1 Holywell Hill
St Albans
AL1 1ER
https://www.books-on-the-hill.co.uk
With the first books created around 500 BCE and coffee not being discovered until 800 AD, there is a large portion of human history where, I imagine, people were reading something really good and just going “Damn, this is missing something.”  However, when goat herders in Ethiopia did finally stumble upon the caffeinated properties of wild growing coffee plants, I can only theorise that they were like “This stuff’s good, get me snug as hell with a book and some of whatever this is!”

Since then, the relationship between coffee and books has been intrinsically linked. Get me some a good book and a cosy blanket with some darn fine coffee on a miserable winter’s eve and I am good to go for the rest of the night. Bookshops have undoubtedly picked up on this and many now have their own, in house cafe areas where you can read your latest purchase, beverage in hand, and just enjoy the general atmosphere of being surrounded by books. Many of the big retailers now have their own cafe’s attached to said stores; Waterstones and Foyle’s both having their own. In fact, my very own coffee industry training stems from starting out in a children’s bookshop that’s business model was get the kids in to read and sell the exhausted adults legal stimulants. Physical books having a healing property, maybe not physically but certainly spiritually and I will die on this hill, probably surrounded by bookshelves that I’ve employed to ward off evil spirits.

 The point I’m getting at with all of this, is that, a bookshop with an attached cafe is wonderful thing and an indie bookshop that serves decent coffee just expands on that tenfold. Books On The Hill is a family run bookshop in St Albans that caters to all ages and is a wonderful source to find more eclectic reading material than many of the high street chains will hold. Failing that, if they don’t have it, they can easily get it in for you. But this is not a book blog and so, we are drawn upstairs to their Reading Rooms Café.

A long, corridor-esque setup with mismatched chairs and walls of leather-bound books, and cubby holes for propping yourself up in to take time with your latest literary investment, right at the back, sits a small kitchen with what is, effectively, a home espresso machine. Quaint in surroundings and in operation, the coffee is from Steampunk Roasters, a small-batch roasters from coastal Scotland that lends further weight to my theory that Scotland is roasting the best coffee in the UK right now. The oat latte I order is fudgey and dark, but also sweet and smooth. It’s an entrancing spot and I sort of hunker down in the crooked and characterful, wood-panelled surroundings, slightly aware that the conversation I’m holding can be heard by everyone around me in this tiny setting, where some have come to read. But it’s nice, it feels like it adds weight to my words, and what I am saying is of importance, even if it’s not. You can get vegan brownies here (which I don’t try this time around) and just sort of nibble at the edges of time whilst perusing a novel, just sort of feeling worldly and yet comfortable all in one. I wish I was as sophisticated and as interesting as the venue but alas, the best I can do is arrange to have coffee here.

7-8 CHRISTOPHER PLACE, ST ALBANS, AL3 5DQ

https://www.hatchstalbans.com/

Hatch is, evidently, one of those forever popular brunch spots that’s almost impossible to get a table at. I know this because I’ve never actually had the pleasure of sitting down inside, alway being directed to stand just outside the door to wait for a takeaway coffee order because it’s too narrow to be having lingerers and that’s all I ever am as I pop in on the rare occasion I wander up or down the hill into or out of town (although, soon to relocate to the Christopher Place shopping centre just up the road). Be it summer or winter, I drop by for an oat latte or its iced equivalent and have to wait on the street as some kindly barista whips it up for me whilst those with power of forethought enjoy their weekend meals. 


I say this not as a complaint but just as a statement of fact and a testament to its popularity. As such, I can only really talk about its takeaway coffee which I’ve sampled a few times with its smooth, earthy appeal and dry but not harsh undertones, it is quite possibly one of the best coffees in St. Albans. A seller of Campbell and Syme’s, it works well with creamier drinks like the latte, but on a hot afternoon, an iced oat latte seems to be at the peak of its powers by juxtaposing the drier notes with a rich and creamy oat milk. Well worth just dropping in, perhaps one day I’ll plan far enough ahead to be able to give it a full review.

