Coffee is easy to make well, and even easier to make badly. There are plenty of methods of making coffee, but the stand-out, everyday method is to use a cafetière, or a French press as it’s known over The Pond. Forget about drip or filter coffee, keep the Italian stove top pot for when you’ve [...]
Ordering a cup of coffee in a traditional Italian café at a busy time of day is a little daunting for a visitor. Firstly, the place will be chaotic, full of jostling people knocking back espresso in one gulp. Receipts and coins fly everywhere, and at the centre of it all, there’s a gleaming espresso [...]
I think that Starbucks gets a lot of unfair flack, and I’ll admit that I’ve dished some out myself in the past. The ‘is Starbucks evil?’ question is one that’s regularly tossed around. I don’t think there’s a definitive answer. Any corporation the size of Starbucks will attract some form of criticism, and Starbucks has [...]
There are plenty of places to get a cup of coffee in Leeds, but the problem is, most of them are very bad indeed. If you want the best part of a pint of steamed milk with a shot of badly roasted espresso in it, there’s a Starbucks or one of it’s clones on nearly [...]
I’ve written before about Opposite in the Victoria Quarter in Leeds, and I don’t normally write about places a second time, but this story needs telling. I spent yesterday morning trudging round the centre of Leeds with the rest of Yorkshire looking for elusive Christmas presents, things for those people who’ve got everything and need [...]