Because it’s really hard to write about a Thermos.

It’s easier to write about coffee or well, making coffee. So in many ways, the Thermos PR team were absolutely brilliant in coming up with this event. They chose a great location — Workshop in Clerkenwell — conveniently located down the road from me. They brought in a fantastic barista. And they served us some great coffee. (Or, well, we served ourselves great coffee after we made the coffee ourselves under the expert tutelage of the instructors.)

The Genuine Thermos Brand Beverage Flask keeps drinks hot (or cold) for up to 24 hours, thanks to the double-wall vacuum insulation. The team demonstrated this magic by filling our Thermoses with coffee the night before the event. I had a cup the next morning — 36 hours later — and the coffee was still pretty warm. Definitely drinkable.

The baristas at Workshop showed us how to use an Aeropress and a coffee cone — aka the V60. I like the idea of a coffee cone because it’s so low-tech. I like low-tech a lot these days. Life is too complicated already. Here’s a Vine I made of the coffee cone process:

This was a fun event. I learned a lot about coffee-making and left so caffeinated that I had to go buy a banana afterwards to slow myself down. (The potassium in bananas are good at absorbing caffeine, apparently.) And now I have a nice new Thermos.

I was invited to attend this event. I received a Thermos and a traveling coffee mug in return for my attendance and writing up the event.

The post Coffee Workshop at Workshop with Thermos first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

After my Big Shoulders experience the other day, I decided to check out the source of all Unicorn Blood — I mean Dark Matter Coffee — and try out the Star Lounge.

It’s an interesting space…it must have been a real bar at some point, but now it’s a coffee bar full of kids with Mac Book Airs mooching off the free wifi. This furthers my notion that what Chicago really needs is an Internet pub. A true pub with beer, but with lots of outlets and super fast wifi too. Anyone want to go in on this one with me?

The guy next to me was doing Bayesian equations. I was just drinking a cappuccino, staring off into space.

It was a good cappuccino. $4.25 worth of cappuccino  Dark Matter is a fruity blend. Based on my limited experience, I currently like Big Shoulders better, but this will be determined by a repeat visit to Big Shoulders in, oh, about 15 minutes.

The Verdict: Good stuff.  A little hot inside and the staff is a bit distant and slow. But an interesting experience nonetheless.

The post Star Lounge Coffee first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

I particularly like the vibe at Big Shoulders. It’s all clean and neat and white, and they’ve got a big TV showing approaching train and bus times, which is awesome. You should go here. Take the bus!

P.S. I took this photo with my iPhone 5. It’s so awesome. I love it so much.

The post Great Coffee first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Sometimes you go to a place in your neighborhood — a place that’s not far — and you think “Gah!!! Why didn’t I come here sooner?? What is wrong with me?? There must be something wrong…something!!”

Because I went to Lovely. A Bakeshop. And I loved it. It is everything I’ve been wanting these days. Quiet. Peaceful. Nice chairs.

This could all be so terribly chintzy. But yet it works. So very very well.

I had some cake for breakfast, despite being of the “I only have oatmeal or farina for breakfast” sort. My cousin, who was visiting, was cranky. Lovely and its outdoor patio calmed him down. I saw “lavender”on the menu and had to do it. Peach and lavender, I believe. Lovely. Like the shop. And the music. And the free wifi. All very very you-know-what, really.

The post Lovely, Noble Square first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, April 24, 2011

The Victim: Me

The Damage: About $8. Two cappuccinos.

I could swear that at some point in the past, I wrote about my local coffee shop in London, coffee@ on Goswell Road. (Later shuttered and then reopened as Goswell Road coffee.) Oddly, I can’t find the post. But I loved that place. The servers were quirky, the music was awesome, and the coffee was…well…just okay. But they had free wifi and big pastries and a cool wall mural and big comfy couches. I wrote a lot of blog posts from Goswell Road coffee, and if you’ve ever wondered what my Twitter avatar is all about, that’s me sitting in the window at Goswell Coffee blogging away, with the coffee cup light fixtures reflected in my monitor.

Today I tried out Caffè Streets as my new local coffee shop. There’s no wifi, so that means no blogging from Caffè Streets. But I still like the vibe and I like that there are multiple types of coffee beans you can choose from as you’re ordering your cappuccino.

