Boston Tea Party, Whiteladies Road

The exterior of Boston Tea Party branch on Whiteladies Road in BristolOn the busy Whiteladies Road in Bristol, just a few doors along from where Joe’s Coffee used to be, stands another branch of the Boston Tea Party chain. I’m not quite sure why it’s taken me this long to find this particular Tea Party; the only excuse I can offer is that it’s not a part of Bristol I visit very often. The Whiteladies Road branch has the usual Boston Tea Party offerings: coffee that’s a cut above your average chain, a large and excellent food (and cake) menu, including breakfast served all day, and lovely surroundings to eat/drink in.

Like all the other branches of the Boston Tea Party that I’ve covered, this one feels like a Boston Tea Party while at the same time managing to be its own place. The trick that the Tea Party seems to have pulled off is to take iconic/unique/interesting buildings and turn them into fantastic spaces for cafés. In the case of Whiteladies Road, it’s on the site of an old record store. While I’ve been in plenty of Tea Parties that stretch over two floors (eg Exeter, Worcester), this is the first that stretches over three levels (unless you count the garden at the original Park Street), making it a particularly lovely setting.

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Workhouse Coffee, King Street: Update

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

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

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

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

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

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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2013 Awards – Best Breakfast

All-day veggie breakfast at Guildford's Woodbridge Road CafeContinuing the food theme, the next Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2013 is the “Best Breakfast”, another new Award this year. Along with cake, breakfast has a special place in my heart and I always intended to cover breakfast places on the Coffee Spot. The only slight snag is that I rarely get up and out of the house early enough to get to places before they stop serving breakfast!

Largely because of this, it wasn’t until this year that I started the Saturday Spot (part of the Saturday Supplement) specifically so that I could write about Coffee Spots where the coffee wasn’t up to much, but where the breakfasts were to die for! The shortlisted places this year are a mixture of Saturday Spots and Coffee Spots which also do great breakfasts.

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2013 Awards – Best Cake

Bea's of Bloomsbury on Theobald RoadWelcome to the next Coffee Spot Awards Shortlist for 2013, the “Best Cake” Award, which was won in 2012 by Bea’s of Bloomsbury. 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 as many dedicate cake spots this year, I was treated to some absolutely fantastic cake experiences along the way.

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2013 Awards – Best Physical Space

An espresso, in a classic white cup on a white saucer on a tableAnother new Award for this year is the “Best Physical Space” Award. I’m not sure why I didn’t have this award last year since this is one of the most important things for me, how a Coffee Spot looks and feels. It’s as much about atmosphere, layout and overall feel as it is about 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 another where I could have made three or four 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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