Category Archives: 100 Cups of Coffee

Blog posts relating to the #100cupsofcoffee project.

February 16, 2018

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

I guess the subheading for this post could be “Red Cup Season Coffees.” As all the coffees were from the end of last year and are all festive coffees from different coffee shops around West London.

Red Cup Season 2017

Once Pumpkin Spice Latte season is over, it’s time to move on to the Gingerbread Lattes! As always, in the first day of Starbucks Red Cup season, I head to my local store for my gingerbread latte fix! Then I know Christmas is around the corner. Soon after that, I try their new Christmas drink, this year’s Festive Cold Brew was nice. But I tended to stick to the hot drinks in the colder months.

Next up it is time to check out the seasonal variations from other coffee shops and their seasonal cups. Hands down the prettiest cups this year were from Caffè Nero. Inspired by artwork from the V&A museum.

Without a doubt, my favourite Festive coffee drink this year was from Notes Coffee. Oddly, I don’t like traditional Christmas Cake, but their Christmas Cake Latte was amazing! The seasonal spices from the cake without the dried fruit.

After, the success of the Christmas Cake Latte, I thought I would try the Mince Pie Latte from Pret a Manger. Whilst the drink was nice. I was put off by the addition of pieces of mince pie in the drink. Similar to the gingerbread crumbles in the Starbucks drink. These toppings taste like crumbles biscuits in the bottom of the drink and ruin the experience.

Finally, on Social Media, everyone seemed to be ranting about the Honeycomb Latte from Costa Coffee. Normally, I avoid Costa, as I don’t like the taste of their coffee. But I was pleasantly surprised by this seasonal drink. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover it until just before Christmas.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

January 19, 2018

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

As my attempt at the 100 Cups of Coffee Challenge is coming to an end. I am looking out for new and interesting coffee shops to visit. The London Coffee Guide has been my go book for hunting out new places to visit. At the end the summer, whilst enjoying a Cold Brew in the sun, I flicked through Chief Coffee’s copy of the guide looking for inspiration.

The first place I wanted to check out was Caravan. Home of the “Well-travelled food and mighty fine coffee in an old grain store.” The coffee here lived up to the hype. At the King’s Cross branch you have the option to visit the roastery for a quick cup of coffee or visiting the restaurant for a meal.

It is fair to say, that I am stuck in a brunch rut! I am possibly also a brunch cliché. No matter where I end up I seem to always order the same thing, Avocado Toast with a poached egg accompanied by a latte! Of course being a total cliché I also Instagram my brunch!

Does anyone else love chalk art outside coffee shops? I am a sucker for a fun sign. especially, if it has a funny coffee pun or geeky theme. Like this Rick and Morty one outside Taylor Street Baristas.

At home, I love using my Nespresso machine to make coffee. I have also become a huge fan of the Nespresso Cafe in St Pauls. In the café, they serve an array of creative coffees all of which a beautifully crafted. Like these twist on cortado, with a hint of lemon or honey and basil.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

October 4, 2017

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

One of the best things about living in London is the green spaces. London has so many amazing parks and most of the time I never get the chance to enjoy them. When I know I am going to be visiting a new area, I search online for interesting coffee shops. As I knew I would be near Regent’s Park for an appointment. I searched for a local coffee shop, grabbed my kindle and sat in the park to relax after my appointment.

Over the summer, I had a lot of meeting in St Paul’s. The first place, I discovered in the area was Nespresso Cafe. As well as serving all their own coffees, they have an amazing menu of alternative coffee drinks. So I finally, got to try a Mojito Iced Coffee!

Still in the St Paul’s area, I started to explore and found the amazing rooftop area on the One New Change shopping mall. As well as this amazing view of St Paul’s Cathedral, you can see the famous building in the city and along the river. At the time I was reading the book, The City’s Son. Which featured the Cathedral, so it was nice to spend my free time, reading this in the shadow on the dome.

The reason had not been blogging over the summer was due to me being called up for Jury Service in July. One of the worse thing about Jury Service was the lack of decent coffee. The coffee in the court was un-drinkable and they nearest coffee stand burnt the coffee. So after a fortnight of bad coffee on my first day off, I “earned” a decent coffee from one of my favourite coffee shops!

In August, it was back to St Paul’s for more meetings. Although the weather had started to change. The roof garden at One New Change still provided the idea place to relax and drink my coffee. And I discovered yet another new place to try!

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

July 4, 2017

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

I really need to get better at writing my 100 Cups of Coffee stories. Here we are over three-quarters of the way through the project in the Spring of 2017. This spring features some glorious clear days but was still a little cooler. So whilst it was the ideal time to take photos, it still wasn’t quite frappuccino weather.

