Happy Coffee Days

Together we want to share with you our passion for coffee and the special connections we have made along the way. We are happy you landed on our page :) Sonya&Robin

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Cafe de L’Ambre

Our days on this both wonderful and bizarre island are slowly coming to an end. We obviously visited Kiddyland several more times to stock up on everything cute and snatch up that last fluffy Totoro tag before flying back home in two days time.

However, our coffee journey through Japan wouldn’t be nearly complete without having a brew at a traditional coffee house (kissaten). There are still a number of them around the capital, yet none with a world famous reputation as the one in Ginza.

We are of course talking about, Cafe de L’Ambre.

The coffee house is said to have been imported brick by brick from Paris and opened to the public in 1948. Owner and coffee sensei, Sekiguchi Ichirō is now well over a hundred years. He’s entrusted the day-to-day runnings of the shop to younger tykes, while he focuses on roasting and enjoying his daily motorcycle ride to work.

Entering the shop, we didn’t exactly know what to expect and after waiting in the reception area, we were seated along the curvy bar with an English coffee menu. The barista behind the counter was free pouring a few drinks already using what looked a lot like a coffee sock. We were indeed wondering why they had a washing machine behind the counter. It's for washing all the filters!

After studying the vast bean selection multiple times over and telling the barista we needed more time despite reading the English menu; we finally opted for a caffè creme. 

It didn’t quite say which beans they were using, yet it’s safe to assume it was their seven year old house blend. That’s right, seven year old coffee beans and those seem to be the freshest ones around. Their oldest ones are something close to thirty years!

The barista we saw earlier, set out to work once again, chucking half a boatload of dark coffee into the flannel and patiently waiting for his kettle to boil. After pouring the coffee free hand with boiling-ass water and steam smacking him right across the face, he transferred the black liquid into a saucepan and heated it up one last time before serving it to us with a delightful little cream pot.

The coffee which was pitch black dark and screamed for sugar and all sorts of sweeteners, was surprisingly smooth, full bodied and utterly pleasant. It didn’t need anything else. I was gobsmacked!

On the way out, we spied Sekiguchi Ichirō among a library of coffee books, papers and framed certificates. We quickly thanked him for the good coffee and politely asked to take his photo, which he was more than happy to pose for before jumping back on his BMW motorcycle (his son drives it, don’t worry). :)

That’s all from Japan (for now), check the links below for two more shops we popped by in Osaka and Tokyo. 

See you back in London & Happy Tuesday!

Robin & Sonya

—

Coffee in Osaka & after a fishy brekky in Tsukiji

Lilo Coffe Roasters, Osaka

Turret Coffee, Tsukiji, Tokyo

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“Arabica Friday...

...has started!” 

That is how Junichi Yamaguchi usually starts most of his coffee posts. Not only is he the head barista in Kyoto at % Arabica (Higashiyama), Latte Art Champion Tokyo 2014, however also ‘super amateur photographer’ as he puts it :)

Our visit to the coffee shop was by sheer chance and luck! Thank the coffee gods, new and old! It simply had to be, that we discovered this beautiful shop nestled under the pagoda of Hokanji Temple.

The shop was so busy at the time, that we had to let three onstorms of tourists and kimonos pass until the coast was finally clear to nip in for a coffee. It was almost like being on the Underground during rush hour!

Yunichi-San pouring our coffee in a china cup, after we asked in our best Japanese ;) What a privilege!

The coffee % Arabica serves is slightly darker than the current light roast trend, yet it is full of flavour and a world apart from what we have tried in the past. This is specialty coffee at its finest!

You can even pick up a batch of freshly roasted coffee to make your tastebuds tingle with joy when you return home. 

The containers mounted to the wall only contain green beans, so it’s up to you to decide how’d you like it roasted. Fear not, as the baristas are more than happy to share their advice on how to get the most out of these happy beans.

Browsing their website, one might think ‘%’ is seeking world domination opening up shops all across South East Asia, Europe and now the US.

Yet look a bit closer and you’ll realise that their philosophy might be very much in line with yours. It certainly speaks true to us, as we have seen most of the world through coffee and will continue travelling because of it. 

