Coffee in the city of steel, The Sheffield blog

Our frequent blogger and head of coffee, Will, was on the road again. Here is his piece on Sheffield.

Sheffield; Steel City, birthplace of great musical acts like While She Sleeps, Rolo Tomassi and Moloko (and google tells me some other young talent called Pulp, Bring Me The Horizon and Arctic Monkeys?), and the destination for a spontaneous caffeinated excursion.

After a brief chat with VvW alumni Tom one evening, now a legend on the tools at Paradox amongst other spots, we decided we both needed a trip out of the sensory overstimulation provided by London. He suggested visiting some friends from when he lived and worked in Sheffield. Sunday night, we hopped on a coach and made our way up so we could utilise more of the Monday to properly soak up what these cafes had to offer.

That evening, we popped through Cutlery Works, a food hall and social space set across two floors. We ate our way through some top choices with origins in Vietnam, India and Southern Thailand, with a duck bahn mi and pad ga prao, aka holy basil stir fry. Also, the mango chutney that came with the Indian selection was basically a mango puree. Not a complaint, I could've been served that with a straw and I would've been happy. After such a vast volume of food we headed back to where we were staying to get ready for a day of coffee.

Monday comes around, and in spite of the drizzly weather, we were ready to hit up as many spots as we could, with our first destination being Corner Store. This was a cute neighbourhood spot, with some shelves of retail coffee and other small artisan goods. Tom went with a cortado, and I ordered some batch, the coffee brewed being roasted by Ground State in Dublin. Their take on Justine Beaver, from Bella Vista in Colombia, was a solid start to the day. Process forward but with that flavour being comforting; like a chocolate and rum-raisin danish, with a hint of passion fruit acidity.

Once fuelled with some tasty coffee, Tom figured it'd be a smart idea to grab some food before cracking on with... well, a whole bunch more coffee. He had already clocked that Tonco Bakery was across the road, so we darted straight in. Not only did they operate a bakery and cafe, but they also had a greengrocers at the back, selling locally grown produce, other locally produced goods, and even some fresh items like housemade pizza dough. We grabbed a slice of their focaccia topped with tomatoes, basil, and what tasted like lemon and olive oil, and frankly the lemon made an already great bite shine brighter. We followed it with an almond croissant and a tahini pain au chocolat, the latter of which I thoroughly enjoyed as it gave the vibes of chocolate and peanut butter, but without needing to pry any peanut butter away from the top of my mouth like I'm Mister Ed.

From there, it was onto Sheffield coffee institution, Mows Coffee, where Tom also used to work. A diner style seating situation with a bar that any coffee nerd or barista (or both) would be envious of. Sam, bossman on bar, served us up a solid trio; a single espresso & single piccolo for Tom prepared with Suke Quto, a natural Ethiopian from Un.Common, and I got myself a batch brew featuring a double anaerobic tartaric Tabi from Jhoan Vergara, roasted by Process. The espresso popped with tons of the citrus characteristics and floral aromas I enjoy with natural Ethiopian coffees. With the batch, Sam mentioned it tasted like grape soda. It tasted like grape soda. Love it. Simple but solid. We ended up grabbing another round of drinks while we hung with Tom's friend and I grabbed a slice of the burnt honey custard pie; you just don't get pies nowadays in places serving sweet goods, and it was exactly what I needed at that moment.

Next on our list was Kilnfolk, just down the street from Sheffield United stadium. A stunning space with loads of natural light, serving coffee, food and stocking locally made ceramics by Dor and Tan. Tom has a few friends who are looking after the local community from behind the bar, and so it made sense to join in with those being taken care of. 

Tom had an espresso and I went with - yep, a batch, both served in lovely ceramics by Dor and Tan. The batch I went for was Motouu from Rwanda, roasted by Oddkin. Light and juicy, and pleasantly sweet.

Lastly, we made our way over to Cloud Coffee, a chilled out spot on a small high street, with a modern yet homely atmosphere. By this point I was a little fatigued from all the coffee, but Tom and his eagle eyed observation clocked something on the menu, nearly out of sight, next to the card reader; a can of ting (grapefruit soda from Jamaica for the uninitiated) served with espresso on top. Absolute inspired genius.

So we sat down with our two ting and spros, one with the house coffee and one with the guest, and it was perfect. It works so well I couldn't stop laughing. I was so distracted by how tasty it was I didn't even care what the coffee was at first; upon inquiring I was informed that they were both roasted by Obadiah, the house hailing from Santa Colomba, Brazil, and the guest being a natural Colombian from Gaitania.

With a line drawn underneath our coffee conquest for the day, a goodbye to Tom's friend, and another 4 hours till our train, we did what only made sense when on top of a massive hill in Sheffield on a rainy day; proper chip shop chips with curry sauce, a chilled stroll through the nearby park to admire the views, and slowly plodding our way through town, only stopping to sip some cold brews (not coffee) as an excuse to kill some time indoors.

One thing I've not mentioned throughout this recollection of our trip, was the service. Each and every cafe we visited, we received what I can only describe as my favourite service style; warm, friendly, and genuine. Everyone was happy to help us out however we needed, helpes us where they could, answered any questions we asked, and didn't answer anything we never questioned. It makes me almost jealous of the regulars to every place we went to; getting that kind of welcome every time I roll through would start my day off on a really positive buzz.

Sheffield's coffee scene is something I'm going to keep an eye out for. There's a solid community of passionate and skilled coffee people who want to push the quality of what's possible with the coffee they're getting on their bars, and they're serving it with a welcome that already has me looking forward to when I next go back.

Will visited the following places:

Cutlery Works - 73 – 101 Neepsend Ln, Neepsend, Sheffield S3 8AT

Corner Store - 239 Sharrow Vale Rd, Sharrow, Sheffield S11 8ZE

Tonco Bakery - 232 Sharrow Vale Rd, Sharrow, Eccleshall, Sheffield S11 8ZH

Mow's Coffee - 151 Arundel St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2NU

Kilnfolk - Unit 1, Chaucer Yard, 50 Clough Rd, Highfield, Sheffield S1 4TB

Cloud Coffee Co - 227 Crookes, Sheffield S10 1TE