As I mentioned for coffee number 75. I love going to the earlier screening in the cinema. Swapping fizzy drink for a coffee and the popcorn for an almond croissant. The film I was most excited to see in the spring was Beauty and the Beast.

There were a lot of amazing clear days in March. Perfect for taking photos the spring blossom and wisteria. Did you see all the photos on Instagram? Wisteria hysteria definitely hit London. Photos of pink and purple flowers covered my feed, I also saw some photos taken at this cute café in a nearby park. The place has with chunky wooden tables, eclectic chairs and jam jars filled with fresh flowers.

London has such a vibrant coffee scene. One of the reasons I wanted to the 100 cups of coffee project was to visit more of these coffee shops. When you are in certain areas they are coffee shops you have to visit. Monmouth in Borough Market, Farm Girl in Notting Hill and Soho Grind if you are in Carnaby Street.

I meet up with Ling for a morning coffee, as she wanted to bounce around some ideas for an advertising campaign for Whimzy Yarn. We arranged to meet in our favourite coffee shop but discovered all the tables were full, We have been recommending it to too many people. Instead, we tried a new bakery in our neighbourhood.

Finally, at the end of May, the weather warmed up making it iced coffee season. Starbucks seemed to have upped their summer menu this year. With Nitro Cold Brew, and iced teas, in the UK we didn’t get the unicorn frappuccino, so I can’t comment on that drink. Of course, this was all before the ice scandal.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

May 17, 2017

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

Confession time. I hate shopping in supermarkets. We do a big shop online and buy fresh ingredients locally. Several times a year I have to go to the supermarket, one of those is the pre-Christmas food shop. One of the few joys when shopping is the free coffee from Waitrose (this time in a seasonal cup).

I took a break from the #100 cups of coffee project, and had planned to start again in March. But seeing as coffee is one of my loves, it seemed ideal to start again on Valentine’s Day.

Jason and I were both busy over during Valentine’s week, so on the Friday had a belated Valentine’s meal. We started with pre-dinner cocktails at the The Ivy Market Grill. I plan on working my way though the best martini bars in London list this year. So I thought I would start with the Salted Caramel Espresso here.

At the start of this year, I was constantly busy and as a result, not doing anything fun. Normally, I like to plan a catch up brunch with friends at least once a month. For the first brunch of the year, at the end of February we headed to an old favourite The Outsider Tart for one of their Munch & Brunch specials.

This year, many great films had cinematic released around the same time. It’s hard to find the time to actually get to the cinema to see them all. Whereas some films I will wait until they released on Netflix or Sky Movies. Others its important to see in the cinema. I try to support female filmmakers and those films with from female casts. So even, though it was weeks after it’s initial released. I wanted to see Hidden Figures, in the cinema to support this film.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

March 15, 2017

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

dreaming of Chicago — Dreaming of Chicago

When we were in our twenties, many of our vacations were to Chicago. We had friends there, taking advantage of the strong pound and there was plenty to see and do. As we were visiting friends we spent a lot of our time, catching up whilst drinking and eating! As a result, we got to know a lot of places that served great hang over food. Jamba Juice for vitamin/healthier fix or Walker Bros for pancakes. If we overslept and missed lunch then we would have sandwiches from Potbelly. Whilst Jason was working near Westfield Stratford, he discovered that Potbelly had a branch there. So we popped back to relive old memories.

100 Cups of Coffee — Not all Christmas Cups are red

When I think about Christmas Coffees I think red cups and Gingerbread Lattes. Yet, my favourite Christmas lunch menu is from Pret a Manger. Last year, they did pretty wreath decoration cups rather than red cups. Plus they have an amazing vegetarian Christmas sandwich and cute “melted” snowman cookie.

As a late birthday treat last November, I finally got to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour. I should write a post about my experience there – or at least a photo post some of my favourite pictures. I took a lot of photos! It was also my first red cup of the season. After I posted the photo to Instagram. A friend pointed out, that the dear on the cup looked like Harry Potter’s Patronus.

One of the reason I started this challenge was to discover new coffee places in my area. The fun side of that is most coffee places also have novel desserts. Amorino, is such a place, as well as serving Italian coffee, they also have an amazing range of Italian gelato.

I have written about my love of Booktagram and Litsy. I couldn’t resist taking a cozy winter photo. My Christmas blanket, wooly socks, my book, and a Christmas coffee. With the illiteration of red cups, red socks and Red Queen.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

1 Comment

December 10, 2016

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

When uploading these photos for the #100cupsofcoffee project to Instagram, I messed up the numbering. So I have added these in the order they happened, which doesn’t tally with the little number icons.

