Boho

I hate to admit it, but I am slightly behind on this blog. There are just so many cute cafes and so little time to share them all with you! But do not fear my friends, I have been taking notes so I don't forget anything! However, I decided to wait for a little bit before I wrote about Boho because it is definitely one of my favorite places that I have been to so far and I knew that I wouldn't forget anything about it. 

About a week ago Sam, Frankie, Ellie, Emily and I decided that we needed to go shopping in town (we were on a cute shoe mission). As we were walking down High Street, Boho caught our eyes so we decided to take a coffee break there. The first thing you notice about Boho is the color - its red! The color of this cafe definitely stands out from the rest of the restaurants and stores on the street. As we walk in, we see that the bright colors continue which really gives the place an upbeat atmosphere. Unfortunately because we were a group of 5, we were difficult to seat. There was one table left that could fit 5 people but I was in the waitresses' way to the kitchen so I kind of felt bad. Even with a guilty conscious, I still enjoyed my delicious large cafe latte for 2.40 pounds. Because I am new to lattes without flavoring, I did use 4 packets of brown sugar. Yes, brown sugar! Allison does not do Splenda anymore! And the white sugar is not as delicious as the brown. So next time you're at Starbucks or really an coffee shop, get a cafe latte (no flavoring) and brown sugar - you won't regret it! 

Emily, Frankie, me and Ellie (Sam was
taking the picture) outside of Boho : )
Clearly I didn't know the picture was going to be taken
because I'm just yapping away!

YUM! Look at their menu!

Here is where the magic (aka. coffee) is made!

Me and my latte! I love the clear glass mugs!
I don't know why, but I like seeing the color
(or colour because we're in England) of my coffee!

Next weekend, the gang and I will be heading to Dover (you can see France from there!) so hopefully we'll find a cafe there for me to blog about in case you come to England and stay in Dover and not Canterbury (but that would be silly because the town of Canterbury is too cute!). And then for Reading Week (a study week that we have here at University of Kent that is towards the end of February) we will be visiting a friend of ours from MSU, Colin, in Barcelona, Spain. Also, we have some plans in progress to Prague (Czech Republic), Italy, Ireland, France and Scotland so this coffee blog is about to leave the UK and tackle Europe. 

Caffe Venezia

Friday (January 28) was a very busy and chilly day! Since almost everyone had no class on Friday, we decided to head to town and tour the Canterbury Cathedral. We had the whole day planned - antique show at 1 (I love antiques shows/yard sale shopping! However, I do not love it nearly as much as I love coffee!), Cathedral tour from 2 to 4, coffee shop stop from 4 to 5:15, Evensong at the Canterbury Cathedral from 5:30 to 6:30 and then The Black Griffin Pub from 6:30 until Chris wanted to leave (the girls and I decided that Chris needed some fun time too so we agreed we would stop by this pub he has been eyeballing for a while). After the tour of the Cathedral, I was on a mission to find a cafe that could seat 6 people and that was close to the Cathedral. If you remember from an earlier post, finding seating even for 4 or 5 people can be tricky in the cafes in Canterbury. I was afraid that at 4pm on a Friday, seating for 6 would be impossible! I decided to let fate assist me in choosing a place so I quickly walked down the Palace Street (the same street that the Canterbury Cathedral is on) and stopped at the first coffee shop I found - Caffe Venezia. I peeked in the window and saw that there was plenty of room for all 6 of us to relax, warm up and enjoy some coffee.

