Too Much Coffee

Hi,

I'm visiting York next week (14-16 Jul) and looking for any suggestions on where I can find a good coffee.

We'll be staying at a hotel in the city, so preferably somewhere central where I can top up my morning caffeine levels without travelling too far.

There is a chance we'll be venturing a little further .... so I might just point the car in the general direction of Scarborough and give 'Roasters' visit !

Thanks

give this place a try-

http://www.visityork.org/thedms.asp?dms ... ue=1502567

Many Thanks .... thats pretty close to the hotel.

It's actually the one somebody told be about, but I couldn't remember the name and googling 'coffee' and 'york' didn't turn up anything that sounded familiar. Thanks for the link.


Al

BazBean wrote:give this place a try-

http://www.visityork.org/thedms.asp?dms ... ue=1502567

BazBean,

Thanks for the suggesting the Harlequin.
I've just got back from 3 days in York and even though we had a busy time, I managed 2 visits.
The owner (Gordon) and his wife were really friendly and very helpful. We were served some great coffee, topped with latte art and tried a selection of his espresso blends ....... Luckily (for me) he was quiet enough to have a good chat and he gave me a few pointers on where I'm going wrong with my rosettas !


During our visit, we also had a trip out to Scarborough and dropped into one of your shops.
Where we found a coffee shop with a great athmosphere, very welcoming staff and of course some great coffee.
I managed a chat with Duncan, (who I was very impressed with).
A very friendly guy who knows his coffee, knows his customers and made us feel very welcome.

.............. In short, we've had a few days break where we've drunk some wonderful coffee, talked with some very friendly people who are passionate about their coffee and come back fully enthused and ready to get back to work in the morning !

Al

Glad you had an enjoyable time Al
and thanks for the wonderfull comments
would have been nice to meet up but as you may have heard I was away for a couple of days myself ( blown my cover there, I tell everyone here how hard I work you see ..lol).

popped for a quick visit to the Lake district had some misserable coffee except for a place in Kendal were I stumpled upon a place called The Orange Square (I think).

the blend was not too my likes persay, but the extraction and effort were great !! they had just had a horrible session with humidity and grinder alteration but had it just about nailed.

I usually comment and espress a posative comment to the guys behing the counter but felt a little uneasy as I did not want to get into the nitty gritty of the coffee itself.

still on reflection I wish i had said something about the Barista skills...
just struck me ?.they might have a website? off to drop a line

BazBean wrote:popped for a quick visit to the Lake district had some misserable coffee except for a place in Kendal were I stumpled upon a place called The Orange Square (I think). ......

the blend was not too my likes persay, but the extraction and effort were great !! they had just had a horrible session with humidity and grinder alteration but had it just about nailed. ...

still on reflection I wish i had said something about the Barista skills...
just struck me ?.they might have a website?

Is this the place? Looks pretty good to me.

Hi Kaz

same company , different location.. the site mentions a new bar opening in Kendal so this musy have been the one we visited..
obviously doing well opening another site.

It's taken an age to join so apologies for the delay in responding. Thks Bazbean for you kind suggestion and MrG for those kind words it makes it worth while that people will travel for great coffee. You tried the Honduras COE and Bolivia COE both from hasbean and both must tries monster single estates

I was in york for a night (first time in york, its a gorgeous place, well worth a visit!) on my way back from Edinburgh and popped into Harlequin. I had a couple of great shots and a good chat to Gordon. It has a wonderful atmosphere, and its nice to find a cafe that doesn't updose quite so much like some of the others. The Harlequin espresso blend is lovely too, I brought a bag back with me, unfortunately I dont think it will last long!

Gordon also mentioned a new take away place in an old round hut next to the bridge near the train station thats only been open a week. I couldn't take anymore caffeine so soon so unfortunately I had to walk past. Sounds like its worth a visit though.

Thanks for those kind words you fall into the 1 in 10 category.

FYI you had the de lujo blend from hasbean and our house blend consists of Brazil Inglaterra Acaia, Ethiopia Zege Lake Tana and Rwanda Murambi Bourbon. 18 g for a double, 92 dgrees, hard tamp, and change grind to hit 25secs then knock off at 22-23 secs

Cheers G

As this thread about my beautiful home town has just started up again, I just wanted to agree with all the good things about Harlequin. In my opinion Gordon serves by far the best coffee in York and the surrounding area. And he's a lovely guy and also makes great sarnies and tea! Gordon... are you blushing yet?

I also have to mention Coffee Culture (not for the coffee purist but just a fantasticly charming and friendly spot), and an interesting place called Gatehouse Coffee, also full of charm with Union Handroasted coffee and baristas who know their stuff.

Gordon, what's this new takeaway place? I'll have to check it out.

Some more stuff about York's coffee shops... http://www.cosycoffeeshops.co.uk/cgi-bi ... udeBlogs=1

I have been to York for the last few days and just happened across this coffee shop (Harlequin) in Kings Square. The coffee was first class ( it was Hasbeans and his own blend) and when I commented it was so much better than I could make Gordon the owner presumably offered for me to come back for some instruction later in the day.
He was true to his word and his passion for coffee showed through, he must have spent half an hour or more showing me the ropes on his commercial machine it was most enlightening. Anyway all I can say is if you're in the area give it a try.
Gaz
nice cakes and tea too

Cafe Harlequin is a lovely place run by lovely people! I was in York a couple of weeks back, and having met Gordon and his wife (very) briefly at the UKBC was planing to re-introduce myself just to say hi. No need! As soon as I walked in was greated with warm handshakes and espresso before I even sat down - my wife seriously thought I had called ahead! We both had a super lunch and I one of those near perfect shots (hasbean harlequin blend) where you just know it extracted just right - no wonder he beat me!

It's taken me a while to get around to saying this!

I made a trip up to York a couple of months back now to try coffee. I spent a few hours with Nicola in The Perky Peacock. I had a great time chatting and drinking some lovely coffee (house blend from HasBean) - espresso, machiatto and filter.

Nicola and I had chatted on twitter, so she knew I was coming. Gordon at Harlequin didn't have the warning - I just turned up. I just intended to try a few coffees, but Gordon came over and we got chatting... Gordon was incredibly generous with time and information - I got loads of insight and lots of coffee ideas, and had a truly wonderful afternoon. I'm sure I came across as a bit weird - sorry Gordon, I actually am quite weird, but I was also rather overwhelmed by the attention and kindness (and over caffeinated too ).

I'm not overstating this - my visit to York was one I will remember fondly for years to come because Nicola and Gordon were just so welcoming, generous, kind, knowledgeable, and down-right lovely It also reaffirmed my experiences over the last couple of years - the people I've met through coffee have been more open, welcoming, friendly, kind, generous and enthusiastic than anything else I have ever been interested in.

As you might tell, just trying to put it into words my York visit experience has put a smile on my face. If you're in York, try these shops. If you're not in York, find an excuse to visit York