Meanwhile in the West...
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It is the home to Banksy, Stephen Merchant, Massive Attack and Wallace and Gromit, it has the balloon fiesta, the Old Vic, the street art festival, the Tobacco Factory, Thekla, the Suspension Bridge and the steepest residential street in Europe. Bristol is cool and it knows it, it doesn't even have to try. In essence, Bristol has it all. But does it have good coffee? That's what I came here to investigate.
My first stop was at Small Street Espresso (@SmallStEspresso) and I wasn't disappointed. Friendly atmosphere, delicious ginger snaps and coffee to die for! I loved the decor too, their coffee machine is colour-coordinated with the coffee cups, exposed brick work dominates the place displaying quirky coffee menus and the book shelf is filled with coffee gadgets and numerous publications on the art of coffee. I realised, Bristol treats its coffee seriously.
I then wandered over to Full Court Press (@FCPCoffee) for some more coffee extravaganza.
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| Lovely stained-glass window as a centre-piece |
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| Serving coffee with a smile |
I was greeted with a smile and a question: 'How do you normally drink your coffee?' I knew I was in safe hands when I looked up at the long coffee menu entitled 'Espresso'. I was told that FCP normally have about 8 blends from different roasters so you can explore new flavours and choose the coffee according to your mood...We tried two of them: Colombian Villa Esperanza from the local Clifton Coffee Co. (@cliftoncoffee) which reminded us of a Portuguese white wine we had the other evening: fresh and crisp, with a green apple after taste and a Tanzanian Ruvuma AAA from Caravan (@CaravanRoastery) with milk: an absolute treat, making us feel warm and happy, just as if we were softly tucked into bed and surrounded by fluffy pillows.
I'm not easily impressed but the two Bristol spots have definitely reinforced my belief that there are some exquisite flavours and people passionate about coffee outside of London. Good on you Bristol, you really do have it all!
I'm glad to see you've discovered Bristol and Small St Espresso/FCP. These are two of my favourite coffee shops anywhere in the country :-) However, Bristol's got a lot more to offer to the coffee enthusiast and can make a good claim to be England's second city of coffee behind London. You should go west more often :-)
ReplyDeleteBrian.
I totally agree, I'm considering relocation :)
DeleteWhile these two places are now getting all the reviews, other places like the Workhouse Cafe (Perry Road), Didn't We do Well? (Park Row), and Mocha Mocha (St Michael's Hill) all definitely deserve a mention as single store independents; I have yet to try Joe's on Whiteladies Road, and the ubiquitous Boston Tea Party are a chain that (as far as I know) have not reached the capital quite yet.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that Nigel, added to the fast-growing list. I'm a big fan of the Boston Tea Party, the one on Park St is my favourite breakfast spot in Bristol.
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