Above all, coffee makes us all happy and does evoke a smile when it is presented with beautiful latte art. 

Happy Arabica Friday!

Robin & Sonya

#SeeTheWorldThruCoffee

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Hidden Treasures Kyoto

After spending the lion share of our time exploring Tokyo, it was high time for some touristing around the coffee temples in Kyoto.

Travelling by bullet train was already a bucket list worthy experience, which started by watching the cleaners turn around the passenger seats and do a record sweep in no time. Once we had boarded the train, the Japanese delegation collectively snacked on their bentos and fell asleep one by one as the blur of the buzzing city became a constant green.

Speeding across absolutely flat fields of green with that shock blue sky we had on our very first day, was better than any show on the telly. It took us no more than two and a half hours going at 180 miles per hour!

 We left the Shinkansen a little drowsy and headed straight to our Ryokan further north of Kyoto station to drop off our luggage and sip on chilled caffeine with cow juice.

The place we were dying to visit? Kurasu Kyoto, yappari ne!

When we first got into blogging about coffee, it wasn’t before long until we fell deeply in love with Yozo’s meticulous coffee scene setups and gorgeous Japanese coffee equipment. Just in August this year Kurasu, which means ‘lifestyle’ or ‘to live’ in Japanese, finally opened its first physical store!

Those two flat whites weren’t the last coffees we’d sample at Kurasu. We returned another three times as the two lovely baristas got us hooked on iced espresso matcha lattes!

It’s dead easy to make at home, if you fancy yourself a special treat this summer! Simply prep some matcha syrup, get soy or milk from your Tesco down the road and pour some tasty espresso on top. Presto!

At Kurasu, you even have the choice to sample more than one delectable type of bean. Their house blend is supplied by the renowned coffee roaster ‘Single O Japan’ who hail from Surrey Hills in Sydney. Besides ‘Single O’, there’s a vast variety of local Japanese roasters or even specialty grade beans from overseas, such as ‘The Coffee Collective’ from Copenhagen.

With the painstaking attention to detail which has been put into creating Kurasu, it is without little wonder that publications such as Monocole Magazine are sending in their best photographers to document this one of a kind coffee shrine.

Tom Works, who we hit it off pretty well given our mutual passion for coffee and Nikon cameras, was spending the day with the lovely Ayaka pouring cold brew, v60s and espresso.

Kurasu left such a positive impact on us that we still hold on to their branded iced matcha latte cup! We hope to make our own matcha syrup very soon ;)

The shop is ever evolving and we can only look forward to visiting again! Hopefully this time we get to meet Yozo as well!

Happy Monday!

Robin & Sonya (:

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Snow, Rain & Sun

If we had to sum up Seattle in March in three words, those would absolutely nail it bang on.

Surprisingly enough, for the city which garnered the title of rainiest city in the world, we lucked out with blue sky and sunshine on two entire days!

Hadn’t it been for a creative workshop and the idea of exploring the stomping ground of Starbucks, we might have traded London for a spot closer to the equator. Thankfully Starbucks was around every corner to ditch the city’s fickle weather outbursts of rain showers, heavy gales and even snow!

Opened in 1971 down at Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks as it’s called is still drawing in large crowds of tourists. The one we had our eyes set on however, was the infamous ‘Starbucks Roastery, Reserve & Tasting Room’, only a bean’s throw away. Little did we think, it’d be as much as a tourist attraction as the other one.

The sheer size of the place is utterly intimidating to say the least. Boasting multiple coffee bars, a roaster, green bean silos, a counter to purchase freshly roasted and rare beans as well as merchandise is truly a glimpse into the company’s future.

Rare Reserve beans & green beans in the right hand silos.

Syphon, v60, chemex, cold brew, nitro cold brew, espresso...you name it!

Roasted on site and bagged up, the beans are making the rounds on a wee little conveyor belt. Check the terminal style info board to find out which coffee is being roasted today.

15.000 square feet of coffee heaven. 

