Full Court Press

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A cup of filter coffee from Full Court PressThe latest in the recent explosion of speciality coffee shops in Bristol, Full Court Press, or FCP Coffee, burst onto the scene on 1st May. I gave it a day to settle down and then went in to see what all the fuss was about.

Bristol has a number of top-notch coffee shops that would grace any city in the country and FCP has leapt right in there with them. Reminiscent of (the sadly now closed) Didn’t You Do Well in both decor and coffee attitude, owner Mat has created something special here. From the moment you walk through the door, you know you are going to get some special coffee. Two white boards on the walls behind the large counter list the four beans available, along with tasting notes and preparation methods. Unusually, FCP has no preferred roaster, and while that may change when things settle down, currently each of the four beans is from different roasters and regularly change.

While I was there, Chris, from Small Street Espresso came in and while he sat at the back chatting with Mat, barista Dave gave me a tour of the premises and a quick demonstration of the art of making coffee (see the gallery).

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Good Coffee in Paris?

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Un Cafe at the legendary Cafe de FloreI worry when I hear people say that they can’t find good coffee in Paris, since I’ve never had a problem in that respect. After all, Paris has a café (and coffee) culture that in many ways long predates that of the UK or the US. What I suspect I’m hearing is “I can’t find coffee that I like” or “I can’t find the coffee that I’m used to”. The simple fact is “coffee I like/am used to” isn’t necessarily synonymous with “good coffee”.

So, I’m going to use this Saturday Supplement to try something new for the Coffee Spot, a discussion piece, looking at the coffee scene in Paris as a matter of taste and perspective. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that while you can get good coffee in Paris, you can also get bad coffee, often shockingly bad coffee. However, Paris has a wide and varied coffee scene, from the little bars with an espresso machine, through the bistros and pavement cafés all the way to the grand cafés of the Left Bank and the upmarket Salons de Thé. And, recently added to the mix, third-wave coffee.

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Ten Belles

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The Ten Belles Coffee MugTen Belles, just off the Canal St Martin, in a lovely part of the city, is a fairly recent addition to the Paris coffee scene, having opened in September 2012. However, serving Has Bean coffee in distinctly British/North American surroundings, it is most definitely not a traditional Parisian café. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, just don’t come here expecting table service, stuffy waiters and café crème: Ten Belles wouldn’t be out of place in the heart of London or New York.

A small place, with a clever mezzanine section above the kitchen to provide additional space, Ten Belles is proving a hit with the ex-pat crowd judging by the amount of English spoken and the accents on display during my visit.

Ten Belles has a commendably limited (and typical for Paris) espresso range: espresso, melangé (with hot water; close to a long black/Americano), noisette (with steamed milk; close to a macchiato or cortardo) and cappuccino. All come as double shots, the size determined by the drink. There’s also Aeropress and Chemex options, filter coffee, tea, hot chocolate (all in really nice Ten Belles mugs) and Luscombe soft drinks to reinforce the British link.

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Coffee Barker

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The Coffee Barker sign, written on one of the windows.It’s been many years since I was last in Cardiff and I’ve certainly never been there in my guise as a consumer of fine coffee. So, I was interested to see what the capital of the country of my birth had to offer and I’m pleased to say that I wasn’t disappointed. Leading the way, in rival arcades in the city centre, are two very different places, today’s Coffee Spot, Coffee Barker, and The Plan Café.

You’ll find Coffee Barker in the beautiful Victorian Castle Arcade. It has fiercely loyal customers: you know you are onto something good when you are interrupted in your chat with the baristas to be told, unprompted, by one of the customers: “best coffee in Cardiff”. Concise and to the point.

Whether it is the best coffee in Cardiff is up for debate. Certainly third-wave coffee purists will prefer The Plan, but if what you want  (like me) is a no-nonsense espresso or a bucketful of cappuccino (not me!), then the delightful surroundings of Coffee Barker should put it top of your list. There’s also lots of cake and sandwiches if you’re feeling hungry.

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Caffé Culture Show 2013

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Kensington Olympia, the home of the Caffe Culture ShowI was in two minds about whether to write about the Caffé Culture Show since it’s trade only and hence many of you, dear readers, won’t be able to go. On the other hand, I have a sneaking suspicion that many of you are actually café owners, so maybe you can go after all… Anyway, if you are reading this, café owner or not, you will realise that I have decided to write about it after all…

For the uninitiated, which included my good self until about a month ago, the Caffé Culture Show is an annual event for the café trade which was held in the soaring halls of the Kensington Olympia Exhibition Centre. It features suppliers to the café trade, from coffee machine manufacturers through bakers all the way to furniture suppliers.

While none of this is directly aimed at the likes of me, who goes to cafés rather than runs them, it was nonetheless fascinating to see what’s going on in the industry. Compared to the London Coffee Festival, which I’d attended two weeks earlier, it was a much more relaxed affair, with lots and lots of free samples on offer…

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Café Olimpico

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Café Olimpico, depuis 1970 (since 1970)Make no mistake, even though this is Montréal and its staff switch effortlessly between French and English, Café Olimpico is Italian to its roots. Compared to some Italian places I visited on my North American trip, it’s a relative newcomer, having “only” been around since 1970, when it was founded by the late Rocco Furfaro (it’s now owned by Rocco’s daughters, Rossana and Victoria).

