Bob the Bunnys latest travels

The nice thing about being self employed is having the freedom to make last minute executive decisions to take the day off. Yesterday was such a day, work was as up to date as could be, weather looked reasonable and Bob was all spruced up with a new bow tie!


Off we go, destination Dalby Forest, this is the visitor centre.

Plants and trees just starting to bud, found some lovely dried teazles but Bob got stuck to them and I had to prize him free.

After a little walk it was time for a snack, we went into the cafe and had a rather nice caramel slice with a pot of tea as the coffee is nasty tasting over frothed, dark roasted stuff.

I had taken a craft magazine to browse whilst Bob looked out of the window.

Now I don't normally do toilet shots on my blog but the toilet doors at Dalby were rather interesting, the visitor centre is quite eco friendly and a lot of the gifts in the shop are recycled. So it came as no big surprise to find the toilet doors were made from recycled cartons and things, as you can see they are rather groovy.

That was a nice half day spent in the forest, the weather dulled up a bit so not a huge amount of photos.


Late afternoon and we finished the day with a trip to York to partake in some delicious coffee from this year's Northern Barista champ, Gordon, who has The Attic at Harlequin. Here's the view out of the Attic window, there was a a girl perched reading on a window ledge across the street!

The coffee arrived, a flat white.

Bob gave the latte art a good look....

Done to perfection and good to go, Bob say's drink and enjoy. I certainly did, it's always good to have a natter with Gordon over an excellent coffee.
A lovely end to the day.

Bob the bunny's visit to the best coffee shops in York

What a lovely autumnal day it turned out to be. Just as well as Bob had planned a trip to York to sample some of the best coffee shops his owner knows.

This was no ordinary trip, this was purely a coffee trip, no shopping, just a peaceful potter around the streets with juice from the bean to keep us going.

First off was the newest coffee shop in York, Spring Espresso on Fossgate. So new, they haven't got the sign up yet but Bob had no trouble sniffing out the espresso!

Spring is run by the lovely Steve & Tracey who we had briefly met at The Attic before. This is Steve preparing a flat white.

And here is the delicious drink.

Not only do they prepare fantastic coffee, they have the most amazing tea and Piao-i tea infusers. This is some jasmine pearl tea infusing, ooh it was so fragrant, mmmm, like spring (pardon the pun) flower meadows.

The shop has some interesting handmade furniture from reclaimed Yorkshire timber, it was a fascinating start to the day.

Swiftly moving on, Bob and I headed towards the river, our destination Lendal Tower.

New to us, although pretty well established already is The Perky Peacock, run by its namesake owner, Nicola Peacock.

What a quirky little coffee shop, housed inside the tower. Bijou but beautifully formed, full to the brim with customers so we sat outside in the sun and sipped our delicious flat white and homemade ginger biscuits.

Nicola popped out to say hello but Bob had bounced off to admire the river at that point so he'll meet Nicola next time!

We were just starting to get that caffeine fueled buzz, but that wouldn't deter us from scuttling across town to our most frequented venue, yes you guessed it, The Attic above Harlequin.

The doors had more or less just opened but someone had beat us to being first up the stairs. no problem, still plenty of seating.

We were tempted by a sweet sounding Mexican espresso, we weren't disappointed, it was very palatable indeed. The water was divine too, it had turned quite warm so the cooling and caffeine diluting effect was much appreciated.

All this scurrying about had made Bob quite peckish so no trip to the Attic would be complete without a portion of our favourite snack, herb & garlic bread, excellent fodder for a young rabbit like Bob.

Our trip had drawn to a close, the money was all gone, we were high as kites on caffeine, The Attic was now very busy and it was time to go home for a rest. 

Bob enjoyed meeting all our coffee friends, old and new, sampling some wonderful, drinks, hospitality and service. York is certainly becoming a hot spot for good coffee.

Bye bye Bob.

In My Mug 150, live at The Attic, Harlequin, York

Yesterday was my exciting coffee afternoon at the Attic as part of the live video blog for In My Mug 150 with Mr. Has Bean.
The scene was all set, the laptop was in the corner, sampling table set up with plenty of water and Gordon and the team raring to go pulling shots.