We hope you won’t be cross with us for skipping the queue and having coffee elsewhere, yet the prospect of forking out nine dollars for a latte or even a cheesy bagel for nine fifty was a little too steep for us. Also, if you're looking to grab a bag of their single origin (250g) you’re looking at fourteen dollars. That totally killed me, as I would have loved to have taken those beans for a spin on my wooden dripper!

Before leaving the Reserve uncaffeinated however, we hijacked the free wifi and located Stumptown in the close vicinity.

In a nutshell, I grabbed a hip 50s cold brew with milk tetra and legged it before the miserable baristas dampened my mood as well. Nuff said!

This was not at all what we had expected from the Portland based giant, nor the sugary surprise in my cold brew. That’s sacrilege for any coffee lover, people!

Nonetheless making the best of it, we consulted Beanhunter to track down the cafe, locals had voted their number one in the city - Storyville at Pike Place Market.

Tucked away up a flight of stairs with a view over the market, you’ll find an aeronautical inspired cafe with a beautiful modern wooden interior. Entering the shop you’ll either place your order with the baristas on the left or right hand side.

Despite a little hiccup in the beginning with making out flatties to go, the coffee and overall vibe were very close to home in London. 

By no means do we intend to knock Seattle too hard for it’s dearth of speciality coffee. We spotted multiple others we haven’t had a chance to try or weren’t even open for business, such as Rapha or Seattle Coffee Works.

I also believe that having visited Melbourne and several other roasteries across the continents, The Reserve in particular wasn’t such a new experience to us as opposed to the many visitors that came flocking in. 

Nonetheless, it was great to see where Starbucks sprouted and continues to grow. We heard that there will be two more Reserve Roasteries opening in New York and Shanghai.

On our last day we even had our first spring snow! :)

Next time you’ll hear from us we’ll be picking up where we last left off in Japan. We’re taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto & Osaka and pop by Kurasu for an iced matcha espresso latte.

Happy Friday folks & wrap up warm!

Robin & Sonya :)

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It Only Rains in Shibuya

It’s day three on the island. We have 10 degrees and rising, jet lag is still driving a hard bargain and we have succumbed to the caffeinated forces of evil already – Starbucks.

Considering that Japanese usually excel at everything and put in twice as much effort than us lazy Westerosies, the idea didn’t seem that bad.

This post isn’t about the green-apron-men however, no matter how good the coffee may have been that fateful morning. The one we had later that day blew it apart and into space!

We had quite a few if we must admit. Also, looking at our expenses we spent more on coffee than on food!

First stop, Fuglen – the bird.

Flying all the way across from Oslo, Fuglen has been singing its sweet tune since 1963. Yet it only opened its doors to vintage coffee paradise in May 2012 in Tokyo. The café opens at 8am and later in the day switches into a cocktail and wine bar serving Norwegian and Japanese craft beers.

While we did get the whole Norwegian vintage 50s style interior, the overall vibe of the cafe was a bit lost on us. The coffee was good, although I wouldn’t say fantastic. The baristas were also a bit withdrawn and I hope my terrible Japanese didn’t put them off from talking to us further.

I’m sure Fuglen appeals to a whole lot of coffee lovers, unfortunately it simply wasn’t our cup of Joe when we popped in that rainy mellow afternoon. It has to be said however that their coffee bag designs are absolutely awesome!

Our number one in Shibuya and possibly Tokyo was no not Ms Bunny the rabbit café, which didn’t even serve any coffee. It was The Local Coffee Stand, run by coffee mastermind and Tokyo Coffee Festival founder Yuji Otsuki (pouring our flatties below).

Not only does Yuji have a beautiful minimalist shop using beans from local Japanese roasters, yet it’s also cutting edge! On a tv screen behind the counter, we spotted a coffee terminal board with fantastic little animatics of coffee being brewed. Simply pre-order via the app (O:der) and pick it up when it’s ready.

As far as coffee and ambience go, this is definitely where you’d want to recharge your batteries and kick back after a long tarmac marathon around Shibuya. 

What’s more, Yuji San was super fun talking to especially because his friends in the cafe helped him translate. We also learned that the Japanese and English coffee platform Goodcoffee.me is Yuji’s brainchild as well, which is exactly how we tracked down The Local in the first place.