It’s best described as a neighbourhood espresso bar. Located on the corner of Rue St-Viateur and Rue Waverley, right in the heart of residential Mile End, Café Olimpico feels like your local, except that it serves coffee, not alcohol, from seven in the morning until midnight, seven days a week. I’m not a fan of alcohol, so pubs and bars have never held much appeal. However, Café Olimpico is exactly how I’d imagine my local would be if pubs served (excellent) coffee instead of beer…

Warm, welcoming, friendly: the ideal place to pop in for a quick espresso or to meet up with friends for an hour or two over a latte; Café Olimpico is a wonderful place. If I lived in the neighbourhood, I really would be in here all the time!

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Flat Caps Coffee

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Perhaps the nicest cup of filter coffee I've ever had from Flat Caps Coffee in Newcastle, served with the filter in place.Flat Caps Coffee is arguably the hardest-to-find place in my Coffee Spot career. On the other hand, since everyone I asked said that I had to go there, clearly it couldn’t be that hard to find… So, undaunted, I set out with nothing more than my nose for coffee and Google Maps to guide me. This proved to be one of those rare occasions when Google Maps won out…

Flat Caps is downstairs under a gift shop, with the smallest sign in the world providing the only external indication of its existence. It’s a fair bet that Flat Caps doesn’t pick up much passing trade, so its popularity must be down to word of mouth and reputation, which tells me that it must be pretty good. Now I’ve been there, I can tell you that it’s excellent.

Run by Joe, a Finalist in this year’s UK Barista Championships, Flat Caps serves amazing coffee in relaxing, laid-back surroundings. Big tables are mixed with intimate niches, while the blue & white tiled floor, low ceiling, green walls and exposed brickwork go surprisingly well together (although it’s since been redecorated). As a space in which to drink coffee, it’s every bit as good as the coffee itself.

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Café Myriade

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The Cafe Myriade LogoCafé Myriade can claim to have planted the seeds of the wave of new coffee spots emerging in Montréal in the last 18 months. It opened back in 2008 and many of the recent crop, including Pikolo Espresso and Le Couteau/The Knife, can trace their lineage and/or inspiration back to Myriade and its owner, Anthony. It can also stake a claim to having introduced the awesome-looking Kees van der Westen Triplette espresso machine to Montréal.

However, despite this impressive heritage, I very nearly walked out of Myriade about 10 seconds after walking in. It was heaving, all the tables were taken, there was a queue at the counter and the loud music was really very loud. To cap it all, I was in a foul mood. However, I forced myself to stay and was very glad that I did.

Once I’d settled down and got a table, I found that I loved the place. The atmosphere was great, as was the music, although it won’t be to everyone’s tastes. The coffee was excellent and the staff knowledgeable and helpful. Even the other customers were friendly! What’s more, it’s right in the heart of downtown Montréal where independent coffee spots seem thin on the ground.

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Didn’t You Do Well

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Didn't You Do Well's A-board outside the coffee shop on Park RowYou could argue that Bristol is in the middle of a golden age of coffee, putting it up there with the likes of Edinburgh. In the last nine months, four top-notch coffee shops, as good as any in the country, have opened. Each offers something different, but all share a passion for great coffee. Three of them, Wild at Heart, Small Street Espresso and Full Court Press, form a triangle in the centre of the old medieval city. Didn’t You Do Well is an outpost on Park Row, offering a specialist alternative to the grand-daddy of the Bristol coffee scene, the Boston Tea Party, just around the corner on Park Street.

Didn’t You Do Well nails its colours firmly to the speciality coffee mast with some unusual brewing technology (at least for the UK). It offers a choice of beans and a fairly severe outlook on how you take your coffee. This goes with a clean, uncluttered look which seems to minimise any distraction from the coffee itself. While others, such as Wild at Heart, might go for quirky surroundings, the quirkiness at Didn’t You Do Well stops with the name: everything else is focused squarely on the coffee!

March 2015: Sad news… Didn’t You Do Well closed at the end of the month after two years of bringing great coffee to Bristol. Good luck to Will and Ally in whatever they do next.

October 2015: Will is now working full-time as a barista in Full Court Press.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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London Coffee Festival 2013: Sunday Roundup

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The London Coffee Festival LogoI can’t believe that it’s already been two weeks since the London Coffee Festival in Brick Lane. How time flies! Well, now that the dust has settled, it’s time to look back on my second visit, which was to the Sunday teatime session. I had intended to be there earlier in the day, but real-life took a hand and put paid to that. And, as regular readers will already know, mornings are not my friend.

If you didn’t manage to make it this year, you really should consider going next year. You’d be wise to book your ticket well in advance though, since pretty much every session this year either sold out or all but sold out before the day itself. I’m very glad I went: not knowing what to expect, I deliberately set my sights low, but ended up being delighted by everything there. The coffee was excellent, the food amazing, the people fantastic and to cap it all, the espresso machines were very, very shiny…

You can catch up with my exploits on my first day there, or read on to find out what I got up to on my last day…

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