It wasn't without one or two technical hitches for Has Bean, not being able to link up to as many people & shops as first planned but Steve made the best of it.


The coffees we were sampling were Indonesian....  Jantung Seed and Longberry, really rare coffee with only 3 bags of each varietal in the world, wow!


First we tried them as espresso (2nd pic), then with milk (3rd pic) and we gave our comments and tasting notes which in turn were submitted live to Steve. It was a great experience, my tastebuds are nowhere near as sophisticated as some of the people round the table but I did enjoy the experience very much.


After the main part we got to try them as brewed coffees with some lovely cakey nibbles.
Fab afternoon thanks to Has Bean, Gordon and the gang and met some lovely coffee obsessed people. We even got to take home some of the surplus beans from the tasting.


The 4th pic is my latte art as I'm sat typing this!


The 5th pic shows an old teapot I found in a charity shop the other day which I have been trying to clean up for use with the water pouring over the Chemex. However had a word with Gordon and as a cheaper solution for water pouring to the expensive Hario kettles he recommended a simple oil pourer and I sourced the last one in Barnitts!

Exciting coffee happenings

Last week I bought a new coffee making device. It is the Chemex, a wonderful, retro looking object (been around over 60 years) for making a fine, clean cup of brewed coffee.

Don't you think the box and the instruction leaflet look very 70's!


The Chemex method is very similar to drip through coffee, using a filter paper but the filter paper is much thicker. This means the brew flows through slower for a richer cup of coffee, you are only talking about 4 minutes brew time. Unlike a french press where the sediment is sat in the bottom, this produces a 'clean cup' as the grinds are sat in the top to be thrown away.

This photo shows the coffee at the 'bloom' stage before you add the remaining water. (All the coffee and water need measuring and timing to achieve perfection)

Here, the remaining water has been added and you simply wait for it to filter through.

That's it, pour and enjoy!


On the subject of coffee geekery, I am attending what's going to turn into a live video blog link up on Sunday. A selection of coffee shops & customers who use the Has Bean coffee have been invited to join in this event of sampling some rare coffee. During the coffee sampling, the shops taking part (Harlequins Attic York), will be connected to Steve at Has Bean, as he addresses the world on all things coffee for this special edition of his video blog! In My Mug 150. Can't wait.


http://www.inmymug.com/

New coffee experience in York

A couple of days ago I found out that my favourite coffee and tea house in York (Harlequin) were to open up their attic space to offer a new experience, coffee, beer and good food in the aptly named Attic Gallery Coffee Bar. 
This was music to my ears, I'm not so much interested in the beer but York really lacks anywhere to go for a coffee on an evening so this is a great idea. 


The weather was so foul today that I probably wouldn't have bothered going to York but when I heard the 'tweet' that the legendary Steve from Has Bean (who supply Harlequins lovely beans) was going to be visiting I thought it would be a great chance to maybe say hi and check out the new set up.


The attic space was lovely with harlequin coloured velvet cushions, I'll get an interior shot next visit as it was quite busy. Gordon, owner and expert barista, was at the helm and the place had a good atmosphere. I hadn't noticed Has Bean Steve until I clocked the red shoes on the person at the next table and it was mr & mrs Has Bean, how spooky! We had ordered a brewed coffee in a Chemex and it was Steve who did the prep which lead to a fascinating chat about all things coffee. I can honestly say that Steve is as passionate about coffee when you meet him as he comes across in his video blogs.
Gordon very kindly gave us a complimentary brew of another varietal which I can't remember the origin but as described by Steve, full of cherries and red berry flavourings with intense acidity. Wow, there's just so much to coffee when you meet the people who really know their stuff.


Had a really nice afternoon and I hope the bar does well for Harlequin, can't wait to visit again. It is open on Thurs, Fri & Saturdays, here's the link for their opening hours, well worth a visit if you love your coffee and I hear the beer is pretty good too.


http://harlequinyork.com/

http://www.hasbean.co.uk/