If you feel like learning a bit more about coffee and have a nice chat at the same time, then please visit Yuji and do say Hi for us :)

Final stop before hitting the futon and merely a fifteen minute walk from the train station, is the cafe Grain Bread and Brew.

If you feel a bit peckish and realise that you can’t just run on caffeine all day, then Grain Bread and Brew will hit that spot for you as well!

Other than specialty coffee and first-rate matcha lattes, the cafe offers a whole menu of artisan sarnies with or without crust as well as homemade cakes.

While I had my last coffee for the day, Sonya tried her very first matcha latte with a slice of cold strawberry cheesecake. All three were utterly divine and do deserve to be featured on Goodcoffee.me, which by the way is a great site to discover a few coffeeshops that haven’t been listed on Beanhunter.

Thank you again for hanging in there while we are catching up on our coffee adventure in Japan! We might just squeeze in a short post about our latest trip to Seattle. So don’t stray too far :)

Happy Wednesday!

Robin & Sonya xXx

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Tokyo Day Two

The land of the rising sun caught merely a glimpse of us as we emerged dizzy on sleep from the Narita airport shuttle at Tokyo Station. Our Airbnb wasn’t far, yet we circled around the apartment block twice, slightly disoriented and discombobulated by the beautiful day and sudden boost of Vitamin A.

Our first impression upon arrival was absolutely intoxicating! Like a fresh wind clearing the dull everyday film of dust off our eyes. The sun was smiling a brief genki desu ka (how are you?) at us, upon which we replied in broken Japanese: quite tired very much, thank you.

Disappearing into our Japanese shoebox apartment, we recharged our batteries to shoot a secret ‘Dom Perignon Kimono Fashion Show’ in no less than 5 hours to go (for more on Kimonos & Dom Perignon follow this link).

On Day 2 after our sunny arrival, fashion show and a late 11am start we finally made tracks to our favourite coffee roaster located in Koto – Allpress Espresso.

Once we had wrapped our heads around the intricacies of the subway map, it was as easy as pie to locate the old warehouse turned café & roastery in east Tokyo.

Serving their signature blend, here Kiba blend (not Redchurch blend) we immediately found ourselves in coffee heaven. As luck would have it, not all baristas were Japanese. It’s not that we didn’t learn any before our trip, however ‘koohii kudasai’ only gets you so far :)

Toz aka @tozwanted on Instagram, has been making coffee in Tokyo for nearly six months now. She will be returning to Adelaide at the end of the month however, to reunite with family & friends and follow her second passion, the visual arts. We knew it, all baristas are undercover artists!

We stuck around for what seemed like eternity, slurping iced lattes, chatting with Toz, test-driving Japanese toilets and shooting the roastery and cafe. It’s a shame that it was the weekend as I was looking forward to meeting a few familiar faces from Allpress London as well.

However, it was the most fantastic start to our journey in Japan and visiting Allpress made it that much more special. Thank you guys!! :)

Next up: We are tracking down coffee in Shibuya!

Happy Sunday!

Robin & Sonya xoxo

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Espresso Ice Cubes

For many of us, it is just the beginning of winter so the thought of caffeinated ice cubes might conjure up frosty nightmares.

Make no mistake in thinking however, that we are sunning our buns in Bondi; dancing on hot as coal sand around a barbie with a cheeky morning bev in our golden brown mits.

In our case, it brings back the whirlwind time we had in Ha Noi earlier this year on our way to Japan.

It appears that Vietnam’s capital was not only known for its bizarre egg coffee and condensed milk concoctions. The city boasts more scooters and cirque du soleil acrobats than J-Beebs’s instagram following.

We were even more petrified of crossing the road after witnessing a cold-blooded hit and run of a local cockroach making it only fifty percent of the way before getting sq**shed entirely.

Shocked by the incident, we agreed we could only find consolation & peace in a good cup of coffee.

As far as Beahunter was concerned, there wasn’t much to be found in the specialty scene other than illy or Lavazza branded caffs.

Playing it by ear, we eventually tracked down a café we wouldn’t dare leave until catching the last available bus back (that’s another story). 

It was The Coffee House, just a few blocks south of Hoan Kiem Lake.

