Rather chuffed to find that 'my other office' is recognised as one of the top 50 independent coffee shops in the country!
Personally I'd put it in the top one; GREAT coffee, warm welcome, cool vibe AND all breakfasts cooked individually to order. (oh and very importantly, you don't have to do that annoying CostBucksEro thing where you have to stand around by the counter like a lemon waiting to collect your coffee!!)
Did I mention it's a fab place ;-)
My daughter and I were out together for breakfast and she was laughing at the posters for the brand of coffee they served. One of them looked like a Photoshop disaster as the coffee appeared to remain immune to the effects of gravity.
However on checking the web site it seems that it is in fact so strong that it remains solidly in place even at more extreme angles.
I flag it up as one of the Youthblog readers, Giles in the Community, would appreciate coffee that strong and may want to check it out :-)
Those of you who know me are aware that I have two offices in Oxford. One is Church House, the other is the wonderful Combibos Cafe.
After work last night I went over to Combibos where they were hosting an evening with their coffee supplier, Union Hand Roasted. It was a great evening as the shop and the supplier have a passion for THE best coffee and have a great relationship. Union work in partnership with farms and co-operatives in 17 countries and focus on only purchasing from the finest 2% of coffee production, which is then hand roasted in this country. They also work with their suppliers to pay a premium price, improve working conditions and help to develop the local economy. Last night we tasted coffees from Yemen, South America and Ethiopia, even more interestingly each of the four coffees was paired with a specific food to highlight the differences. I learned a LOT and enjoyed the coffee enormously!
Combibos is just such a cool place. Great Ambiance, amazing coffee, a warm welcome and a community feel, free wi-fi, delicious pastries and food AND still at below the prices of The StarCostaNero-Republicesque clones. Nice!
If you are in Oxford you should check out Combibos.
If you are in the market for some GREAT coffee then check out Union
Oh and if you want to meet to talk about Youth work/ministry, let me know a date and time (you already have the venue)
Wandering into my local Starbucks (as I do) I as surprised to discover that 'Geography is a flavour!'
This led to some latte induced musing. In a similar vein ......
Chemistry is a smell
Physics is a headache
English Literature is an (acquired) taste
I also seem to recall that Geography wasn't in fact a flavour BUT more, a LOT of colouring in.
‘Some’ (actually, most) of the youth-workers I know are devotees of the coffee bean, further to this, they tend to love and frequent funky places in which it is served well, they are a vital venue for youth work and for meetings. For example here, Doc Sarah H got invited to a staff party at her local coffee shop! (I remain uncertain as to whether this was because: a) She is such a good customer or b) She is in their so often they thought she was staff).
Now I’m actually a BIG advocate of the classy independent coffee shop BUT these are rare (at least good ones) so I regularly find myself in that classic dilemma, Café Nero or Starbucks? As this is probably relevant to at least 15 of the readers of Youthblog, I thought I’d articulate my (very subjective) thoughts on this in case you face just such a dilemma.
Starbucks
Coffee Good
No free Newspaper
Non Smoking (Huzzah)
No loyalty card
Standing around like a muppet waiting for your coffee
Wi-fi that accept roaming partners and hence more accesible
Café Nero
Coffee Good
Newspapers available
Smoking area which you often can’t avoid if you want some sugar, a newspaper or the toilet (Newbury is especially bad on this)
Loyalty Card (which therefore makes them a bit cheaper)
Standing around like a muppet waiting for your coffee
Expensive and limited Wi-fi
So the coffee is great at either venue and I'm a bit torn really. I love cafe Nero's loyalty card, always having newspapers to read AND the Apricot Croissants BUT loathe the smoky atmosphere and the limited wi-fi option. I love Starbucks being smoke free and the fact that you can use the wi-fi via a number of different subscriptions. Overall Nero has much more going for it but the wi-fi and the smoke mean that for my vote: Starbucks is the 'Wizard' Choice.
I have tried to let Nero know some of my critiques but the comment section is in the smoking area (duh!) and in the Newbury one I have never ever seen any comment cards available there. Oh and if Starbucks are reading this and feeling smug, ONE THING! The practice of selling the Times for 50p is OK, but putting the discarded ones back on the pile and selling them again (and possibly again) is wrong, so wrong!
