Going round the blend (From York Press)

Going round the blend

11:27am Saturday 21st January 2012 in Features

Independent coffee shops in York are going from strength to strength. MAXINE GORDON finds out what’s brewing…

SADIE WALTON is a coffee lover who has turned her daily habit into her nine to five. As the city’s unofficial coffee Tsar, what Sadie doesn’t know about coffee isn’t worth knowing.

Aged 25, she opened her first café – La Cremeria in High Petergate. Two years later, she sold it and opened the York Coffee Emporium.

Today, aged 30, she runs the business online, offering a “boutique coffee-roasting service” for clients, including many cafés and restaurants in the city. She also trains baristas and is to be one of the judges in the upcoming UK Barista Championships.

We arrange to meet in a café of her choice, Coffee Culture on Goodramgate. It sells some of Sadie’s Java blend as its specialist coffee. Needless to say, this is what she orders. “It’s an Indonesian coffee, characterised by a smoky earthiness,” she says. “It tends not to be very sweet, but full bodied, rich and smooth.”

I order a cappuccino; it features the house blend, and is one of the best coffees I have ever had. The milk is thick and creamy and seems to ooze into the smooth-tasting coffee rather than just sit on the top like a stiff meringue.

Sadie says the skill of the barista – or coffee maker – is often the secret to a great coffee. And it is here, she says, that the independents can really make their mark.

“In the UK, our baristas are not getting the respect they deserve. In Italy, being a barista is a highly regarded profession. In Australia, a barista can make or break the reputation of a café and a great one is highly sought after.”

Even the best beans in the world can taste bad in the hands of a poorly trained barista, she adds.

So what’s the key to a great coffee? “They have to grind the beans just right so that the water doesn’t come through too fast – that makes the coffee taste weak,” begins Sadie.

How they steam the milk – or “milk texturising” – is crucial too. “You want creamy foam with lots of tiny bubbles holding it together.”

Getting the coffee dosage right is vital, too. “Independents tend to use smaller cups because they are trying to make coffee in the right manner; people don’t want soup bowls of warm milk.”

Although we are in straitened economic times, the coffee industry is yet to feel the pinch.

“The industry has been called ‘recession proof’ although I don’t like to say that,” says Sadie. “It is seen as an ‘affordable luxury’. If you are cutting back on holidays, you can still have your nice cup of coffee in the morning.”

Sadie has noticed the expansion of independent coffee shops in the city, and believes it is probably now at saturation point.

In taking on the big guns such as Starbucks and Costa, the independents can stand out through quality products and service, says Sadie. They can do things the giants can’t do too, she adds, such as offering a range of speciality blends and roasts – in the way popular pubs sell a range of independent beers and guest ales.

“The coffee industry is easily comparable to the micro-brewing industry. And it’s great for cafés to offer something that little bit different.”

•To find out more about or enter the UK Barista Championships visit scaeuk.com (deadline January 25). To book a place on a barista workshop, cost £5, at Casa Espresso’s Shipley headquarters on January 31, from 10am and 4pm, email Sadie at sadie@casaexpresso.co.uk

To see how the independents are faring we visited some of York’s newest coffee shops…

Perky Peacock, Postern Tower, Lendal Bridge

IF you’re tired of high street coffee shops that are all part of a chain, you could do worse than head for this little riverside gem.

The Perky Peacock is housed in a medieval stone tower looking out over the Ouse on the station side of the river under Lendal Bridge. There’s a heavy, studded wooden door that creaks as you open it; a stone-flagged floor; and a conical roof supported by beams.

The Perky Peacock – which opened two years ago – is tiny. Run by former Caffé Nero barista-of-the-year Nicola Peacock, there is room only for the counter, three tables, and a comfortable, squishy sofa.

Coffees are one size only: £1.95 for a big mug of white, cappuccino, latte or Americano. You can also get an espresso, a limited range of flavoured coffees, a small range of teas, and hot chocolate.

My latte came in a good, plain mug, and was hot and satisfying: as good as anything you’ll find in one of the chain shops, without being mind-blowing. I also ordered from the limited food menu a tomato, mozzarella and pesto melt for £2.50, which was tasty and nourishing and came accompanied by a few crisps.

There were newspapers for customers to read – including, importantly, The Press – and it was a lovely place to spend a happy 30 minutes. You can get bacon butties for £2 for breakfast: so it would make a great breakfast bar too.

Stephen Lewis

Mannion & Co, Blake Street

THIS opened last summer after John Mannion was forced to close his fruit and veg shop in the wake of supermarket competition.

Now, after a major refurbishment, it’s a café and deli, which in a city boasting dozens of coffee houses seems a brave move.

It looks good though and the small selection of Italian hams and breads adds to the colour. The staff are young and friendly, but what about the acid test?

The mark of a good barista is the quality of their espresso. In Italy it is almost always faultless and Mannion’s was close. Good crema to the end; always the sign of quality, and just enough bitterness. That said, at £2.30 it was a tad pricey for York. A nice touch was a small, complementary slice of panettone rather than the ubiquitous speculoo biscuit and I also opted for a home-made truffle, which at 50p was good value and delicious.

Matt Clark

Spring Espresso, Fossgate

OWNER Steve Dyson certainly knows his coffee. His house blend changes seasonally; just now it is a lively mix of beans from El Salvador, Mexico and Colombia, hand roasted by a specialist outfit in Lancaster. I order a flat white – a double shot topped with hot milk, making it a stronger, less milky sort of cappuccino – priced £2.20. The full flavour certainly blows away the cobwebs. The blend, like a good wine, comes with tasting notes.

“It has a clean acidity with a rounded body, hazelnut aroma with notes of watermelon, fruitcake and juniper berries,” Steve says. He also sells three other artisan beans for filter coffee as well as designer teas from China. There is a range of homemade cakes, sarnies, paninis and soup on sale too.

Steve opened the café in October with his partner Tracey Peck after running a mobile coffee business for several years. He plans to enter this year’s UK Barista Championships having previously been a semi finalist. “This year I aim to break into the top four,” he says.

Maxine Gordon

The Attic, above Harlequins, King’s Square

This friendly and lofty spot in York is open three days a week, on Thursday from noon to 8pm and Friday and Saturday, noon to 9pm. It is well worth climbing all those stairs, although your descent might need to be approached carefully after drinking any of the bottled beers also stocked (more than 20 specialist bottles of ale, lager and cider). Great coffee and good beer! These steps lead heavenwards.

This high-up spot is managed by Sarah Shipley, whose training as an artist is put to good use displaying the work of other artists on the walls.

And the coffee? Really good – so good that the espresso was voted the best in the UK last October. As a regular visitor, I usually have a large cappuccino with two shots. (£2.40). This has a lovely flat milky top, with richly flavoured coffee beneath. Co-owner Gordon Howell is a coffee aficionado and his passion shows. The more adventurous can choose their beans and their method via assorted presses or pouring methods.

Julian Cole