# Boston Tea Party - Birmingham



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

The opening of this place almost passed me by, we finally got round to checking the place out a couple of weeks ago, excited as the coffee is supplied by our friends at Extract coffee roasters.

The venue , on Corporation street, is prime spot for the law courts (not entirely a good thing). Huge building with vast interior, lots of tables and chairs, with a separate seating area housing even more. Nice ''unfinished look'' decor, funky lights hanging from ceiling and some unusual art work which seems par for the course these days.

The machine is a LM FBxx and a Mazzer Major-E grinder. Menu of both food and coffee is vast and brewed options are available (it was a batch brewer this time). They offer both medium and dark roasted beans.

Food wise - very happy, we had delicious stacks of pancakes , bacon and eggs, along with a sausage bap. It arrived pretty promptly and we wolfed it down. It isnt cheap but portions are HUGE. Would score 8/10. They had sample of cakes to try near the till and we had a nibble , filthy sweet things, very sickly but enjoyed by Laura!

Coffee however was a mixed bag. My initial dealing was with the girl on the till who obviously wasnt clued up. She didnt know what coffee was being served as brewed but offered to let me try some , proudly beeming at me how lovely it was - its wasnt great, over extracted, tired and ''oaky''. I told her as much and her faced dropped, she tasted it and agreed it was ''oaky''. I delined the brewed and asked for an espresso, Laura had a mocca. The espresso drinks took aaaaaggges to arrive , my shot was bitter and unbalanced (I asked for medium roast) 3/10 for this. Still smug in the knowledge that Brewtus and Roy do better on a daily basis. Lauras mocca was lush, adorning latte art, dark espresso suiting the sweet milk and dark choc, id give this 7.5/10. Impressed with the milk drink and my coffee urge still remaining I then asked for a flat white, the head Barista informed me he had made a new batch of brewed coffee for me and apologised they had been having trouble dialling it in. So not only did he give a huge mug advising me the origin, he also waivered the cost of the flat white! The flat white was well poured and on a par with the mocca 7/10...the brewed was 100% better than the inital sample, but still a little over extracted so i'd score 5/10. He turned the whole situation around, proving sometimes good service can be of more value than good coffee but poor service! We ended up having a chat and he invited me to jump behind bar anytime for a play on the big toys : )

Overall I would give the coffee a 6/10, its a shame they are not as quality obsessed as Extract's beans deserve. Nice people though


----------



## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

No way, I guess it must be the first BTP out of the south west. Sounds like it mirrors the Barnstaple branch, except we don't have a brewed option down here yet. Hopefully given time to settle in you should see an improvement in the espresso, they know that I'm 'fussy' when I go in so my arrival is usually met with a few discarded shots and re-dialling of grinders!

A tip for you Gary, insist they pull your shot with a naked pf, they tend to be far more fastidious when they can see whats going on.


----------



## Earlepap (Jan 8, 2012)

Outlaw333 said:


> they know that I'm 'fussy' when I go in so my arrival is usually met with a few discarded shots and re-dialling of grinders!


I wonder what you're known as to them


----------



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Outlaw333 said:


> A tip for you Gary, insist they pull your shot with a naked pf, they tend to be far more fastidious when they can see whats going on.


The guy would have let me pulled my own shot after the chat we had! Next time I go in i might just ask to. I know the extract coffee is good, even their darker BTP blend can create some tasty sweet ristretto - joe public rarely ask for that so get the bitter sloppy shots for milk drinks


----------



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

Earlepap said:


> I wonder what you're known as to them


''Oh christ , here comes Coffee hitler....ahem.....Morning! Good to see you number one customer''


----------



## Outlaw333 (Dec 13, 2011)

I think they enjoy just having a customer who is genuinely interested and challenges them and fully appreciates what they are doing, must be a refreshing change from the usual crowd, we usually have a good banter anyway.


----------



## Chaffey (Jan 2, 2013)

This is a similar experience to the BTP in Worcester. For me the espresso is average at best, but the milk drinks are pretty good. I have really tried and wanted to like it (as you say food is good as is atmosphere) but as I prefer my coffee black it just isn't working for me.


----------



## CoffeeDiva (May 9, 2013)

I haven't been to the Brum one yet, but am looking forward to checking it out. I do like their Bristol branches and love the food. The coffee is good, but even the medium roast is still a bit on the dark side for me.


----------

