# Brighton Coffee shops, my top 5!



## lawriemiller (May 3, 2015)

*Disclaimer: lawriemiller works at Bond St Coffee*

Hi guys,

Thought i'd share with you my top 5 Cafes for Speciality coffee in Brighton, these 5 are based on Location, customer service and of course the coffee.

I have lived in Brighton for 5 years now and highly recommend the following to be my best for a good brew.

1) Taylor St Barista, head barista, Rob - couldn't recommend him more, together with Ruth and Hannah who are both lovely, always chatty and all great people! - coffee varies but Rob always sources single origin speciality coffee from anything to Kopppi in Sweden to Has Bean, it just depends.

2) Bond St coffee - Head barista Chris, again, lovely guy, super super nerdy and will care so much about producing a great coffee and happily chat coffee for hours! Horsham coffee here so nice and local and get a good community vibe as the coffee is roasted an hour away.

3) Chocaffinitea - Head Barista Dudley - friendly and the most passionate dude you'll meet, however here I recommend their Kenyan filter coffee above an espresso based cup. Espresso however is Monmouth if you're wondering.

4) Ground - Ground has two shops, one in Hove and one in Kemptown, location loses out here for me as it isn't 'in' town when we are talking Brighton but if i'm in the area then i'll always go here.

5) Mr Wolf's - again location is more Hove way as apposed to Brighton but you can guarantee a great cup selling Monmouth and barista Zac is a great dude.

Hope this helps and please do write back with your thoughts, after all it is a matter of opinion!

Lawrie


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Thanks for this Lawrie. I enjoyed Small Batch when I was last in Brighton and Glenn is organising a Forum outing there in September, which you might be interested in:

http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?24614-Small-Batch-Coffee-Forum-Day-12-September&highlight=small+batch

I'll follow up some of your recommendations when I'm next there.


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## 7493 (May 29, 2014)

Useful info Lawrie, thanks. I'll check out at least one of these when I'm next in Brighton.


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## lawriemiller (May 3, 2015)

Cheers, small batch for me is too inconsistent. As a company that is expanding rapidly in size at such a fast rate, they are losing the time it takes to fully train up a great Barista. Of course, hats off to them for expanding so well and I wouldn't want to take anything away from them but for me I have had a great cup on one day and an average cup on another. Likewise I have bought a bag of beans and loved them so bought them again, only to find it has a totally different roast profile to the last batch I bought, yet in the same packaging stating the same roast profiles. However, somewhere like Taylor St Barista (my favorite) where I have a choice of always 3 baristas and only ever 3 because that's all they haven, who are all amazing, I know I will be in safe hands.


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Mmmm, that's interesting about Small Batch - maybe I was fortunate when I went in - I couldn't fault the espresso or the syphon that I had. Consistency is all, though, and I'd soon stop going to a place that was hit and miss.


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## lawriemiller (May 3, 2015)

Yeah it is a real shame, ask me the same question 2 years ago and i'd say small batch all the way. Now though, with 4 coffee shops and counting in Brighton and Hove that I can think of off the top of my head. The chances of getting the same cup in each are slim...

Have the Brighton meet up in Taylor St Barista... double espressos all round followed by a large v60 to share..


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## spune (Oct 3, 2011)

Nice thread, thanks a lot. I agree with the comments about Small Batch... It's been the consistency for me. The coffee itself, when prepared well, has been lovely. But it's just the atmosphere that seems to be changing these days...

I have to say, I visited Flying Coffee Bean at the station and enjoyed may a lovely coffee on the go when I was on placement! Always prepared well and reasonably priced and a far better choice, IMO, that the Small Batch cart outside. I really like [email protected], too.


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## robashton (May 9, 2015)

I'm not a fan of the spro at Small Batch, old-school third wave boooo. (Had some made at home decent enough though) Coupled with that you can't get filter before 11am it doesn't get any love off me when I'm down there.

I tend to head to Bond St these days and take up residence in that little solo chair in the window, again the spro not necessarily to my taste but at least more consistent. (Also top sandwich action! [when not sold out]).

Will say hi next time I'm down no doubt


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

What is old school third wave when it's at home...like run DMC on the grinder.....


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Mrboots2u said:


> What is old school third wave when it's at home...like run DMC on the grinder.....


didn't they do 'Walk this way' with Aeropress?


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Rhys said:


> didn't they do 'Walk this way' with Aeropress?


:|


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## robashton (May 9, 2015)

Mrboots2u said:


> What is old school third wave when it's at home...like run DMC on the grinder.....


You know, 20g in, 28-30g out over 30s, mud in a cup.

Specialty, but not special


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

robashton said:


> You know, 20g in, 28-30g out over 30s, mud in a cup.
> 
> Specialty, but not special


If nobody has taken it, that's my company motto right there. Putting the "Special" in Speciality coffee...


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## lawriemiller (May 3, 2015)

amen to coffee @33 sorry should have put that in, those dudes know what they're doing and quite often guest at Bond St too which is nice. Wish I knew the guys name but he's the only one with dreds so you'll spot him i'm sure.


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## 7493 (May 29, 2014)

Popped into Bond St this afternoon for a cheeky flat white with Mrs Rob and junior after grueling shopping expedition. Great atmosphere, the longest version of Bob Marley's "Jamming" I've ever heard and just a nice place to be. Stars of the show, the friendly baristas and the attention to detail. Weighed in to tenths of a gram and weighed out. Shows in the results, we all liked what we had and the latte art was top notch. Good kit too. An EK43, a Mazzer Major and a Synesso. Well worth a visit next time you're in Brighton.


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## lawriemiller (May 3, 2015)

yup! That would have been Chris Campbell...loves his tech and a great dude.


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