Coffee Card

I got my first UK coffee card yesterday. It's a bit of a big deal but I need to explain why.

In my previous life in Portland I had maybe half a dozen coffee cards: Stumptown, The Coffee Plant, J Café, The Bipartisan Café. A card is not just a rewards program. They show that these are places you frequent, places where your face is familiar, and your wallet cards help define you that way.

When I left Portland, I also had to leave behind that life I'd built, all those little networks of acquantainces and activities. (One of my baristas cried on my last visit; it was quite touching.) And as we're seeing, it takes quite a while to rebuild a new life.

For a while I was despairing of ever finding a favourite coffee shop in Ipswich because there aren't many independent ones around, anywhere. Around the UK there are three biggies: Starbucks, Costa, and Caffé Nero. So I was quite happy to have taken a chance on a new coffee shop on the waterfront called Coffee Link and discover that it's mostly like the coffee shops of the Northwest. Independently owned. Fair-trade coffee roasted by the owner. Newspapers to read. Comfy chairs. Tables big enough to spread a newspaper on. Good music playing. And most importantly, coffee served by someone who knows about coffee.

One of the things I miss about the Northwest are small businesses owned by people who are just crazily passionate about what they do. Coffee roasters, microbrewers, winery owners, chefs and restauranteurs who just want to make phenomenal foods and drinks. Margo and I are often amazed at how many Britons settle for bland food. There's a lot less of that passion, and we have to work harder to seek it out.