https://hotnumberscoffee.co.uk/
Wrights Mowers, Hot Numbers Roastery, Dunsbridge Turnpike, Royston SG8 6RB
Out in the flatlands of Cambridgeshire, on the outskirts of Royston, nestled in between farmland stands a barn-like structure that is home to Hot Numbers roastery. An independent roaster that has two of its own shops in the county and supplies others too. Here is the heart of it’s operations drawing a crowd on what is, so far, the hottest day of the year. 
It’s a gorgeous spot to stop and have a drink with benches outside to sit and sip away at the edges of summer whilst the rural smells assault your senses. It’s too warm for me as I opt for a space inside of this bustling hub of activity. A big, open space with an espresso bar at the centre of it, rooms shoot off at the sides to the training centre and roast works whilst the main hall has scattered tables and a kitchen dishing up a small but well-rounded selection of brunch options. 
I don’t feel particularly hungry but it is lunch time and my eye is drawn to the smashed pea sourdough with vegan feta and lardons which I find myself greedily gobbling up, obviously hungrier than I had initially thought. I accompany this with an iced oat latte that has a smooth, smoky flavour to it that rises through the oat milk. It’s a soothing experience in the oppressive heat and the rich, mellow tones of the lightly roasted coffee ooze out.
First round consumed, I lean back on the leather couch I’ve taken up residency in and gaze around lazily. There are a lot of families out today, all enjoying the ambience of the many moving parts going on in the background. Once the food has settled and I’ve acclimatised a little more to the temperature, I go back for seconds, this time going for a regular oat latte and a vegan citrus cake, which is surprisingly soft and moist for vegan baking.
I like this cafe a lot and make a mental note to bring people out here more often, it’s a wonderful way to spend an afternoon and offers a little more of an eclectic vibe than your standard coffee shop in town. With coffee goodies galore to buy near the exit, it also caters well to the caffeine enthusiasts making it an essential stop off if you’re in the area.

4 Trumpington St, Cambridge CB2 1QA
For all the pomp and ceremony of being a famed seat of learning, Cambridge does not have a coffee scene that is widely lauded, which seems a little odd given that there’s plenty of students pulling all nighters and in desperate need of a decent caffeine fix to spring up plenty of fine coffee shops. But without a pre-eminent roastery in mind, I turn to the Lonely Planet Global Coffee Tour book to see if it can provide me with any suggestions. It furnished me with a single morsel in the form of Hot Numbers a business specialising in single origin coffee and with two locations in the city, it’s flagship being at a former brewery on Gwydir Street.
I slither through the Royal Botanic Gardens to the smaller store on Trumpington Street where stripped wooden tables and bare brick wall would suggest the congruity of any hip little indie cafe but to deny its own identity would wholly unfair.
Able to select the size of your coffee from either 8oz or 12oz, this is an interesting shift away from the stringent level of purism that runs through the third wave coffee industry in sizing where one drink is one size, and although between 8 - 12oz is a perfectly acceptable margin for, say, a latte, it is very rare that you, the customer, get the choice. What this clever little inversion of the coffee size paradigm also does is combat the nonsense found in chain coffee shops where you can get a ‘large’ flat white, this rendering the drink no longer a flat white. It offers a choice that so many consumers want whilst also maintaining some properness in coffee ordering.
Food and drink are sourced from Cambridge and the Cambridgeshire region in order to support local business, and have a lesser impact on the environment whilst, as is rapidly becoming the standard, non-dairy milk options are in abundance. It’s definitely worth making the time to stop off here if you can, but be warned that it’s clearly popular with locals and tourists alike.
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