This was my second visit to Caffè Streets. I tried them out last week but my latte was an utter failure. It was COLD. This was mainly because just as I arrived, a bus load of octogenarians on a food tour of Chicago arrived too and the staff were rushing to make a million coffees. This morning was much quieter and calmer, and the staff were very attentive. The cappuccinos were both beautifully prepared, and it was nice to sit there, watching the foot traffic down Division. (There are a lot of dogs in the neighborhood, that’s for sure.) I’d go back here.

The Verdict: Good stuff.

The post Caffè Streets, Wicker Park first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Look mum no hands!
49 Old Street
London EC1V 9HX

Date of Last Visit: Monday, 28 June 2010

The Victim: @leeturnerconn

The Damage: £6 each

The Background: Maybe it's the sunshine. Or maybe it's just Clerkenwell. I am in LOVE with London at the moment. And Clerkenwell in particular. Is it the red brick? The warehouses? The "new" Waitrose on St. John Street? Vinoteca? St. John? All these things?  I don't know.

But I do know that I'm in love with Look Mum No Hands.

Because you see, when I lived in Chicago, I used to ride my bike EVERYWHERE. Unfortunately, I also used to get my bike stolen a lot. (Don't ever believe Kryptonite when they tell you its theft-proof.) One set of thieves were particularly horrible. They gradually stripped my (3rd or 4th) bike down, one item at a time. (I always locked it up in front of my apartment building. Well. With many locks.) First, they took my odometer. Then, they took all the reflectors. (Is there a black market in reflectors? Is there?) Then there was the seat, which I had stupidly not removed before heading in for the night. And after I had replaced the odometer, the reflectors, AND the seat, they took the front wheel. And after I replaced that, they took everything. Everything.

I brought my (new) bike with me to London.

And in six years, I've ridden it ONCE.

Because I'm a scaredy-cat. Seriously. My perception after one failed outing from Tower Bridge to Greenwich is that London is not a relaxing city to bike in.

One of the things I often say about moving back to the States–and Chicago in particular–is that I can't wait to ride my bike EVERYWHERE. (I kinda want one of those cool retro bikes and a cape to do it in. Thank God I don't like animals because if I did, I'd also subject the poor thing to riding in my wicker basket.)

My point in telling you all this is that Look Mum No Hands is a bikers' cafe. And boy are bikers nice. The staff here were so amazingly cheerful and pleasant and helpful and  sweet…they could teach many a high-end restaurant a thing or two. (Cara has already hinted at the oddness of the maitre'd at Bruno Loubet over here.)

 
Look Mum No Hands! strikes me as the perfect place to go on a Saturday morning and hang out. And you know what they have? They have free wifi. Of course they do! (The other night, I had dinner at Bodeans in Tower Hill, and I asked the server if they had free wifi. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. But after 2.5 weeks in the Middle East, where every server seemed to ask "Would you like some wifi to go with your meal?" I can't stop asking. Hey, I have an iPhone. But it doesn't always get reception. Like when you're in the basement of Bodeans Tower Hill.)

 
Look Mum No Hands has SALADS. Multiple types. A small salad plate will cost you £4.50. This, IMHO, is a very good value. Needed a bit of salt or a zesty dressing, but all in all, we felt quite virtuous. Even though we weren't riding bikes.

The Verdict: Go. Save me a seat. Maybe I'll even ride my bike there. But please let's hope they don't become too cool for school. Stay sweet!
 

The post Look mum no hands! Clerkenwell first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Dose Espresso
69 Long Lane
EC1A 9EJ

Date of Last Visit: Friday, February 20th, 2009

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £2

The Background: In the space of 24 hours, two separate people asked me if I had been to Dose yet. I hadn't! And I wasn't sure how I had missed the opening of London's latest and greatest little coffee bar. So I headed over before work one morning a few weeks ago.

The Entrance: Dose is right next to Kipferl, the Austrian coffee and cake shop, which I wonder about. Kipferl did it's own little trade in coffee. Their coffee was okay. Better still was their cake. But it was expensive cake.

Dose is more about the coffee, although they do have nice looking sandwiches too. Which they make on premises as opposed to buying in.