Once you’ve had your fill of the turbulence, noise and mental traffic; this double glazed cafe on the second floor will feel like another world. Great coffee (slightly darker), appealing cakes and extremely friendly baristas all inside a 21st century styled cafe.

Our Vietnamese Iced Lattes with espresso ice cubes. 

Next up, we are visiting the Allpress Roastery & Cafe in Tokyo!

Until then Happy Friday & Happy New Year Coffee Lovers! :)

- Sonya & Robin xoxo

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A Wanted Man Espresso

During our time scavenging and living in the wildly prestigious South West of London, we have come to realize that most affluent people as well as fashionistas have no sense in great tasting coffee. However, we’d like to give them the benefit of the doubt, as the area of Chelsea has absolutely zero amounts of specialty coffee pumping through its mentally busy King’s Road.

We’d love to take you on a tour to all the local hotspots that are best avoided (quit lining up for that free Waitrose coffee!), however today it’s all about ‘A Wanted Man Espresso’.

Desperately wanted on the King’s Road, this café opened only some five months ago sitting on the further end towards ‘World’s End’ opposite Paper Chase. It clearly would have been the end of the world if we had to go another day without proper coffee!

The café itself, which serves not only coffee & tea and a range of lunch specials is part of a three story business venture; comprised of a waxing parlor and brow bar with a roof top garden! A concept, which reminded us a lot of ‘A Loft Story’ in Newtown, Sydney.

Serving a decent cup of coffee in outlandish china, our flat whites were packed with punch and a pleasant acidity knocking us around the taste buds. One point of improvement could have been timing, as mine started to disintegrate (bubble) while Sonya’s was spot on.

The beans unlike most cafes in London were roasted by Singaporean roaster ‘Common Man Coffee Roasters’ paired up with a machine set up you’d expect to find around East London (EK43, Synesso Cyncra, Mythos One).

Therefore, if you are in desperate need of a caffeine fix or brow adjustment (you never know), go hit up ‘A Wanted Man Espresso’ and spread the word!

  Happy Saturday!

[happycoffeedays]

From Dunedin to Dalston

We're back in London coffee lovers and guess where our coffee hungry tummies have lead us this time? That's right, not only is it worth walking that extra mile for, but also cycling the whole eight point five from our doorstep to get to 55 Dalston Lane for great tasting coffee with that special something something. Hailing from beautiful New Zealand, it's Allpress Espresso!

With cafés and roasteries spanning all across the globe, Allpress here in London has moved the whole roasting and office bit from their Redchurch location to a whole new site in hipster central - Dalston :)

Yet fear not, if you live on the other side of the canal, Allpress on Redurch St is back with a vengeance to quench all of Shoreditch's thirst for black magic.

Up on Dalston Lane however, it's a totally different ball game. What used to be an old 1920s joinery is now cafe, roastery, training space, office, cupping and coffee lab aaaand...shall I go on?

To top off the cherry on the cake that's on a cake on top of the cherry...., a second cafe inside a cafe! It's espresso inception! What's more, the Allpress gang will also be pulling shots from an additional coffee cart outside in summer. 

This Friday afternoon on the other hand was your typical relaxed cup of joe kinda cafe day. We took advantage of the lovely seating upstairs and before we knew it had the entire first floor with a personal barista to ourselves :)

Before we'd go around the roastery for a peek behind the scenes however, we treated ourselves to Allpresss' five star cuisine. What follows next needs no words...only one hashtag; #foodporn :)

Paired up with a flattie, this spring onion pancake with fresh spinach and salmon garnished on top (and cucumber slices) will have you checking flights to NZ. Because where that came from, that's paradise!

Our roastery tour kicked off just below, between bean bags and four massive beehives filled with happy green beans. There's Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala and Sumatra that go into the Redchurch blend and it's absolute delish.

Standing pretty proud next to it is the Allpress A.R.T. roaster of which there are currently only two on this planet. The second one is gold, goes about Melbourne by the name of Beyoncé and is a true hot air roasting wonder like this dude. At least I think it's a dude :)

Cam, the kiwi head roaster was extremely kind to take the time and even talk us through one of the roasts of our favourite blend. Had we missed this "cycle" there would have been plenty more as they roast up to nineteen times a day! That's just as insane as Aunty Peg's roasting one ton of coffee a week!