"Caffe Venezia"

As we walked in to the Italian cafe, we all noticed a display case of spectacular looking cakes that made our eyes light up. Ellie (one of my housemates/English "Fun Fact" Provider), Sam and Chris decided to get a slice of carrot cake, marshmallow chocolate cake and white chocolate cheesecake (respectively) which looked absolutely delicious. Because I am on a budget, I decided to get a large cappuccino with fruit scones (scones are generally pretty cheap, tasty and very filling so if you're on a budget or just trying to save a pound or two, keep that in mind). The large cappuccino was 2.15 pounds! This confirms that coffee shops that are off the main street (in Canterbury, that street is called High Street) are most likely going to be cheaper but just as or even more delectable! This cappuccino was so good! I hate to say it, but it was a bit better than my cappuccino at Cafe Cultura (just a little bit!). Chocolate is truly the way to my heart and the chocolate that they use to top off the cappuccino at Caffe Venezia was to die for! And of course, the scones were the icing on the cake! For those of you who have not been to England, scones are not hard, triangle, pastry-like things. They are more like biscuits here and are much better than any scone I've had in the States (I'm sorry Biggby - the coffee place at Michigan State University that I used to get chocolate chip scones from). If you visit England, don't leave without getting coffee and enjoying a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Emily and I sitting outside of the Cafe
under the "Coffee Lounge" sign : )

Behind all of the wine, you can see where
the delicious coffee drinks are made!
The wine bottles made very interesting decorations.

See, I told you they weren't shaped like triangles.

Here is my cappuccino. I am so happy I bring
friends on my Cafe adventures because they
always remind me to take a picture before drinking!

The display case of delicious cakes!

Cafe Cultura

Today was really exciting because Sam and I thought that we had finally convinced Chris that he should be cool like us and love coffee. Before going into town to pick up our printer (it is much cheaper to buy a printer and split it 3 ways rather than paying to print things sheet by sheet at the library), Chris said that there was a coffee place that he'd like to go to in Canterbury. After walking 2 miles (the distance it is to town from University of Kent) in the rain and buying a printer, we were anxious to try this coffee place that even had Chris talking about it! After walking up and down the main street - High Street - we found that Chris' coffee shop closed at 2 because it was more of a breakfast and lunch cafe. But don't worry my friends, I will return there before 2pm and I will blog about it! 

The three of us decided that we wanted something warm to drink immediately so we looked down one of the many side streets to see if we saw a cafe. The first place we saw was a little cafe called "Cafe Cultura". This was the first cafe that I have been to in Canterbury that was not on the main drag so I was happy that we were really started to explore the town. We walked in and was greeted by the barista. I then told her that I was anxious to try a cappuccino but was hesitant. She then explained that a cappuccino is basically a cafe latte with foam. Did you know that? I didn't! My eyes were then obviously drawn to the menu to see how much I was going to pay for my first cappuccino and then I almost melted when I saw the prices. Ladies and Gentlemen, hold on to your socks because the cappuccinos (a generous size too!) were 1.99 pounds! Cafe Cultura had the cheapest cappuccinos I have seen since the start of this blog! Not only was the coffee reasonable, it was extremely yummy! I am so happy to announce...ALLISON LOVES CAPPUCCINOS!

It was tough to get a picture of the outside
because of street construction, but I tried!

Here is what the inside looks like!

My first cappuccino : )

"Yay! We're caffeinated again!"   

ASDA - England's Walmart

Alright audience, we both knew this was coming. It was really only a matter of time before I came across a bad "Cup of Joe". While frantically trying to buy groceries on the third day after arrival, for three people, in a completely foreign store and also trying to check out before the bus left for campus, Sam (my friend from Michigan State University) and I decided that we needed some liquid energy! We went to the cafe on the far end of ASDA and each bought a cup of brewed coffee for 95 pence. Unfortunately, American brewed coffee is NOT the same as English brewed coffee. The English usually either use "instant coffee (and I am not talking about Starbucks' VIA instant coffee) or a they use a french press to make coffee. The coffee Sam and I bought was instant coffee that came out of a machine and it just was not coffee. Also, as my lovely housemates pointed out to me, any store that is part of the Walmart family is probably not going to be known for their coffee so I'm still very optimistic about my future coffee adventures!

