Cosy Coffee Shops

Cosy Coffee Shops is a blog dedicated to terrific independent coffee houses. Some are particularly comfy and relaxing, some serve outstanding coffee, some combine the two. Most (if not all) serve drinks that are ethically sourced, such as Fairtrade. I’ve visited everywhere at least once.

It’s more or less 50% about fantastic coffee, 50% about friendliness, atmosphere and charm.

Above all, it’s about promoting fantastic independent cafes throughout Britain. Mind you, I always try to be objective and independent, so I might (occasionally) say something negative.

Pop by and say hello on Twitter and Facebook.

I’m Tom Hiskey, 30, from York. I’m co-founder of online probate legal service The Law Wizard. I’m not a barista but I have a passion for coffee and for great places to sit and drink it. After visiting over a hundred coffee shops in the last few years I like to think I might be able to tell Tesco’s budget instant from a flat white.

I’m ably assisted by my financée, a self-described tea, hot chocolate and milkshake specialist. She also loves coffee (she’s been converted).

As I’m based in York I don’t get chance to visit all the coffee shops I’d like to. That’s why there aren’t many reviews from the south-west, Wales and Scotland. I hope to change that one day.

Tom

Cosy Coffee Shops was revamped in February 2011. I hope you like the new look! I’m also going to add a few extra bits and bobs from now on, like articles.

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.

RSS Feed

I’m really sorry to all the readers who subscribed to the RSS feed pre February 2011. During the site revamp (which involved a tricky move from Movable Type to WordPress), the RSS feed URL changed and existing subscribers will no longer see any updates. Please re-subscribe to http://www.cosycoffeeshops.co.uk/feed. Thanks!

Entry dates

Between 2006 and 2010, the date and time for all entries is the date and time I first visited that coffee shop. From 2011 onwards, the date shown is the date that the entry is posted, not necessarily the date of the visit. I changed this because, basically, the old way was confusing!

Photos

All photos are taken by me, unless otherwise stated. Please do not use any photos on your website without my permission.

Cosy Cafes

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