It's no secret that I enjoy a good cup of coffee. A quick search through my blog archives will unearth several posts on my love of coffee and my love of local coffee shops.
Combining all this, the recently launched Belfast Coffee Tour takes in several of these great stores with a healthy dander and some amazing coffee and company.

The Belfast coffee scene is growing and this is a good thing. However, some bare bulbs, reclaimed furniture and a cafetiere do not a coffee shop make. Without drive, passion and knowledge, there is no differentiating them from any other cafe offering your standard cappuccinos and lattes.
What sets these businesses apart is the sheer amount of work and love that goes into their craft. And it is a craft. I am always astounded at the alchemy that goes into roasting, blending and brewing of coffee.

We started our tour on Belfast's Ormeau Road. It is becoming something of an indie food destination with some truly great cafes, restaurants and coffee shops opening in the past few years.
Tucked away on an unassuming side street is Root & Branch. A compact set up belies this coffee powerhouse. Home to its own roastery, Ben & Simon of Root & Branch roast, blend and brew their own batches of coffee. They don't need to offer fancy frills and gimmicks; just great coffee and a small selection of treats. (Root & Branch have recently extended a new city centre "branch" in The Ormeau Baths which has been converted into a shared digital workspace)

After downing a tasty espresso (and a sneaky affogato that was used for an Instagram post), we set off to our next destination, dandering down the Ormeau Road and cutting through Belfast's Botanic Gardens, we emerged in the Queens Quarter and our next stop; The Pocket.



Living up to its diminutive namesake, The Pocket is set up in a refurbished Victorian terrace right on the doorstep of Queen's University. 
Offering soup and light lunches and delicious homemade donuts, The Pocket also serves one of my favourite types of cold coffee. 
I have a very sweet tooth but that doesn't always translate to my coffee, usually filter and without milk or sugar. However, I am a total convert to Vietnamese coffee which is an iced coffee made with condensed milk for a sweet, chilled treat. Made using Dublin's 3FE coffee, we were also treated to a smooth espresso as contrast to the milky sweetness of the Vietnamese.

Crossing over to Botanic Avenue, we stopped at Kaffe O. The bigger sister of the original Kaffe O on Ormeau Road, Kaffe O brings a Nordic flavour to Belfast. Hygge-hysteria is still in full swing so anything with a Scandi vibe encouraging comfort, warmth and a sense of wellbeing is welcomed. Serving a fusion of Mediterranean and Scandinavian food (panzanella with rye bread -yum!) and Ricco's coffee shipped directly from the roastery in Copenhagen twice a week.





Continuing on Botanic Avenue, we arrived at our penultimate stop; Town Square. This hotel was previously a so-so restaurant but has reinvented itself as a cool bistro and coffee shop, winning awards for its menu and the work of its baristas.



This was the first of our shops to offer a filter coffee to sample. As much as I like the short hard hit of an espresso, I prefer the flavour profiles that you can only get with a filter coffee. Using Roasted Brown Coffee from Dublin, Town Square are a relatively new face in the coffee family but have made a name for themselves winning 1st & 2nd places in the 2016 NI Aeropress Championships.