Panshanger Park, Thieves Ln, Hertford SG14 2WN

https://www.plantedcoffeeco.co.uk

Panshanger Park is a historic park and garden registered Grade II by English Heritage. Owned by the Tarmac group, who are excavating the land around it for gravel and other such resources, it’s a sort of trade-off where they dig up the countryside so protect parts around it and turn it over to nature. It is, a magnificent place Spanning from Hertford, through Cole Green and out the other side to Panshanghar in Welwyn Garden City, the park is a lengthy expanse of greenery great for a stroll in nature, a bit of bird spotting or just a lunchtime walk out of the office (working near the Panshangar end, this is how I usually spend my lunch hour)..
Approach from the Hertford end and you enter via a gravel lot that acts as a car park but, be warned, if you drove up you’ll suffer the indignity of having to pay for the pleasure of parking. Here, on the edge of the lot, just before you choose a route to delve off into the country grounds, sits Planted; a converted horse box that serves only plant based snacks and beverages - in effect a vegan coffee shop for you to start or end your walk at.
As a vegan myself, it’s such a relief to just go to places where you don’t have to worry about what’s on the menu and can just order an oat milk latte as the standard and hope they didn’t mishear you. But places like this have a special place in my heart because it means you can get out and about and pick up a little treat even when you weren’t expecting to. All too often have I been to places where people have pointed out a place to get a drink or cake and I’ve just had to forgo the experience altogether because I’m not catered for. Sure, it probably wasn’t the purpose of my visit but it would be nice to be included in the moment.
Planted seems I like a place you would naturally seek out for coffee. Unlikely to just rock up at a car park for caffeine and then leave, it’s charm is it’s location so you’ll likely be here for a walk. However, that doesn’t mean it rests on its laurels when it comes to its offerings, with smooth, treacly coffee and an array of pastries to really make my plant based heart flutter. How often is desired a Danish since my conversion to vegan living and been denied the flaky goodness and custardy centre is perhaps just one too many times and now I know, if I want one (followed by a short walk to burn off the calories again) at least I have a good option nearby.

3 Datchworth Green, Datchworth, Hertfordshire, SG3 6TL
Datchworth Coffee is a front. Not for criminal enterprise (although, I don’t know what happens in these small, country villages) but for a high-end catering business that uses this secluded spot as a sort of showroom for their wares. Here, they provide the perfect place to show-off cakes and coffees, an exquisite breakfast menu and light lunches from the idyllic location of a tiny Hertfordshire village.
​
Datchworth itself is the sort of place that has four pubs, but only one with a car park, a corner shop and not much else. It’s minuscule size, and location between several bigger towns, meant the I expected little from its local coffee shop, questioning if it even sold speciality coffee. A glorious old house that leans slightly and has an old, red telephone box out front, now repurposed as a village library, the physical shop is stunning. However, I had visions of it being a sort of nice little nook that had a posh espresso machine and then used whatever beans they could get their hands on but this is a proper coffee spot, some serious work has gone into it. First of all, a prime location for cyclists and day trippers, it makes the most of its country location and its wooden beamed charm. Dog and welly friendly, it throws open its arms to walkers, and has a space out the back of its premises for when the sun doth shine. The La Marzocco on the countertop provides some assurance, as it’s rare you invest in one of these without any intent to use it properly. It has been known, but not often.

Inside is almost the polar opposite to the external features with the rustic charm giving way to warm and modern countertops and low hanging lighting that provides that welcoming yellow glow that led lights seem to have lost. Exposed brickwork and wooden beams jostle for position against the wood panelled serving area and sleek breakfast bar that holds a modern feel to it all.

I arrive late Sunday, so it’s near closing time and I don’t hold out much hope for decent scran. There are some delectable looking cakes on the counter but nothing immediately jumps out as plant-based and I think better of causing a stir so close to the end of the day. I sceptically enquired as to whether an oat latte can be down as I’ve been burnt too many times by remote cafés that haven’t quite caught up with veganism. Not an issue at all, I’m informed, as I slide into the bay window that peers out onto the street, and I am shocked to be served up a creamy and smooth latte that has rich, caramel undertones with a balanced and sweet mouthfeel that provides a splendidly traditional but unobtrusive taste. It was one of the better coffees I’ve had for quite some time! It turns out the London roasters Campbell and Some have got as far as the Hertfordshire countryside and are nibbling away at the market in small pockets such as this one. I've sampled their coffee in commuter towns such as St. Albans but to find them setting up shop in the outer reaches of the region is a pleasant surprise.


Perhaps I should be more open minded on my search for great caffeine dealers because this feels like one heck of a find. A stunning countryside location and coffee to match feels almost too good to be true and I look forward to dropping by again soon, perhaps next time with food in mind.

