Micro-Chains: the Worst of Both Worlds or a Brilliant Business Strategy?

Micro-Chains: the Worst of Both Worlds or a Brilliant Business Strategy?

I once wrote a post on my blog about the idea of ‘fifth wave coffee’, back at the time when I was actually working in management at a company who fell into this category. Therefore, when looking back over it quite recently, I realised that I subconsciously leaned over to its favourable side, when actually my true beliefs aren't all that rosey. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t going to be a post which just sits down and slates the concept of micro-chain coffee shops and how terr
The Birmingham Coffee Festival, 2018.

The Birmingham Coffee Festival, 2018.

Alrighty - one of my favourite events of the coffee calendar has recently come and gone, and needless to say I’m here to tippety-tap away and tell you all about it. Guessed what it is yet? I’d be slightly worried if you hadn’t - it is in the title of this blog post after all. Yep, the Birmingham Coffee Festival was in town! Triple yays all round with an extra double shot of yay on top! Location + Event Space This year's Birmingham Coffee Festival was situated in the Custard F

The War of the Cappuccinos.

Sounds like a spoofy horror/thriller movie, doesn't it? Haha - no, I'm talking about what is a huge differentiation between the 'cappuccinos', especially when you look at them between the major chains next ot the speciality shops. This is largely due to the chains being inspired from an Italian heritage, where the cappuccino is a very frothy drink to be enjoyed in the morning. Speciality, instead, focuses more on the texturing of milk in a way which a) produces aesthetically
Slow Brew Club x Bumble Coffee Workshop | An Evening Out in Manchester

Slow Brew Club x Bumble Coffee Workshop | An Evening Out in Manchester

An evening spent at Porter and Cole in Manchester, exploring slow brew coffee methods and exploring the Bumble Bizz app.
Sexism in the Coffee Industry.

Sexism in the Coffee Industry.

Oh, I'm going there today. I'm in a down-n-out mood today, so probably shouldn't be touching upon any hardcore topics at the moment, but this is way too much of a serious and important topic to cover. And it's something which is brushed off and overlooked for the most part, which is very scary. However, before we get into this, I want to emphasise that, like many sexist parts of an industry, this does not affect everyone and anyone who is a part of the coffee industry. If you
Confessions of a Specialty Barista #2: Good coffee first, latte art second please.

Confessions of a Specialty Barista #2: Good coffee first, latte art second please.

Working in both the blogosphere and specialty coffee industry I don't go even a day usually without seeing extravagantly decorated lattes in my face. There's swans left right and centre, as well as a constant race to try and put as many 'layers' as possible on their tulip's flat white. However, more often than none I'm left sipping what is a relatively mediocre cup of 'specialty' coffee and thinking...when did espresso theory start to come second to making instagram-friendly
Vanilla Black, Kennington.

Vanilla Black, Kennington.

And you know what, working on the border of Vauxhall/Kennington has its perks, as all of this has been given to me through the ever-amazing coffee shop that is Vanilla Black. I first became acquainted with Vanilla Black after they started following me on Instagram a while back. From then on I thought their aesthetic of the place was absolutely gorgeous, and definitely my kind of coffee shop if I ever wished to open one in the future. Until I started working in the area, howev
Birmingham Coffee Festival 2017

Birmingham Coffee Festival 2017

Ah, Birmingham. I grew up there you know? Well, I didn’t - I actually grew up in Worcestershire. However, it’s a helluva lot more easier to say I’m from Birmingham where people actually know is a place (although are hilariously still unsure of its whereabouts!) rather than saying i’m from a place which receives the response of ‘oh, like the sauce’? Birmingham was home to the first ever coffee shop I worked in, and I look back fondly at my 16 year old self who thought they wer
Confessions of a Speciality Barista #1: Coffee Notes Don’t Mean Much to the Average Person (Or in th

Confessions of a Speciality Barista #1: Coffee Notes Don’t Mean Much to the Average Person (Or in th

I’m starting this confessional series off with a very controversial topic - well hey, start as you mean to go on as I say. This series will be dedicated to certain aspects of the coffee industry which those involved in the industry don’t usually tell you. I know, interesting right? Most of the time, we aren’t meant to tell you, so I feel like I’m disobeying the secret services of coffee by revealing this insider knowledge. So to start off this series, I thought I would focus
{"items":["5eb02350d9753000178c0c05","5eb0234fb201bc001705d903","5eb0234e13faa60017ac69dc","5eb0234dd30db700187bb6c2","5eb0234dcb2f2f0017942ebd","5eb0234d5657ae0017566e44","5eb0234dadf7230017f1a368","5eb0234d0877be0017d4195d","5eb0234d5fa5370017314a3a"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"max","cubeRatio":1.7777777777777777,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":0,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":3,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":0,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_BELOW","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":214,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":0,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1000,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"themeName":"color_15","value":"rgba(47,46,46,1)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"calculateTextBoxHeightMode":"MANUAL","textsVerticalPadding":-15,"targetItemSize":1000,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|max|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":true,"externalInfoHeight":214,"externalInfoWidth":0},"container":{"width":633,"galleryWidth":665,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}