On the other side of the roaster, Thomas from production was busy bagging up all the bungee jumping beans into three kilo bags. After their joy ride they would be put to rest, waiting to be ground up and turned into pure happiness. On a sunny day you might just catch the flicker of a rainbow dancing on your espresso...true story :)

Therefore, even if Allpress in Dalston may be a wee bit outside your travel zone should you live further west, it sure is worth the ride! An energetic team of baristas, good coffee, a delectable food menu and your usual laid back&friendly kiwi vibe; which says "come by for more than a good cuppa" is sure to welcome you with open arms as well!

 Thanks so much guys and see you next time!

 Happy Tuesday,

[happycoffeedays]

Chéz Maxwell

Sparkling in the early morning sun of Bath, was not only that moist and perfectly cut British gras; but also an entire arsenal of gilded tampers out-sparkling the gugu eyes of all the cute cats the Internet has on offer. Also, a couple of silver ones attended the party as well ;)

However, I'm not writing about Bath's local barista trophy whole seller I'm afraid, yet Maxwell Colonna Dashwood's very own espresso brew bar, namely 'Colonna&Small's'.

The guys behind this coffee venture, who also went exploring the misty mountains of capsule-manjaro quite recently, have set up the town's go-to place for great tasting coffee right here on Chapel Row.

Their offering of beans is one that even challenges the menus of London specialty coffee shops. All you really want to do is sit down at the counter and pick up one brew after the other from that imaginary conveyor belt carrying all those lovely coffees...if only this was a sushi bar *sigh*. From natural to washed, single origins as well as a whole array of cup of excellence beans; you won't leave without a proper caffeine shake.

Our only concern is that you might want to just have that Rawandan beauty "just" as a flattie, instead of four different ways (including a trip down siphon alley); becauuuuuuse it'll hit your wallet harder than the rising caffeine level in your blood stream. We know you want to treat those lovely beans to a bells and whistles brewing treatment, so if you're still reading, just have a peek at the menu on one of the tables before ordering :)

Other than that the coffee was as expected, brewing at its finest and definitely worth the extra cup-of-excellence-charge on top. The baristas are well trained, knew the coffee encyclopaedia inside-out and were simply brimming with enthusiasm. If you asked, I'm sure they could tell you who picked and processed those beans as well :)

Maxwell's machine of choice here is a Sanremo paired with an EK43, which consequently means; happy bean counting!

And that's about it from our trip to Bath and Bristol...

 Happy Monday coffee addicts :)

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Bath's Secret Coffee Society

Hidden away in a snug little passageway of shops, Society Café at The Corridor, stood out to us from the very first moment we scaled that doggone hill Bath sits on so comfortably.

With a mighty bone-chilling wind pushing us back down the hill again later on, we couldn't wait to continue where we had last left off with TAP. Ever since we washed ashore the white cliffs of Dover, our coffee shop ventures simply hadn't been the same. Yet today, it felt like our beanhunting fever just woke up from hibernation, ready to tackle the beautiful city of Bath.

So let's hit it! Society Cafe here we come :)

With a handcrafted bike mounted on the wall, a huffing and puffing two group linea pb steaming away and an overall inviting space; we hit the coffee liver hard and ordered three cuppas of the best flat whites they had :D. 

The cool beans, now swimming in our mugs, were roasted by local coffee roasters Round Hill Roastery and had a nice clean taste to them. Quite sweet and milky, yet it lacked a bit of horsepower; which usually knocks us around in the taste bud area and back into action.

The two lovely barista darlings Jane and Sophie, lifted the bonnet for us and revealed their recipe for our gorgeous flatties. Turns out Society fuelled our beverages with only 16g of ground coffee, instead of the usual 18g plus. I'm sure they only had the best intentions of treating us to a ristretto based flat white. Unfortunately, lowering the dose will only get you a much weaker coffee not a ristretto.

