Weymouth

[CakeBoy]

I am posting this on behalf of a somewhat (justifiably so) excited Breako who has just called me from outside the chip shop on Weymouth harbour (authentic seagull background noise as well).

He has found a decent place for espresso and wanted it posted asap in case other TMC'ers get to sunny Weymouth (and it is very much so he says, with clear blue skies) before he can get online to tell everyone himself.

Anyway, I digress (touch of the Ronnie Corbetts you know ). The aforementioned espresso was had from the Weymouth Dive Centre on the far side of the harbour. For anyone interested, look for the Lifeboat and head straight for it. The RNLI shop is right by the mooring and the Diving Centre is a few doors away. You can't miss it because it sells a rather odd mixture of ice cream, drinks, sweets and diving gear - all out of a shop and a hatch facing the harbourside. Excellent

Matt ordered a double for a very reasonable £1.60 (a single was £1.10) and said it was a 25 second God shot with dark brown crema. He asked about the beans and it seems they use Costa (which I always find to be fine if pulled properly). In the name of science, Matt is bravely returning tomorrow to see if they can repeat the quality and to see if they are barista specific with their shots.

Also of interest, Matt reports having a somewhat over extracted quad (he asked for a double and as that is their standard, he was served a double double as it were) in a cafe/tea shop called "Pooh Corner". He thought the beans had potential aside of the over extraction and enquired, only to be surprised that they were serving Indian Mysore SO. Cool - shame the shots were off

Meanwhile, the French Press is not quite hitting the spot and it looks as though I might be ordering an Aerobie to be sent on to Breako Boy so that he can salvage the rest of his holiday

Well that is the update from the "Breako does Weymouth" situation

[espressomattic]

Well reporting back after an exhausting holiday!!

As my partmer in crime has told you all, i have indeed found GOOD coffee in Weymouth. Cakey has superbly described my first time at the Dive Centre. Well I visited on several more occassions, fortunatly i made good the excuse of combining taking my daughter rabbing and the prospect of an indulgent ice cream to sample the coffee wares. The shots were blindingly consistent. Quite simply the best coffee I have tasted from anywhere that sells the stuff.

What really struck me was the lack of a rusheven when a que was forming. The chap 9never got his name) was well laid back and just did what he did. For each shot he only ground off direct into the PF from a huge Ibertial grinder, good firm tamp, pre heated a shot glass and then poured the shot and decanted into a takeaway cup. My words to Cakey were 'I have just had a God Shot' and I tell no lie it was just great!!! So that is THE OLD HARBOUR DIVING CENTRE 11a NOTHE PARDADE WEYMOUTH HARBOUR. Apparently he has already had customers saying they saw the coffee reccommended on a website, so it all gets noticed folks!!!

But my mission did not stop there. There is a small establishment called Poohs Corner and is a delightful English Restuarant (Corking Breakfast BTW ) Anyway I ordered a double only to find out the standard serving was a double, so I got a quad. It looked a little over extracted, but still had good crema. In the cup it tasted a little acidic but mellow and i couldn't put my finger on what it was, not unpleasent just different. As Cakey has said it turns out they use a Mysore roasted in Weymouth. They have fresh roasted once a week. The mysore was actually good. I have tried and failed with this bean, so ws shocked to see them pull it off!!! They really like their coffee and appreciate fresh beans as well. They were delighted to talk about coffee and were chuffed that I would be giving them mention. I had successive shots and they were all good. So that is POOHS CORNER, WEYMOUTH CENTRE, NOT FAR FROM THE BRIDGE ON THE BEACH SIDE. £1.50 a shot

Another little bistro was called MUFFINS. Coffee supplied by brian Wogans in Bristol. Very good shots, very fresh and just damned good! Owner loved talking coffee and was interested to hear about home roasting. A bit pricey, £1.60 a shot, £2 a double, but still up there. MUFFINS 1a ST ALBANS ST WEYMOUTH.

Also bought some roasted coffee from a small cafe who I won't mention because the brewed coffee was awful. The Coffee was fresh roasted from Cafe Rico in Weymouth and was their Italian Blend. Very nice and clean and good through an Aerobie

Finally a surpise from Winchester....WEST CORNWALL PASTY Co. MAIN ST WINCHESTER. Great double, again on the ball.

So there you go folks. There is great coffee out there. The one thing that struck me was that these places do not set themselves up as speciality coffee shops, but just do damn good coffee and that really appeals to me. I am going to send the Diving Centre some HB stuff soon by way of thanks for the great, and I mean GREAT coffee.

Matt