Java Roastery, one of the stalwarts of Birmingham’s speciality coffee scene, opened its doors as Java Lounge in Moseley Village in 2005. 10 years passed before a second Java Lounge opened in a prime city-centre location on Colmore Row, quickly followed by two more in 2017, located on business parks in Solihull and Coventry Airport. Sadly, I was late to the game, only really getting to know Java Lounge (as was) when I met the owner, Akram, at 2018’s Birmingham Coffee Festival before playing a belated visit to Colmore Row in 2019, just before the rebranding to Java Lounge.
The original Java Roastery occupies a pair of units on the west side of Alcester Road, set back from the traffic. There’s plenty of room on the pavement for a large, outdoor seating area, while inside, even accounting for COVID-19 precautions, there’s plenty of seating. Even better is the cosy basement, about half the size of the upstairs, full of tables and sofas. The coffee is all roasted in-house with two seasonal blends and decaf on a standard espresso-based menu, plus there’s batch brew filter. If you’re hungry, Java Roastery has a simple, all-day breakfast menu, grab-and-go sandwiches and plenty of cake.
