Coffee Appreciation

Was down in Brighton this morning signing lease on new place.

Found 'Coffee at 33' - small but lots of seating around the edge. I doubt I'd be able to do any work in there except in an emergency. But the coffee was good. As were pastries. Great sandwich selection too.. Bit pricey but nice. Monmouth beans. Friendly enough staff. I've yet to see 'Toast of Brighton' (the place right below my flat open) which ties in with the rumours that it's shutting. This suits me as I'm still giving serious thought to taking over the lease and writing in the evenings and trying to launch a cycle cafe downstairs. Unfortunately it's 20 feet from Coffee at 33 on one side and 20 feet from a bike shop called Velo Velocity on the other.

^ You serious?

THE DREAM :D

Defo. And the people I'd be living with are game - just depends A. if/when it becomes available and B. that little thing called learning how to run a cafe (particularly if I'm trying to fit other fairly intensive writing work around it.)

Look Mum - next to sea

Well you'd be keeping Brighton on that "generally a couple of years behind London in all things" continuum so I think you'll be a massive success and you'll get a bit of warning if LMNH suddenly fold.

^ It's an odd phenomenon that. Just pottering around today it was absolutely that - things just springing up now that you saw a couple of years ago up here.

It's not something I'd like to do for ever but I think it'd be very satisfying for a while.

When I lived there, for halfway decent coffee you had Red Rooster. Which isn't even any good. Now it's like being in Clerkenwell.

sets phaser to "sue"

Anybody know anywhere in the northwest that does a good cafe con leche? Not sure of its absolute specifics besides it's a 1:1 ratio, and where I had it in Barcelona it was in a small cup. The coffee shop just outside Manchester Oxford Road do them but it came in a mahoosive bowl and wasn't really what I wanted.

Am Liverpool based but don't dare go into Bold St Coffee/Duke St Espresso for fear of hipsters flicking the cards at me they were storing in their spokes (just realised what forum I'm on...)

There was a coffee shop called Green Calderon which did a great flat white. Just closed though, unfortunately.

sets phaser to "sue"

Tried a couple of of th Has Bean bolivians last week or so but couldn't get on with them. Just too much going on, not bad, just not for me.

Bought some Redchurch blend from Allpress yesterday and whilst it is less unusual, it tastes more like coffee, which is what I am after sometimes.

Anybody know anywhere in the northwest that does a good cafe con leche? Not sure of its absolute specifics besides it's a 1:1 ratio, and where I had it in Barcelona it was in a small cup. The coffee shop just outside Manchester Oxford Road do them but it came in a mahoosive bowl and wasn't really what I wanted.

Am Liverpool based but don't dare go into Bold St Coffee/Duke St Espresso for fear of hipsters flicking the cards at me they were storing in their spokes (just realised what forum I'm on...)

There was a coffee shop called Green Calderon which did a great flat white. Just closed though, unfortunately.

Go with Bold St / Duke St, they make a great cuppa coffee.

Would people recommend the Gaggia Classic as a good first machine?

I have the opportunity to buy one in like new condition for £100, but my mother (who has had a number of coffee machines) is suggesting that buying a coffee machine without any sort of warranty is unwise?

Get the Gaggia, it is very serviceable (unless like me you round out one of the allen bolts) and fantastic for the money.

There are a plethora of forums/instructables on line about how to do absolutely everything with it and it's a very simple machine.

Anyone fancy drilling out a bolt for me??

Yeah, the classic is the go to at anywhere around that price band.

You buy bike stuff second hand right?

GO FOR IT.

^^^ = ^ & ^^

Thank you. Seller is mailed. Should hopefully be in my hands by the end of the week.

Where's the best place for coffee as near as possible to Chancery Lane?

Where's the best place for coffee as near as possible to Chancery Lane?

Prufrock
Dept of Coffee and Social Affairs

Prufrock, leather lane.

DoCaSa doesn't do brewed coffee if that's what you're after.

Prufock it is, awesome. I usually have a double espresso, but knowing nothing else to choose between them, I'd rather go to Prufock anyway because Dep't for Coffee and Social Affairs is a particularly stupid name.

Good call, the espresso is better too IMHO. Last time I was there they had a guest espresso blend from Ritual in SF which was interesting.

Nice, didn't realise they had guest espresso blends. I found ritual to be a bit meh but if they can source some Sightglass from SF I'll be all over it like a rash.

For what it's worth, I give Prufock 8 out of 10.

Good points: delicious espresso, great looking cakes, interesting tall bike in window.
Bad points: full of hipsters, cakes were too expensive to actually buy, no bike stand outside, no comfy chairs and too busy - not a place you'd want to spend an afternoon.

But the coffee was awesome :)