Coffee Subscription Review: The Local Coffee Club

Last autumn, I was excited to try out a new-to-me coffee subscription service. The idea behind The Local Coffee Club is that each month, they will send you a carefully selected bag of coffee from a roaster that is local to you. Currently, they have subscriptions for Bristol and Bath, London, Scotland and South Wales subscription — and an 'everywhere' option in case the service isn't yet in an area near you.

Eight Speciality Coffee Shops To Visit in Chiang Mai

After Bangkok, my next step was Chiang Mai, the largest city in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai province and its neighbour, Chiang Rai, are also some of Thailand's biggest Arabica coffee growing regions so I was looking forward to enjoying even more Thai-grown coffee than in Bangkok. The city also has a very well established speciality coffee scene and I knew I wouldn't have much need for my Aeropress while I was in town. During my stay, I visited excellent eight coffee shops — some of which were already on my list, others I spotted during my wanderings — but I spotted many more that I'd have loved to have visited if I had more time.

Nine Speciality Coffee Shops To Visit in Bangkok

My main holiday this year was a very long-awaited trip to Thailand. I spent two wonderful weeks in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the Andaman Islands and I'll be blogging about each of these destinations over the next few weeks. First up is my speciality coffee guide to Bangkok, a city that has some seriously impressive — and beautiful — coffee spots.

The NYC Caffeine Chronicles: Autumn 2023 Update

Last week, I was back in New York for an epic birthday celebration. We had so many activities planned — of which more to follow soon! — that I didn't have as much time for coffee shop exploration, but with five full days in NYC, I didn't do too badly. We were staying next to Grand Central Station in Midtown East, so I was able to visit a few coffee shops there. And I also enjoyed stopping by some new-to-me speciality coffee spots further downtown, including one that has to have the most unique name ever for a coffee shop. Read on to find out more!

New York: A (28-Year) Love Story

Today, I’m New York bound once more on a long-awaited family trip to mark a milestone birthday for me. It will be my 33rd visit to the Big Apple since my first in 1995. Feeling nostalgic, I dove into my NYC archives, trawling through my old diaries (until 2006), blog posts (from 2007) and photo albums (digital and predigital — a big thank you to my parents for their help with the earlier years).

The Brighton Caffeine Chronicles: Dharma Specialty Coffee

I've been spending more time in Brighton over the past year since some of my family moved down that way. I haven't had the chance to do a full speciality coffee update yet — check out my mini-guide from 2020 — but I have been able to visit Dharma Specialty Coffee in Brighton's North Laine. In fact, I liked it so much, I've returned several times and had an enjoyable experience each time.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Colonna & Small's, Leather Lane

Colonna & Small's has long been one of my favourite speciality coffee shops in the UK and I stop by every time I visit Bath for a coffee and to stock up on beans. I was thrilled to hear that Maxwell and Lesley Colonna-Dashwood were opening a second coffee shop a little closer to (my home). It finally opened on Leather Lane in Clerkenwell earlier this month and — spoiler alert — it's just as wonderful as the Bath original!

The Oxford Caffeine Chronicles: NewGround Coffee, Ship Street

It's always great when a favourite coffee shop breaks new ground...especially when that coffee shop is Oxford's NewGround, where social responsibility meets superb coffee. I visit their Headington roastery most times I'm back in Oxford and now they have a shiny new café and wine bar in the city centre.

Eight Speciality Coffee Spots To Visit in Glasgow

Glasgow has been on my to-visit list for some time — as a destination for both a city break and a speciality coffee tour. I recently spent a long weekend there with my mum and was able to explore the vibrant and diverse speciality coffee scene of Scotland's largest city. Read on to find out more about the coffee shops and roasteries I visited on my trip. As usual, my very favourites are marked with an asterisk and have purple icons in my map below. Stay tuned for a separate post about all the other things we got up to during our stay in Glasgow. 

