I love to explore new cities and hunt out the best specialty coffee shops. My friends and family like to joke that I have a spreadsheet and/or Google Map in every port. This is not quite true but as I work full time, I obsessively research every trip to make the most of the limited time I have in each city or country. I am happiest when I can combine coffee and travel with writing and share my favourite places with other people — hence this blog.
My passion for travel dates back to my childhood — my mum commented in her diary that I was a great traveller when I was only 18 months old! I used to read travel guidebooks while eating breakfast every morning and I created my first guide of my own using MS Publisher (the Canva of the '90s) when I was eight. It showcased the best attractions Cataland — yes, Cataland, an island nation ruled by cats — had to offer kitties feline the need for a holiday! My love of coffee came later but is just as big a part of my life now, especially when I can pair it with travel. You can read more about my specialty coffee journey in this feature in Coffee T&I Magazine.
Outside of my coffee travels, I enjoy running, eating out, reading, watching films, quizzes and cryptic crosswords, learning languages (I studied linguistics at the University of Cambridge) and listening to Suede and The National. I also love watching football — I'm a lifelong fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC and play Fantasy Premier League (my highest rank is 6,900th in the world).
Photography
I take all of the photos on this blog unless otherwise stated; photos of me are taken by friends, family or self-timer. If you would like to use any of my photos, please contact me first to ask permission.
Currently, my primary camera is the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III, whose picture quality belies its compact size, and which I mainly use with a 12-45 mm F4 PRO compact zoom lens and a 20 mm F1.4 PRO prime lens. I also still take many photos on my excellent compact Canon G7 X Mark II and my iPhone 15 Pro.
My photography has featured in numerous national and international online and print publications, including Time Out London, Time Out New York, CN Traveller, Time Out Amsterdam, New York Magazine (and here), USA Today, Business Insider, Londonist, BoingBoing, NME, Rolling Stone, Daily Coffee News, B-EAT Magazin (Germany) and Le Nouvel Obs. One of my photos also currently appears as the lead image on the Wikipedia page for coffee (and no, I didn't add it!). Check out my Flickr portfolio for more of my photography.
Coffee
I have acquired a lot of coffee-making kit over the years but at present, I mainly use an Aeropress, a Kōno Meimon dripper, a Hario V60 and a Sage Barista Express espresso machine to brew, a Made by Knock Aergrind and a Wilfa Svart grinder to grind, and a Fellow Stagg EKG kettle to pour.My blog header currently features (L) Five Elephant in Kreuzberg, Berlin, and (R) Jacob the Angel in Covent Garden, London.
In September 2024, I *finally* caved and started spelling 'specialty coffee' thusly. I'm in the process of updating more than 12 years of blog posts so please bear with me if you spot any inconsistencies in the meantime.
Work with me
If you are interested in collaborating with me or work with a brand or coffee- or travel-related business that you think would be a good fit with the content of my blog and of interest to my readers, please email me on doubleskinnymacchiato [at] gmail [dot] com. Have blog, will travel! ;) Please note that I am not accepting guest posts for publication on my blog at this time; I write and edit all of the content myself.Support my blog
If you enjoy the coffee and travel content I share on Double Skinny Macchiato and find it useful, please consider buying me a coffee to support my blog.
Disclaimer
I occasionally receive free products and services for review purposes, in which case, I will always disclose this. The decision to write reviews or feature products or services, and the opinions in any reviews I do write, are always purely my own.Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. This means that if you click through and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you (thank you for supporting my blog!). Double Skinny Macchiato is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.