About CosyCoffeeShops

What it's all about

"We" is actually me (Tom). 

I happen to like coffee shops.  They're nice places for chatting in comfort and generally passing the time. 

A coffee shop is a good reason for a detour, and therefore an excuse to see new places.  I'm glad my girlfriend agrees (who, by the way, provides valuable insights into teas and chocolate milkshakes!).

When I started the blog, I was probably 90% interested in atmosphere and 10% interested in the quality of the drink.  But as my tastes have developed, so has my interest in coffee, and now the above percentages have levelled out to about 50 - 50. 

I think, after visiting over 70 coffee shops, I can tell good coffee from bad, but I'll happily admit I'm not a gourmet or a barista. 

The aim of this blog is to help people find independent coffee shops.  It's not my aim to say bad things, but I do give my opinion (for what it's worth) and I always try to be honest. 

Sadly, I don't have the time or money to travel to the far corners of Britain, which is why there is limited coverage of (for example) southern England, Wales and Scotland.  

It's great when I receive recommendations from readers, as I often do.  Please do so by getting in touch here, but please don't be offended if I don't visit soon.

It's just a hobby.  If I stop enjoying it, the blogging stops.

What I look for in a coffee shop, in no particular order...

1. A place where coffee is top of the menu.
   
   There are plenty of marvelous cafés which are not featured in this blog because they are more concerned with food, tea, etc.  Often places desribe themselves as a "coffee shop" but are in fact more like a tea room or a traditional English café, so they don't qualify.
   
   Typically, it will be a place where I could relax with just a coffee at most times of day without feeling guilty about taking up space and without feeling I have to buy food.
   
   
2. Excellent coffee
   
   
3. Atmosphere, character, style, uniqueness
   
   
4. Ethically sourced coffee, for example under the Fairtrade banner
   

Entries do not have to satisfy all those criteria, but most do.

Independence

Of course, all coffee shops in Cosy Coffee Shops are independent or part of a small chain.

In my experience, compared to chains, indie places are usually better value, serve better coffee (often much better), have nicer atmospheres and are friendly and welcoming.

Café, coffee house, coffee shop, tea room: what's the difference?

I think it's more or less as follows...

• Coffee shop and Coffee house: coffee is top of the menu and they're great places for sitting, sipping, chatting and relaxing.
  
• Café: primarily food (of various sorts) but also with hot drinks... a very broad category, difficult to define.
  
• Tea room: serves hot drinks and simple food. A lot more common in Britain than coffee shops! Not my cup of tea.
  

"Top notch" cosy coffee shops

See here for more info. 

In the beginning

I gained a taste for sitting in cafés while travelling around the world a few years ago (2005). A while after returning to Britain I set up this blog, just because I thought it was a good idea at the time. 

This used to be Cosy Cafes ( www.cosycafes.com ) but moved and changed its name in January 2008.

Me

I'm Tom, 27 years old with a proper job by day (see here and here) a musician by night (see here and here) and occasional web designer in York. 

Photos and text / Copyright

All text, photos and other images are original and copyright Tom Hiskey.

If you are the owner of a coffee shop, please feel free to use text on your website or elsewhere, with a link to the main page of this site - www.cosycoffeeshops.co.uk.  If you would like to use photos, please contact me.

Please bear in mind that I do sometimes revisit and amend entries, so any text/pictures you use could be out of date.

Contact or suggest a coffee shop - feel free to get in touch for whatever reason.

Cosy Coffee Shops features in a BBC News Magazine article called "Giving it their best Shot", which appeared on the BBC website on 25 January 2008. I was misquoted but it's a good article! Click here to read it.