A Caffeinated Weekend Itinerary for Birmingham

Welcome to my guide to spending a perfect — and perfectly caffeinated — weekend in Birmingham. My entire family is from the West Midlands but I didn't spend a lot of time in Birmingham growing up. I've been remedying this in recent years — often when passing through en route to Wolverhampton Wanders matches. On these stops, I usually prioritise speciality coffee and food (in that order) but a long weekend in Brum a few months ago inspired me to put together this itinerary. Read on for industrial heritage, quirky museums and plenty of great places for food and coffee — and there's a map and downloadable one-page cheatsheet at the end!

How To Spend a Day in Cannes for €50

Planning a French vacation on a budget? Cannes probably isn't the first destination that springs to mind. The Euro cents soon add up in the glamorous French Riviera city known for its Film Festival premieres and parties, designer shops and glitzy beachfront hotels. But it is perfectly possible to experience some of the best of what Cannes has to offer — from beautiful beaches, history, culture and, of course, delicious food — without breaking the bank. 

A Caffeinated Walk from Broadstairs to Margate

When planning my recent day trip to the Kent Coast, I had earmarked two new-to-me speciality coffee spots to visit: Forts in Margate...and its sister location in Broadstairs. Better still, I could walk from one Forts to the other by following the Viking Coastal Trail along the beach. And because good things come in threes, I was also excited to pay a visit to Curve Coffee Roasters, an old favourite of mine, which had moved to a new location since I was last in Margate.

How To Spend a Perfect Day in Margate and Broadstairs

I made the most of the sunshine on Saturday by heading to the coast — more specifically, to the Kentish towns of Margate and Broadstairs. I was much too late to find any available accommodation in Margate (Fort Road Hotel would have been my top choice) but thanks to the high-speed trains, you can pack in a lot on a day trip. Read on for my one-day Margate and Broadstairs itinerary, including a walk along the Viking Coastal Trail and other things to do and places to eat, drink and shop.

Four Speciality Coffee Shops To Visit in Madeira

By the time May rolled around, I was in serious need of a break and some sunshine. The Portuguese island of Madeira has been on my to-visit list for several years and I took advantage of the extra public holiday for the Coronation to book in a trip. I'll be sharing my Madeira travel guide soon but in the meantime, here are some of the speciality coffee spots I visited while I was there.

The Caffeine Chronicles: % Arabica, Spitalfields

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll know that I've visited a fair few speciality coffee shops over the past 16 years. Many of these cafes have been beautifully and thoughtfully designed. But the new branch of % Arabica in Spitalfields really takes the cake (canelé, perhaps) with its stunning coffee bar. If you enjoy the works of Yayoi Kusama, you'll probably feel at home here.

The Birmingham Caffeine Chronicles: Perch Bakery

Perch Bakery is a beautiful new cafe in Birmingham that serves speciality coffee, creative brunch dishes and exquisite pastries. I indulged in all three of these when I paid a visit to Perch en route to Wolverhampton on Saturday and I was very impressed.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Batch Baby

While wandering home from Stoke Newington recently, I made a pit stop at Batch Baby, a unique and welcoming coffee shop in Haggerston that puts filter coffee — including batch brew, of course — front and centre.

The Birmingham Caffeine Chronicles: Quarter Horse, Jewellery Quarter

“Oh, that’s where we got our wedding rings,” my mum said when I told her which Birmingham neighbourhood I’d visited on Saturday. That made a lot of sense given that it was the Jewellery Quarter but these days you’re as likely to find coffee rings as wedding rings — especially if you drop into Quarter Horse’s new espresso bar.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Nagare Coffee

Sometimes a new speciality coffee shop opens that just has it all: warm hospitality, beautiful design, a relaxed atmosphere and, of course, excellent coffee. Nagare Coffee, which opened in Spitalfields at the end of January, lives up to all of these, and both of my visits so far have been a pleasure.

Bex's Coffee and Food Awards: 2022 Edition

As 2022 draws to a close, it's time for the 12th edition of my annual speciality coffee and food awards, where I share my favourite coffee shops and eateries from among all of those that I visited for the first time this year. Over the past few years, I've tweaked the geographical boundaries of some awards to reflect my travel schedule, which has changed somewhat as a result of COVID.