The Coffee: Square Mile. Only my absolute favorite decaf ever.

The Latte: Great.

The Service: Chatty. Friendly. Like it should be.

The Verdict: I like it here. Free wifi too. Small though. So while I'd hang around for 30 minutes or so with my laptop, I'm not quite sure if I'd hang around for longer.

The post Dose Espresso first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Flat White
17 Berwick Street
W1F OPT
http://www.flat-white.co.uk

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, 8 November 2008

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £2.20

The Background: Another day, another decaf. After my Nude post last week and the unanimous follow up comments, it was time to visit Flat White. Why I didn't visit these places when I was drinking six cups of coffee (the caffeinated kind) per day, I don't know.

The only problem is that Flat White is PACKED. It should be; it's pouring rain out. So there will be no leisurely sipping indoors, where it's warm, for me. Take-away it is.

The Coffee: One decaf flat-white to go and boy is it good. It's good like Nude. So I wonder if they use Monmouth too. The place is so crowded and hectic while I'm there that I don't have a chance to ask.

Operational Efficiency: I placed my order at the register in the middle of the store. People started queueing up behind me. Then, I had to turn around to walk to the front of the shop to pick up my coffee. Between all the people waiting behind me and the tables against the wall, it was a bit tight. Maybe they could rethink this?

The Verdict: I like the product. I'd go at an off time so I can enjoy it more.

The post Flat White first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Nude Espresso
26 Hanbury St
London E1 6QR

Date of Last Visit: Sunday, November 2

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £2

The Background: I had some time to kill before heading over to Sarah's for some brainstorming and some dinner. So I decided to wander Brick Lane. Joel at Tipped tipped me off on Nude, a little coffee bar on Hanbury Street. So I made it my destination.

The Entrance: Nude feels Scandinavian. But everyone speaks Australian. So I order myself a flat white (decaf) and test them out.

It's a very good decaf flat white. I ask "Monmouth?" And the answer is yes. I love Monmouth decaf. (For those of you new to my blog, I gave up caffeine on May 17th, 2008 when I realized I had had at least six, if not seven, cups of coffee at work the previous day. Stupidly irresistable high-tech coffee machine.)

The Verdict: I like Nude. Next up, I'll try Flat White on Berwick Street.

The post Nude Espresso first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

Brill
27 Exmouth Market
EC1R 4QL
Tel: 020 7833 9757

Date of Last Visit: Saturday, October 18, 2008

The Victim: Me

The Damage: £1.80

The Background: I decided to go for a walk around the neighbo(u)rhood. I feel like I haven’t been around town in ages. By the time I got to Exmouth Market, I was ready to stop for a bit. So I checked out Brill, which a reader had recommended to me ages ago. (Reader, if you’re out there, we still need to do that coffee.)

The Entrance: Brill is a CD shop and immediately, I’m sad for them. Because me, me who has more CDs than anyone I know except for my friend Alex, has stopped buying CDs. I’m totally digital now. But they have coffee and bagels too, plus free wireless. So I’m kinda intrigued.

The Drink: I order my second decaf latte of the day and it’s served with a smile. And it’s a VERY GOOD decaf latte. I think they must use Monmouth. It is so noticeably better than the decaf latte I just had at Comptoir Gascon. I leave, and keep walking.

The Verdict: Support the guy.

P.S. Don’t forget…blog about Your Perfect Day in London by October 24th. I’ll summarize all the blog posts for all to publish on their blogs as a traffic-building exercise…

The post Brill first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

It was my first real Twitter ever. If you’re on Twitter, now you can follow all the exciting mundacity of my life when I’m not working on my London restaurant blog.

The post Coffee@ Whitecross Street Opens first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.

I love these guys. Monday through Friday, you’ll find them serving up some pretty excellent coffee on Whitecross Street. It’s really good stuff. On Sundays, you’ll find them off of Columbia Road. (They’re in the courtyard on the street that runs sort of parallel to Columbia Road.)

I keep trying to give up caffeine, but I can’t. And these guys make it even harder.

The post The Coffee Guys on Whitecross Street first appeared on Passport Delicious | Solo Travel Blog | Solo Female Travel.