Willow & Co., Nailsworth

Wheelwrights Corner Old Market, Nailsworth, Stroud GL6 0DU
https://www.willow-and-co.co.uk/

The soft drizzle starts to patter down a little heavier becoming a definite rain. I find myself in rural Gloucestershire, throat sore from a night of singing and dancing at a pair of friends’ wedding and in desperate need of caffeine to revitalise me for the long drive home. 

Vacating the beautiful cottage I was staying at, nestled amongst the rolling hills of the Cotswolds, I weave the ten minutes down country lanes to the town of Nailsworth, a medieval enclave that’s largely shuttered up for the Sunday. I park up and dash across the road, trying to avoid too much precipitation to come to a lifestyle store recommended to me by another guest whilst I mingled amongst the well-wishers for the happy couple.
Soggily, I step into a quaint little lifestyle shop come cafe that is serving up a single origin from Bristol Roasters, Triple Co. I opt for an oat flat white and sit by the window to watch the raindrops race downward and make the most of the light and airy atmosphere that fills the place with a sense of warmth, even in a grey day like this.

All warm neutrals and soft palette colours, a perfectly formed oat flat white arrives at the table and I take a sip to find a nutty, smooth sensation - almost umami in it’s roundedness - that awakens my senses. So enlightening is it that I resolve to buy some beans before I leave, discussing the roast with the baristas and discovery it’s from a Bristol based roaster.

Squirming off out into the day, a kilo of beans under my arm, it was well worth the journey in the damp to pick up an exquisite experience which I can now take home with me.