What’s happening to coffee shops?

There are more coffee shops these days and most of them serve good coffee. That’s good but there’s a trend and that worries me because it degrades the essential experience that you go to a coffee shop to enjoy.

And that experience is the opportunity to just drop in when you want and get a coffee with a minimum of fuss. But what’s happening is that some coffee shops seem to think they’re restaurants and so you can’t just walk in and sit down, you’ve got to wait to be seated. Some even take reservations so if you haven’t booked there’s a chance that you can’t get a coffee because all the tables are taken even though some of them are empty.

So that’s what I don’t like but what is is that defines a good coffee shop?

1 You walk in and place your order directly at the counter. OK you might have to wait a little if it’s busy but that gives you time to scan the menu, maybe talk to others in the queue and observe the professionalism of the barristas.

There’s then a choice: you either wait for your order to be completed and then you take it to your table (Northstowe Tap & Social) or you’re given a table number and it’ll be brought over to you (Fitzbillies by Magdalene Bridge). I don’t really mind but note that the latter does require more staff and that means more expensive coffee.

2 There’s a decent selection of fresh pastries. Whether it’s breakfast or mid morning (elevenses) coffee needs to go with food so there needs to be a choice of pastries from the simple to the more complex and it should include plain croissants. Butter and jam for those who need them should also be available.

You might argue that cooked food should also be available. That’s a maybe because it takes the coffee shop more into cafe territory so I’d class it as a nice to have but recognise that some local coffee shops do this really well with either very short menus (Brew in Eddington) or ones that run the whole range from full English to smashed avocado with Turkish in between (Cafe 121 on Milton Road).

3 Service is quick and obliging. Much depends on the barristas of course (see 1 above) but it also depends on the style of the establishment and the systems which management has put in place. You either need good Italian style barristas who can multi-task (Caffe Nero coffee shops seem to do this well) or you split the ordering from the production (Dulcedo Social in Eddington) but places that cannot manage more than one order at a time pile up problems for themselves.

4 There’s a steady turn over of custom. Of course this is facilitated by 3 above but there is a tendency for some people to outstay their welcome. It has been always so, decades ago you hung around to listen to the juke box now you just plug in your laptop and make a coffee last a couple of hours. Somehow or other the management need to ensure that this does not happen, it’s hardly in their interest to allow it happen.

5 Conversation must be possible. You don’t need the silence of a library but you do need acoustics that deaden the background noise. When it doesn’t conversations at other tables can intrude. It should be quiet enough that you can ‘hear the sound of your won voice’ or enjoy your coffee in solitude if that is your wont. Music is OK but should be of a decent sound quality and screaming kids should maybe be sitting as far away as possible and maybe outside.

We are lucky in Cambridge and the surrounding villages. We’ve got a great choice and I’ve mentioned just a few but there are many, many more.