As I mentioned in my last 100 cups of coffee update, whilst in the Philippines. I use to pop to Starbucks every afternoon for 4 p.m. caffeine fix. All the travelling I did in October, gave me the ideal time to catch up with my reading. Ideal for travelling was The Good Immigrant, as the short essays where easy to dip into whilst waiting to board a plane or riding on a shuttle bus.

In Manila and Gibraltar, the cafes we used to have breakfast in served coffee in tiny cups. In London I have a large mug or “venti” cup with my breakfast. As a result I found in Manila, I needed several cups each morning to get my coffee buzz!

When I returned home in London, autumn was definitely here! My uniform for the Fall Season in 2016, became my “Her Universe” bomber jacket and a Pumpkin Spiced Latte!

At the end of October we were lucky enough to get tickets to the Doctor Strange Fan Screening in Leicester Square. Before the screening of the movie, the director and movie’s cast (including Benedict Cumberbatch.) did a short introduction.

When I discovered my local Starbucks had run out of Pumpkin Spice syrup at the before the end of October. It meant I didn’t get a P.S.L. on my birthday! So when I discovered another branch still had syrup in November. I took the opportunity to enjoy my last P.S.L. of the season.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

November 28, 2016

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

100 Cups of Coffee

September means the new autumn television schedule and an important part of that use to be The Great British Bake Off. To mark the start of the seventh series, and continuing our little tradition. We popped to our favourite bakery, The Outsider Tart to buy cake for our viewing party.

For the first time this year Starbucks released Pumpkin Spiced Lattes at the beginning of September, instead of the end of the month. The release of the drink happened to coincided with one of the hottest weeks of the summer. So I took the chance to try a Pumpkin Spiced Frappacino. I was not convinced by this cold version of my favourite drink.

With the British weather being as unpredictable as it is. A few days later we had grey and rainy skies. This was the perfect weather for an autumnal walk along the river whilst drinking a Pumpkin Spiced Latte.

When I went to visit Jason in Gibraltar, we would visit a cute café around the back of his apartment for breakfast. It was on the corner of the mini square, and the ideal spot to people watch whilst eating. It also seemed right to have this photo in black and white, for that artistic European feel.
The next stop on Jason’s overseas working tour was the Philippines. Next door to his apartment here was a Starbucks. So every afternoon, just like at home I would pop downstairs for my afternoon pick me up. They didn’t serve PSL here, but did have traditional lattes and had an amazing range of teas.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

1 Comment

October 12, 2016

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

When I wrote about my experiences at Star Wars Celebrations, I mentioned how our adventures involved a lot of early starts and plenty of queuing. As a result most mornings started with a cup of coffee from the local coffee shop in the exhibition hall.

Over the summer Jason and I became obsessed with Pokémon Go. Our local park had several Pokémon Go play-days, where they set off lures at each Poké-Stops, hoping to catch some rare Pokémon, we attended one of the play-days. Instead we caught 17 Drowzee as well as the normal Pidgey and Rattatas.

I’m not really keen on Costa Coffee, it’s not that they make bad coffee – in fact they sell gingerbread lattes all year around which isn’t bad in my book. It is just seems I only go to there at awkward times, they have branches in hospitals, service stations or airports . As a result I associate Costa Coffee with queuing or waiting!

Another adventure of ours over the summer was our trip to Norfolk. Whilst at Houghton Hall as well as admiring all the artwork, we stopped at the amazing coffee shop – in the former stables. For a cake and coffee pit stop.

My final obsession over the summer was the Rio Olympics. I’m not usually a huge sports fan, but there is something about the large scale of the Olympics that I love! I dug out my Team GB t-shirt and Links of London bracelet from London 2012.

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment

September 15, 2016

Filed under 100 Cups of Coffee

Living and working in London, we don’t need a car in our everyday lives. Instead we rely on a car sharing service and occasionally hire cars for weekend adventures. Normally, we have to pick up our rental cars at the airport. So nowadays all mini holidays for us start riding travelators in the airport.

One of the reasons I started this challenge was to explore the city more and try new coffee shops. Over the last year, whilst doing this challenge I’ve put together a large list of coffee shops to visit. But occasionally, I discover a little gem on my own, like this café near to Jason’s barbers.

This spring once again I became obsessed with Game of Thrones, as well as watching the sixth season, I also re-watched seasons one to five on Blu-ray. So most of my free-time was spend knitting, binge watching and drinking coffee.

If I ever have to have a morning meeting, I love to schedule it in Pret a Manage, as they have stores located all over the city, serve great coffee and have the most amazing almond croissants in London.

Before Star Wars Celebrations, they was a lot of confusion online regarding when and where to pick up your passes and the wristbands for the panels. Rather than risk the queue in the morning I picked up our passes the day before. (You can read all about my adventures at Star Wars Celebrations here.)

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

Leave a comment