COFFEE & STORIES

Hi there! 

Welcome to my blog, I am glad you found your way to it. If you're looking for a good spot where to sit and sip a cup of coffee or have a nice breakfast, you're at the right address.

I started blogging about coffee shops at the beginning of 2020 - yes, exactly the year when the pandemic hit. Rather unlucky, some may say, but I found myself making the most of it during my time at home and once going out was possible again, I started discovering many shops and hidden treats in the area. So most of the recommendations are within Clapham Junction, though my radius has expanded.

In August 2021 I moved to Liverpool, and I tried to keep up with my weekly discoveries around the city center.  However, I found that once I discovered the main places, I struggled to find shops opening before 9am, and my consistent updates started to drop. One of these reasons was also that my boyfriend had quite a favorite coffee shop and we ended up going to the same place almost every weekend. Speaking of my boyfriend, he is also the reason we are now based in Manchester. The city is definitely bigger than Liverpool and has also a lively culture of independent coffee shops. During a wander around the city center, I realised, that I want to share those places with you again. 

Furthermore, now that the borders are open and we can again fly between countries, I also made it a habit to look for independent, hip coffee places whenever I go abroad. These coffee shops are everywhere, and though similar, all are still unique. The way I got to know the coffee shops here in England was quite unknown to me, hence my appreciation and interest in them. 

I am originally from Switzerland and lived four years in London, where I walked past one of those fancy, urban, hip independent coffee shops almost every day and once I fully converted from a chai latte girl to a latte lover, I decided it's time to bring some attention to all the fabulous independent shops and move a way from Starbucks/Costa/Cafe Nero (sorry!).  There is a massive supply with these shops and every time I walk past a new one, I have to get inside. I have also switched from cow milk to oat milk and have a strong favorite under the individual suppliers. As many of you might have realised, I am a big supporter of Oatly and no matter how good the coffee might be, if there's an oat latte made with a different oat milk, I can't enjoy it. So, whenever I find a coffee shop using Oatly, they get extra stars from me (as if I'd have a rating stystem. Might come. TBC. :))

The aim of my blog is to hunt down those coffee shops, buy myself a cup and share their success stories. They all deserve a little support from all of us and who doesn't love a freshly, brewed coffee? 

If you count yourself as one of those coffee fanatics, have a browse around and try out one of my recommendations, and don't forget to like, share and comment!

Happy Coffee Days,
Ophelia