best Overseas Coffee Spot”. This was won in 2013 by Pikolo Espresso Bar and celebrates all those wonderful Coffee Spots that I’ve visited outside of the UK. This year I managed trips to Dublin, France (Paris & Nantes) and the USA (Boston, New York & Philadelphia) and I found great coffee practically wherever I went. I also managed to nominate somewhere from each of the major cities I visited.

Last year I deliberately only included Coffee Spots which weren’t included in shortlists elsewhere, but this year I’ve spread the net a little wider since I would otherwise have excluded some outstanding Coffee Spots. This, by the way, is another Award where I could have filled the shortlist many times over!

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First up today, the 2014 Coffee Spot Award shortlist for “Best Roaster/Retailer”. This is partly a new award and partly an extension of the Best Coffee Bean Retailer Award, which was won last year by Coffee Charisma. I modified it this year, partly because I wanted to recognise roasters (having started to write more about them in the Meet the Roaster series and partly because I really don’t get to visit many retailers these days, increasingly getting my beans directly from the roasters.

Although the Coffee Spot is mostly about places to have coffee, I still drink the majority of my coffee at home, so those wonderful people who provide me with my coffee beans need a mention, be they roasters or retailers. The problem, with all these awards, is knowing where to draw the line for the shortlist and this Award is no exception. I’ve visited lots of coffee shops/roasters this year, but I’ve made a decision, by-and-large, to stick to either roasters I’ve written about as roasters. Similarly, I’ve excluded coffee shops which sell a range of beans.

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Welcome to the final 2014 Coffee Spot Awards shortlist of the day, the “Best Cake” Award, won in 2013 by Hart’s Bakery. Despite what it says on the tag line, the Coffee Spot’s not all about the coffee. After all, what would a cup of coffee be without a decent slice of cake to go with it? So, cake plays a major part in the Coffee Spot and this Award celebrates the Coffee Spots which excel in the cake department.

This is another of my favourite Awards and while I didn’t visit that many dedicate cake spots, I was nonetheless treated to some absolutely fantastic cake along the way, proving that, like good coffee, the more you look, the more good cake you find.

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Coffee Spots come in all shapes and sizes, but for some reason I have a real soft spot for small Coffee Spots. Last year the “Smallest Coffee Spot” Award was won by I Am Coffee.

This year I have once again been blessed by some very small Coffee Spots serving some very fine coffee. As in 2014, this Award is entirely subjective: no Coffee Spots were measured during the judging process! This is also another Award that I could have filled many times over: the world seems full of lots of really lovely, small, Coffee Spots.

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We’re halfway through the 2014 Coffee Spot Awards with the shortlist for the “Best Espresso” Award, which was won in 2013 by Vagabond N7. When it comes down to it, I still tend to judge a Coffee Spot by the quality of its espresso. Of course, this is entirely subjective and down to taste. I would never knock a place that made a good espresso just because it wasn’t to my taste.

This award is for those Coffee Spots which served me the best and most memorable espressos of the year. I started the Coffee Spot as a confirmed Italian espresso drinker. While I still like something full-bodied and robust, my palette has definitely evolved and expanded over time. This year I had some truly sublime espresso, leading to this being one of the most hotly contested of this year’s Awards.

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We kick off the third day of the 2014 Coffee Spot Awards with the shortlist for the “Best Coffee Spot near a Railway Station”. This was won in 2013 by Pink Lane Coffee and rewards those Coffee Spots serving great coffee to desperate travellers on Britain’s rail network.

When you’re desperate for good coffee, railway stations are rarely the best places to be. But what if there was a great Coffee Spot just outside the station (or even in the concourse!) or a few minutes’ walk away and you didn’t know about it? Then this award is for you…

2014 was a bumper year for Coffee Spots near or in stations by the way: it’s an Award I could have made two shortlists for this year!

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The last of today’s 2014 Coffee Spot Awards shortlists is the “Best Saturday Supplement” Award, won in 2013 by Caffeine Magazine. The Saturday Supplement is a place where I can write about coffee, coffee-related events, places which I liked but which didn’t really fit into the category of a Coffee Spot and frankly, anything else that takes my fancy! This Award recognises the best of this year’s Saturday Supplements.

Just so we’re clear on this, the Award is not about my writing (that would be far too self-serving). It’s about the actual subjects that I’m writing about, which this year included coffee festivals, magazines, books, and going for dinner, all of which makes the comparison a little tricky, but that’s my problem!

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Our third shortlist today is the second new Award in the 2014 Coffee Spot Awards. It’s the “Coffee Spot with the Best Outdoor Seating” Award, celebrating all those wonderful Coffee Spots with excellent outdoor seating.

To qualify for this award, it’s not just a case of sticking a coulpe of tables or chairs on the pavement outside your coffee shop. Too often, what could be a lovely spot is marred by traffic noise, or cramped conditions, or just being in the wrong place. The best outside seating is often away from the road and passing pedestrians and offers shelter from the wind, rain and/or sun (although rarely all three at once!). Fortunately, there are plenty of Coffee Spots which do exactly that and this is one award I could have filled many times over!

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We continue the second day with the next shortlist for the 2014 Coffee Spot Awards, the “Best Filter Coffee” Award, which was won last year by Flat Caps Coffee. A major revelation since starting the Coffee Spot is that filter coffee isn’t that over-brewed, stewed muck that bad coffee chains serve out of urns. It’s actually an amazing, delicate drink that has opened my eyes to a whole new world of coffee.

This award celebrates those Coffee Spots which continue to help me on my journey of discovery. To give you an idea of how far I have come since starting the Coffee Spot, I initially owned a cafetiere and an espresso machine and either drank my coffee at home with milk (cafetiere) or as espresso. Now I make the bulk of my coffee with my Aeropress and have a grinder dedicated to filter coffee. I always drink my filter coffee black and increasingly think that if I have to put milk in my coffee to make it drinkable, I’m drinking the wrong coffee!

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