Anyhow, Coffee Hustle wisdom aside the gals were extremely friendly and the coffees we had just about hit the spot bang on. To find a hip and welcoming indie coffee shop like this outside of London meant a lot to us and also refuelled our energy to power walk it to our next hug in a mug.

Second and final stop, Maxwell's place! Or Colonna&Small's ;)

 Happy Monday!

[happycoffeedays]

Small St Coffee Heaven

Starting deliberately out of order with the coffee shops we’ve visited on our trip out west, Small St Espresso in Bristol has held their own and blown the rest out of the espresso cup :)

Even Maxwell’s trophy and coffee shop in Bath didn’t even come close. We don’t want to give away too much, but it’s not all about how many golden tampers attached to blocks of wood you have stacked in your shop window.

Katye and Jack from Small St on the other hand didn’t only pull that perfect shot of espresso, but also welcomed us and everyone else with open arms to their specialty coffee spa resort. 

The bare brick walls, pastries presented on chalkboards, the hole in the wall where an ATM used to live; it all added to that perfect indie coffee shop vibe. 

On top of that the two baristas do not only pour beautiful tulips on our flatties, but are also artists in disguise. What more could you ask for?

Due to the mouthwatering coffee menu with beans roasted by local Clifton Coffee Roasters, I didn’t only go for a flat white but also an espresso. And boy, was it delicious or what?!

Usually I find it rather tough to taste much once milk is added to espresso, yet this part 30% Ethiopian, 20% Burundian and 50% Colombian Clifton house blend had me on the edge of my seat. The espresso also with happy Colombian Clifton beans had me licking my cup clean! Hope you didn’t pop that straight back onto the machine Jack ;)

Therefore, should you ever find yourself on Small St in Bristol, be it Banksy hunting or tracking down a delectable cup of joe; do say Hi to barista ninjas Jack and Katye and have a coffee on us!

Happy Saturday!

[happycoffeedays]

TAP

Since our arrival in the capital early this March, we've had so much coffee around London, that we could fill another blog with it. There was also a moment of weakness and I can't highlight this enough, a complimentary flat white at Starbucks. Woopsy Daisy!

Sometimes we just didn't happen to have our camera on us or were so depresso, that all we wanted was to enjoy that hot cup of caffeinated comfort. But fear not! There are plenty of pics from the London Coffee Festival plus a few more reviews coming up soon.

For now, enjoy our trip down Wardour street :)

Formerly Tapped & Packed, now a succinct TAP is that one cafe in central London we can absolutely recommend to anyone! There are three in total, but so far it has always been the one in Soho.

It's not our first time at TAP here and lucky enough had our cameras with us and felt just like doing some good old time coffee shop hunting. Inside and past the tree stump, we paid the V60s on the pipe set-up company. Our flat whites were already in the making and Sonya was whizzing about with her camera snapping away.

The centre piece and most exciting part of this cafe is probably the giant Probat surrounded by green beans at the very back. It's the one thing you won't see in coffee shops around here unless it's Caravan or any other roastery/cafe such as Nude in Brick lane.

Coffee wise, those guys are totally consistent and today was like any other time - outstanding! Besides espresso of which they have three hoppers full, that is decaf, a blend and single origin, you may also chose from their generous filter menu. All of which is roasted right here :) 

Sitting at the trip station, I did also spy various grind settings; so it is possible that you can even get an aeropress or syphon at TAP.

The guys and gals are all pretty laid back around here, highly caffeinated and quite fun! The one barista in the Gingerella Tee even recognised us again.

It was great to be back :)

Happy Sunday!

[happycoffeedays]

Good Luck

World famous for their first rate coffee quality and creativity with everything roasted, we simply didn't dare miss out on Portland based Stumptown Coffee Roasters!

Located inside the Ace Hotel, it was basically on the way back to Chelsea where coffee should be better left alone :)

With a hankering of something on the sweet side, we decided to revisit that cappuccino flashback and go for one right then and there. Surprisingly enough they had two big espresso machines, however waiting time wasn't exactly cut in half. The coffee itself on the other hand was nothing short of Stumptown's excellent coffee making magic! The day was saved :)

Looking around, one will definitely leave this place happy with the amount of retail coffee these guys stock. Bummer though, that we are already dangerously close to hitting those twenty-three odd kilos!

