Travels with my Coffee: North Wales 2021

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My Global WAKEcup looks east along Llyn Ogwen in Snowdonia on a sunny Sunday in September.As you’re probably aware, Travels with my Coffee follows me and my coffee around various photogenic parts of the world. Typically these are non-UK locations (the previous one was Iceland, from July this year), but last weekend (and this) Amanda and I have been travelling around North Wales and, unsurprisingly, our coffee has been coming with us.

This is Amanda’s first time west of Holywell, the small town where I was born and grew up, so while (almost) everything is familiar to me, it’s all new to Amanda, who has been delighted with both the scenery and the history. For my part, I never tire of exploring North Wales, although this is the first time I’ve been this way for many years, so you’re going to be seeing a few bonus North Wales Coffee Spots.

When I wasn’t playing tour guide, I was busy taking photographs of my coffee, mostly my Global WAKECup, although my HuskeeCup also had a day out (other reusable cups are available). This was partly because it was Zero Waste Week (which ended yesterday) and, to mark the occasion, the Coffee Spot and Global WAKEcup are running a giveaway (details at the end of the post).

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Kookaburra Bakehouse

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A lovely piccolo, served in a glass and topped with some intricate latte art at Kookaburra Bakehouse in Chester.Kookaburra Bakehouse on Goss Street in Chester is the latest venture from the team that brought you Bean & Cole, in partnership with Jess, who bakes all the lovely cakes for Bean & Cole. It opened in July this year, offering a simple menu of excellent espresso-based coffee from Ozone, along with a range of sweet and savoury goodies (although mostly sweet), all baked in the kitchen upstairs.

It’s a tiny place, principally catering to the takeaway trade, although there are a couple of bars offering limited inside seating, where you can sit and chat with whoever is behind the counter (Ian, aka “Bean”, in our case, while his partner, Nicole, is the “Cole” of Bean & Cole). Opening hours are limited for now, from eight o’clock in the morning on Thursday, Friday and Saturday until a nominal two o’clock closing time (or when all the cakes have been sold!).

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Caffi Caban

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One of the cabins, known as Cwch Gwenyn (The Hive), in the garden at the back of Caffi Caban.North Wales, particularly Snowdonia, is blessed with many things, including outstanding scenery. However, great coffee has been rather thin on the ground, although in recent years, things have been improving rapidly, led in part by local roasters such as Llandudno’s Heartland Coffee Roasters and Poblado Coffi, roasting in Snowdonia itself, who both feature in today’s Coffee Spot, Caffi Caban.

Rather embarrassingly for me, Caffi Caban has only recently come to my attention, despite having opened in 2009! It’s an amazing spot, occupying the rear half of the Brynrefail Enterprise Workshops in Snowdonia. The large, curved interior, which has the majority of the tables next to the windows, overlooks an even larger outside seating area, where multi-level wooden terraces descend to a grassy expanse.

Turning to coffee, Poblado Coffi provides a house blend and decaf, while the guest espresso, which changes every week or two, is usually from Heartland or Poblado. All the shots are ground on Victoria Arduino Mythos grinders and pulled on a Black Eagle. If you don’t fancy coffee, there’s tea, beer, cider and wine, plus a selection of Welsh gin and spirits. Finally, Caffi Caban has separate breakfast and lunch menus, plus plenty of cake, all baked onsite.

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Soulhand Gooseneck Kettle

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The thermometer on my Soulhand Gooseneck kettle, showing just below the "ideal" pour-over range (marked in red).Readers with a long memory will recall that it was almost exactly five years ago that I wrote about my Bonavita gooseneck kettle, marking the point at which I became a firm gooseneck kettle enthusiast. Since then I’ve added a number of gooseneck kettles to my arsenal, including a basic electric model from Bodum, which I keep at my father’s house, and a pouring jug with a gooseneck spout, which I use exclusively for travel. And now I’ve added a fourth, a gift from Soulhand, a US company, which offered me a gooseneck kettle with a built-in thermometer (the good news is that Soulhand ships direct to the UK).

I’ll be honest: I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. Unlike my previous kettles, which have been electric, this is a stovetop model, which works on a hob, and which felt to me like a backwards step. On the plus side, there’s the built-in thermometer, which is one of things that I didn’t realise I needed until I used it (much like the gooseneck kettle itself). In the end, it won me over and I learnt a few useful things along the way, which was a bonus.

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The Table Update

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A flat white in a HuskeeCup, served at The Table in Walsall.Walsall’s first and (for now) only speciality coffee shop, The Table opened at the start of April. I visited a few weeks later, when COVID-19 precautions were in full swing, restricting The Table to outside seating only. However, like The Old Roastery Coffee Shop in my hometown of Guildford, which I visited around the same time, you had to go inside to order, providing a glimpse of the lovely interior. And, like The Old Roastery, I vowed to return once the indoor seating was open to see what I was missing out on.

Since The Old Roastery is on my doorstep, I didn’t have long to wait, popping in four weeks later for a catch up. However, The Table had to wait a bit longer. My opportunity came on Saturday while driving up to North Wales with Amanda after her early morning arrival at Heathrow. Eschewing the usual crawl on the M6 around Birmingham, we took a detour to Walsall and The Table.

Other than the newly-opened interior, The Table has changed its house espresso (still from Odd Kin Coffee Roasters), added a pour-over option and expanded its food offering, with a simple breakfast menu and a range of sandwiches.