Before I could blog about this experience, I felt that I should try to make brewed coffee myself to see if I could do any better without a coffee pot. Long story short, instant coffee = BAD, french press coffee = GOOD. Because we are human, we tend to be a creatures of habit so I still believe that a coffee pot is the best way to go. However, Sam does make a mean cup of french press coffee and is sweet enough to save me some! She says it takes a lot of grounds in order to make it strong enough ("strong enough" for us may be a little stronger than most people like) so we will definitely have to keep an eye out for how quickly we go through coffee bags. Because none of us thought to bring our coffee pot along, it looks like we'll be using the french press while we are here. And who knows, maybe our habits will change and we'll start using french presses when we get home!

Costa Coffee

 

So, the sun finally peeked its little head out of all the clouds that hover over the island of England so it was time to celebrate with some...COFFEE! My buddy studying here from Penn State, Emily, and I decided to hit the small town of Canterbury to get caffeinated and to find international calling cards for a very important interview I had coming up. But where should we go? We decided to go to one of England's coffee chains. There are 4 coffee house chains that can usually be found evenly distributed throughout England: Cafe Nero, Costa Coffee, Cafe Rouge and of course, Starbucks! Because we found Costa Coffee first, that's where we chose to go. But don't worry my friends, we will definitely visit all of them : )

We walked into the coffee shop and it instantly reminded my of a red Starbucks. It was not nearly as cozy as Patisserie Valerie but it was much, much bigger so we had plenty of room to move about. As I glanced over the menu, I was so excited to see that they had an Iced Caramel Lattes and Iced Vanilla Lattes on the menu! It was the first flavored coffee I have seen since I have been here. So for 2.40 pounds, I ordered the delicious Iced Caramel Latte you see in the picture above. The caramel used in the latte was very different than what I am used to at the Biggbys, Starbucks' and Caribou Coffees I go to at home. It was much sweeter! So if you have a sweet tooth, you're going to love it! But if maybe the usual Caramel Latte you get at home is as sweet as you like, I'd request that they not put in the usual amount.

In the mug pictured above was the Americano that Emily ordered. Fun fact about coffee in England: they charge extra for milk! There is often 2 prices. It will either say Coffee Black/Coffee White or Americano Black/Americano White. The Coffee White/Americano White is commonly a little more (10 pence or so) expensive than the black. Also, if you order Coffee Black or Americano Black then ask for milk and get a little glare or look of confusion from the barista, then you know that you're supposed to pay a little more for it.

Stay tuned...I have many more coffee tales and pictures to come!

Patisserie Valerie

Hello my fellow bloggers! I have finally arrived in Canterbury, England and have finally overcome jetlag! What is the best medicine for jetlag you ask? Well, isn't it obvious - COFFEE! After spending a few days getting settled on campus, it was time to take on the adorable town of Canterbury. A few of us decided to make the 2 mile trek into the small city to scope out some coffee. Although there are a bunch of cute coffee shops to choose from, we needed to find one with enough seating for the 7 of us (believe it or not, it was actually pretty difficult) and needed to find a place with really good breakfast food (which can also be tricky. *Warning*: English bacon is NOT the same thing as American bacon).

About half way down the main street of Canterbury, we came across Patisserie Valerie and decided to go in after seeing all of the delicious treats in the window.  I ordered a chocolate croissant and a caffe latte. Since this is a coffee blog, I will mention the that the caffe latte was 2.40 pounds. Even with the current exchange rate, it was not too shabby! An interesting thing to point out is that flavoring is not that common here. I usually get a vanilla or caramel latte at home but they don't always offer in the coffee shops here across the pond.

As far as the atmosphere and the deliciousness of the pastry and coffee, words cannot explain! Patisserie Valerie is absolutely adorable with all of its treats on display in the window and the cutely decorated restaurant. The chocolate croissant was, of course, the best I have ever had. The caffe latte was not as good as my vanilla latte from home, but it certainly gets the job done! : )