 Overall, we were pretty satisfied with New York's still evolving bean scene and not too broken up about hearing of Blue Bottle Coffee’s Syphon bar a bit too late. Leaving NYC with one last good coffee at Stumptown was all we could have asked for.

 Cheers New York and happy Sunday!

[happycoffeedays]

South of Washington Square Park

Third Rail Coffee, was no.3 on our coffee shop hit list and about the only place in NYC that we had heard of before even jetting over to Australia. For one of our early coffee inspired food photography projects, it was Mike Jones who let us believe that we could possibly pour a straightforward and dead simple heart. What he nor we knew, was that it's virtually impossible with a manual milk frother :)

With flashbacks of 80s style cappuccinos passing before our eyes, we entered into a snug little coffee shop on 240 Sullivan Street - Third Rail Coffee.

Our love for this little coffee shop grew even stronger when we walked past the exposed brick wall, which showed off some magnificent New York photography, up to the counter where we would meet coffee champ Carlos. 

He was a tad shy as soon as he spied Sonya's massive lens, yet had his picture taken all the same in the end.

Even though Mike Jones had moved on to possibly shoot YouTube videos for different coffee shops, the coffee at Third Rail was out of this world. And that's about all you'd want to get here - coffee :) For anyone with a sweet tooth however, we also spotted some muffins and pastries. A classic coffee shop!

With a list of plenty more shops to visit (kudos to Carlos), let's see where we are headed next.

Happy Sunday!

[happycoffeedays]

Small, Smaller, Little Collins

Continuing down the bean trail of Aussie cafés in Manhattan our next caffeine top-up would have to come from Midtown's Little Collins. Dishing out a proper avo mash on toast that would give any Australian shaky knees, Little Collins even got you covered in the Vegemite department :)

At first glance, it all feels like a busy little box with no space for more than your closest relatives and maybe that cat of yours, but obviously it is the quality of coffee that matters.

One of the baristas, looking like he was on his way to the barista championships took my order, however couldn't quite wrap his head around my magic. A bit disappointing given that they’re an Aussie cafe, wouldn't you think?

So without even giving it a shot like previous coffee shops we've visited, he didn't even bother with my magic and only put us down for one flat white. Unbiased towards what we’ve been presented with, we tried it all the same, yet did not at all feel like high-fiving the baristas.

On top of that, as soon as our thorough coffee analysis had reached a final vote, one cheeky customer was already enquiring about our seats. Not at all the relaxed coffee experience we were hoping for!

By and large, I'm sure New Yorkers love Little Collins for their avo mash as well as decent cup of coffee; however it is sad to say that Little Collins was simply not for us.

Happy Saturday!

[happycoffeedays]

An Aussie café in Manhattan

Leaving the moderate temperatures of a ten degree Vancouver behind us, we had more than a hard time acclimating to temperatures way below zero. With frostbite at our heels and icicles forming below our noses we sought shelter the coming day in one of many New York's mushrooming Aussie cafes. This one is named after Melbourne's cobblestones - Bluestone Lane.

Before the warm embrace of coffee would smother our senses we even passed Toby's Estate from now far far away Sydney and even a surf gear slash coffee shop, how weird?!

Inside the very blue looking cafe, it would have been impossible to swing a beanbag without hitting the barista right in front of you or the coffee geeks to either side. It was literally packed, so it was that one of the friendly staff led us through a passageway into the back of the cafe.

A nice mix of Tycho was playing in the background while we studied the highly Australian influenced coffee menu. With (wait for it) my magic on it! :) And what a magic it was! In spite of the lack of latte art, it was the best coffee we've had after Revolver and Timbertrain in Vancouver. That coffee was all we needed to keep us going and beat that raging snowstorm out there.

Our only gripe with the seating in the back of the cafe was the constant traffic of staff entering and exiting the door to our very right, which let in a lot of the cold air again. Shudder!

Other than that, Bluestone Lane is definitely worth checking out for either your regular brew or maybe even a magic...

Happy Wednesday!