iydea, Brighton, UK

This is a lovely little vegetarian restaurant tucked away in the north lanes. I went with my brother for a birthday lunch which culminated in the receipt of a fine bottle of Glen Turret.

The food as ever was excellent; I had the potato and onion pie. I recommend this place for hot lunch to take away but eating in was plesent. We finished our meal with an espresso.

• Strong, slightly bitter but not at all burnt or tasting of grounds
• Nice crema
• A little long so too much water espressed through, making it a little bitter
• Good aroma but no real sweetness on the front of the pallet
• £1.60

Lewis is more critical than I but we are agreed; Good, above average but not perfect.

Map
http://www.iydea.co.uk/

Toast, Brighton, UK

A very good sandwich bar with an exhaustive list of ridiculously named creations. They can take a long time and are not the most friendly bunch but it is a good sandwich.
They boast at being the best sandwich and espresso bar in Brighton. The former I would find hard to argue with but the latter we will see.

Regular Black Americano

• Medium strength
• A pretty smooth coffee but without much forward flavour
• No crema
• Medium cup
• Not a strong aftertaste, slightly bitter creamyness that built up as it went down
• £1.70

Not unpleasant but without much character.

Map

9 Bar Espresso, Brighton, UK

This is a little portable coffee bar that sits out the front of Brighton station. The staff and the machine were all pretty dirty and a little run down which didn’t look good. The service was slow but they did have an efficient service system in place, so it could have been far worse. However the prices are good and when it came to the taste, the coffee is not at all bad.

Black Americano (Americano)

• Medium to strong
• Smooth  broad tasting joe with a good strong aroma
• Medium cup
• No crema
• slightly bitter aftertaste that cught I nthe throat
• £1.60

Despite the large cup this coffee had surprising strength and flavour, it was only marred by that slightly grindy aftertaste. Definitely one to try out.Publish Post

Map to the stall, I think week day mornings only.
Map to their cafe in Hove. Still to be tested but they promote a strong coffee ethic on their site.
http://www.9bar.co.uk/

"A perfect espresso is 30ml of water at 93.5°C, forced through 7g of ground coffee at 9 Bar pressure. If the barista has done their job properly the shot will take 28 seconds to pour"

Red Roaster, Brighton, UK

Met up with my brother to see the end of the Brighton half marathon which P was taking part in. Finally found him in the crush just as she rolled over the line. It was pouring with freezing cold rain and we had two tired runners plus all the little ones so we wanted to get inside fast. As it was round the corner and I had been meaning to blog them I decided to take everyone to Red Roaster to warm up.

Red Roaster roast their own Beans and serve a number of other coffee houses in Brighton. I have bought beans from this place and they were good so thought a coffee would be even better.

It was busy and perhaps that is what impacted the Large Black Americano.

• Medium to weak strength
• Pretty average taste, a little muddy.
• Good smallish size cup
• No Crema
• Unmemorable aftertaste
• £? Need to go checkbut not that bad.

I think it was not made with the love and care required to make a great coffee. When the best thing you can say is “at least it is not burnt” then you know you are in trouble. I do however believe we were unlucky and will try again.

Map
redroaster.co.uk‎

The Laine Deli, Brighton, UK

Went here on the way to work. Just met Ollie who runs the awesome In Your Room retro furniture store. We chatted about life, work about video games for a bit and then off I went. Felt happy by this surprise encounter and was ready to try somewhere new and exciting.

Regular Black Americano (2 shots)

• Medium strength
• Although not horrific this coffee tasted a little like old grounds
• Large cup so a little watered down
• No crema
• Strong aftertaste, with a slight burnt out metallic tinge.
• £1.30

In summary this coffee was really not that good but not the worst in the world either.

Map
http://www.thelainedeli.co.uk/

BRIGHTON COFFEE Co, Brighton, UK

A nice looking café inside, warm and inviting but I didn’t hang around. Not sure where they source their beans from but the coffee came fast and hot.

Onto the coffee; Regular Americano

• Medium strength
• Smooth, natural sweetness and a great aftertaste
• No crema
• Largish cup so a little watered down
• £160

If this coffee had a little less water or an extra shot it would be bang on.

Map

Frankie & Benny's, Brighton, UK

Went to Frankie & Benny's for our standard ironic Valentines meal. This normally consists of me working late followed by us sitting in a takeaway in some horrendous place for most of the night. This time we went for a walk around the marina and grabbed some lunch.

I had a hankering for some good heavy hearted American food but was sorely disappointed. Rambo's pizza was great as were Bumling's chicken things. My ribs were really blagh and the baked potato was cold; this was backed up with the tinniest side of coleslaw. The deserts were pretty good but you can't go far wrong with ice cream and brought in cheese cake. Not a terrible meal, the staff were enthusiastic (but no flair) and it was child friendly; probably better if drunk.

To top it all off I had a coffee. Black Filter.

• Weak.
• Watery and bitter aftertaste
• No creama, no aroma, no coffee?
• Size - Good normal cup, not one of those freaky large bowls.
• £1.65 for a filter.

A bad coffee, don't drink it.

Map

Frankie & Benny's Home

Coffee @33, Brighton, UK

Made with Monmouth beans Coffee @33 makes one of the more superior coffees in Brighton.

The shop itself is going for a Borough Market vibe and have Hessian sacks for seats in the main area. As well as the beans much of the other produce is sourced form the market, including Chegworth Valley apple juice and many fine pastries. I have only sat down once to drink and that was with a man from a secret but of the government so it was a bit weird. For a small space there is a good number of stools but at lunch time it is always full.

Now onto the good stuff; a regular two shot black Americano. Heaven on earth.

• Strong (but not as strong as Monmouth).
• Smooth taste, can be sometimes a little burnt out. Good aftertaste.
• No crema which is a shame.
• Size - Perfect small size.
• £1.80 for a double shot regular.
• Baristas - Seem well trained and very friendly

In summary a top coffee at a fair price served by talented baristas only rarely let down by a little burning.

Map

http://twitter.com/coffeeat33