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The Gentlemen Baristas Borough Update

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A flat white with some gorgeous latte art, poured by Ernie at The Gentlemen Baristas, Borough.This is where it all started for The Gentlemen Baristas, on Union Street in Borough, when the first Gentlemen Baristas opened at the end of 2014. I took my time, leaving a whole two years before I finally visited, so it’s only fitting that I left it even longer before my return, this time chalking up a gap of four years. In the intervening period, The Gentlemen Baristas has been busy, opening multiple new coffee shops. Three of these, including its London Bridge coffee shop, are in a tight cluster around the original, while another four, including its Holborn coffee shop, are in central London. These are balanced by an eastern outpost at Canary Wharf, a western one in Hammersmith and its own East London roastery.

Returning to the original after so many years, it all felt rather familiar. The counter has had a facelift, but otherwise, the downstairs layout remains largely unchanged. Upstairs, however, things are a little different, the training room having moved out, replaced by a kitchen, while the rooftop garden has undergone a complete revamp. The coffee remains excellent, although there’s no longer any pour-over. On the plus side, there’s now a full brunch menu.

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Over Under Coffee, Wandsworth Town

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A lovely flat white with an abstract latte art pattern in it, made with the Over Under house blend and served in my HuskeeCup at Over Under Coffee, Wandsworth Town.Over Under Coffee, the coffee shop, brunch and cocktails chain specialising in tiny coffee shops, branched out south of the Thames when it took over the old CWTCH site at Wandsworth Town Station in 2019. Currently there are five Over Unders, all associated with stations: the original at Earls Court, its near neighbour at West Brompton and the flagship Over Under at Ladbroke Grove, while Wandsworth Town has since been joined south of the river by Clapham Old Town.

Occupying a large kiosk right outside the station on the quiet Old York Road, you might think that the outdoor setting would cramp Over Under’s style. However, neither this nor the lack of space is a problem for Over Under, which manages to fit in a full kitchen, the only compromise being cocktails, which isn’t that surprising since Over Under closes at one o’clock in the afternoon (two at weekends)!

There’s the usual concise espresso-based menu, along with batch brew filter, the coffee, as ever, coming from Assembly. This is backed up with tea and hot chocolate, while the brunch menu offers a range of fillings in either a sourdough or brioche roll, plus banana bread and a selection of pastries.

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Nostos Coffee

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An espresso, made with Kiss the Hippo’s Bensa from Ethiopia, an anaerobic natural with tasting notes of blackberry, pineapple and strawberry jam, served at Nostos in a classic blue cup.One of the great things about the speciality coffee community is how interlinked everything is. I found out about Nostos Coffee from Bex of Double Skinny Macchiato, who’d heard about it from Saint Nine Coffee (another one that’s on my list) which, in turn, she heard about through Rosslyn Coffee. And then I pinched this introduction from Bex’s write-up of Nostos…

Nostos Coffee opened in May this year, occupying a small, quirky space next to Battersea Park station, the penultimate stop on the line into London Victoria, and just across the road from Battersea Park. Despite being a newcomer to the area, there was a steady stream of customers during my visit, each one being greeted like a long-lost friend by the barista, Edison.

The coffee, by the way, is excellent, with Kiss the Hippo and Ue Coffee Roasters providing contrasting options on espresso (plus decaf), along with multiple choices from the current guest roaster on pour-over through the Kalita Wave filter. There’s batch brew if you’re in a hurry, plus tea, hot chocolate and a selection of iced drinks. If you’re hungry, this is all backed up with a selection of cakes/pastries from a range of local bakers.

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Story Coffee, Wandsworth

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Welcome to Story Coffee Wandsworth, taken from the sign outside.Let me tell you a story. A story about coffee, in fact. Story Coffee started life in 2014 on St John’s Hill, between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth, although very much at the Clapham Junction end. Story Coffee made its name serving awesome brunches and excellent coffee in a fairly small, sunny spot before adding the even smaller, more grab-and-go orientated Story Works to the family in 2018. Then, in early 2020, along came Story Coffee in the Ram Quarter, Wandsworth.

The latest Story Coffee is huge. You could easily fit the first two inside and have plenty of space left over. There’s a neat coffee bar area at the front, a dedicated dining area towards the back, and a large, outdoor seating area out front. The same staples that originally made Story Coffee its name remain: excellent coffee and awesome brunches, but now with wine added to the mix.

There’s the familiar Kees van der Westen Spirit espresso machine on the counter, with a bespoke house-blend roasted by Modern Standard gracing the hopper of the Mahlkönig grinder. There’s also decaf, plus a single-origin on batch brew (both Modern Standard/Story Coffee), while various guests are available on pour-over via the SP9/Kalita Wave.

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Travels with my Coffee: Iceland 2021

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Our Espro Travel Presses (mine, in red, on the left, Amanda's, in blue on the right) overlook the Gullfoss waterfalls in Iceland, with my HuskeeCup sandwiched between them.After an 18 month hiatus, Travels with my Coffee, the series where I take my coffee to all the best places, is back, visiting its most northerly location yet. As you probably know, Amanda and I went to Iceland last month, spending much of our time wandering around the capital, Reykjavik, where there are plenty of speciality coffee shops (and some excellent museums and restaurants which we also visited). The weather was a bit grim for the early part of the trip, but when it lifted, we managed to get out of the city on a couple of day trips, plus we took the ferry to Viðey, a small island in the bay.

Naturally, our coffee came with us, Amanda and I each owning a Travel Press (Amanda’s is fancier than mine, so now I have Travel Press envy). We’d also each brought our travelling coffee kit, which we didn’t use that much on account of the aforementioned speciality coffee shops providing most of our coffee needs. However, we did have breakfast in our hotel room a couple of times, as well as afternoon coffee and pastries. The unquestionable highlight though, was having coffee overlooking a live volcanic eruption!

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