https://fourriverscoffee.co.uk/
19 Birch Green, Birch Green, Hertford SG14 2LR
The shameful trudge to acquire my vice of choice. Usually I’m away over the fields staring at the Red Kites that circle overhead or counting butterflies in the woodland beyond the dual carriageway by now. Today, however, I lope up the single straight road towards the next village along from where my office is situated because today is my first opportunity to try the new independent coffee shop that has opened there. The smell of hot tarmac coming from the freshly laid road surface evokes images of my soft rubber soles melting into the pavement as I stare upward blissfully unaware, it’s the kind of warm day where a hot drink is not really called for but I can’t help myself, imbued with the knowledge that this establishment is now open.
Four Rivers coffee is roasted in Hertford Heath, its name a nod to the four rivers that converge on the flood plain of a town that is Hertford itself. I only became aware of them by noticing their van being parked up in the local Sainsbury’s car park and, making a note of their website, ordered a bag of their Rwandan beans to my door. Now, opening up a sort of project space, their flagship coffee shop sits in the village of Birch Green and has grand plans to become a community centre-come-meeting place for the locals with eggs, milk and other basic essentials (and not so basic luxuries) sourced from the surrounding areas to show-off the best of what East Herts has to offer.
The local scene in and around Hertford seems to be taking off with local indie shops and roasters popping up with a fair regularity recently. The Herts Coffee Lab is slowly building into a chain of reasonable proportions with locations in Hitchin, Hertford, Ware and Welwyn Garden City, whilst Sustain Coffee’s flagship store, roastery and community centre in Hatfield serves up rare coffees and provides high-end training for others in the region. Four River’s addition to this mix only serves to strengthen this enclave of caffeine that is slowly building in this corner of the Home Counties and staking a claim as a region of coffee excellence.
In what was the village shop, Four Rivers has set up, initially only opening on Fridays and the weekends, and so my foray has to be timed with my lunchtime stroll from work at the end of the week. Upon approach, I can already see clusters of people sitting outside, only too happy to settle into the cafe lifestyle this new opportunity presents them. It’s only been officially open for a week and people lounge about with the certainty of regulars who have been coming here for half a lifetime, dogs in tow and massed little groups who have decided this is the perfect meeting spot. That’s just from the few tables outside, with inside offering a few more tables and a bar to congregate at. 
It remains a little sparse at the moment but the blue tiling and fresh coat of paint gives it a clean and optimistic outlook with a couple of the aforementioned local products on display. There’s only a small selection of coffees available at the moment but the standards are there and I opt for my regular beverage of choice, the oat latte - with a couple of oat milk options to choose from too. They’re serving up their Costa Rican single origin which claims notes of blood orange, chocolate and pomegranate molasses, and it certainly captures a syrupy sweetness that pierces through the oat milk with a dense intensity and coating mouthfeel that gives it the essence of a sort of dessert drink, something you’d gladly quaff down at the end of the night. 
I have a conversation with the barista serving me, who recognises me from previous orders, social media interactions, and this very blog. It’s nice to be recognised for such things and I guess the whole idea of building a community feel centres around little interactions like this, where you can feel like part of something in the small moments of just buying a coffee. I hope it thrives and continues to build on what it really has because it’s a glorious little space serving up some wonderful coffee, and it’s placement makes it a great stop-off for the swarm of cyclists that traverse from North London to Herts every weekend, or those just drifting on by. 
I try to take a photo for this review and spill some coffee down myself in my awkward fumble to orientate my phone. Sighing, I stumble off back in the direction of the office swirling the sweet drink around my tongue a little to really pull out the dark-sugary tones. Dangerous indeed to have something this good so close-by to the office.

18 Fore St, Hertford SG14 1BZ
When did brunch become a respectable thing to aspire to? When I was at uni, brunch was the shameful admission that you were too hungover to get up for breakfast, yet you were starving before it was generally acceptable to have lunch. Now it seems to have generated a whole industry around middle-class meet-ups and egg based foodstuffs.
Of the hundreds of places that describe themselves as ‘brunch spots’ they all seem to have certain tropes that signal exactly what they are without ever deliberately saying that, and Peach hits several of these notes from the off. For one, as you walk into the premises, you are instantly accosted by a bright orange neon sign of a slightly suggestive pair of lips chomping on a stone fruit, and you are seated an faux marble tables and provided with a carafe of cucumber water along with your menus. If this isn’t enough to instantly signal what kind of eatery it is, the sign saying “Pooch Friendly” should tip you off that those with their handbag dogs and designer mutts are about to rock up and make themselves known.
I mention this, not as a derogatory aside but merely as a statement of how clearly Peach has set itself out. You are unlikely to get a table if you don’t book on a weekend, and once day turns to evening, it becomes a bit of an upmarket burger bar. The amount of things that can have avocado on is astounding and the hash browns aren’t really hash browns but more dauphinois potato blocks. Enjoyable, but not necessarily what you were expecting. What I will say about these places is that, they always manage to cater to vegans and for that I am eternally grateful.
But this is not a food blog, it is a coffee blog and so me must turn our attentions to the coffee. Like many a good brunch place, speciality coffee comes as part and parcel of the whole experience and ordering from one of these places is, more likely than not, going to be a safe bet that you’ll get a half decent cup of coffee. Peach, is no different in this aspect as my oat milk latte comes with the obligatory latte art. The coffee is smooth and has no roughness around the edges although, once you get past the initial creaminess of the latte, there is a slightly bitter aftertaste that conjours up something stronger than what it is. A dense mouthfeel makes for a more luxurious coffee experience than many others, as it rolls around the tongue, clinging to the top of the mouth.

It’s pretty good coffee and it stands to reason that it’ll continue to serve as such because of its business model, but in a town like Hertford, a commuter town of limited size where many are used to London speciality coffee, and a place that is rapidly expanding out its own offering in this area, where does it stack up? I can’t see it stealing patrons from the explicit coffee shops, but it is nice to know that there is a place you can eat that also matches up to these should you need your caffeine fix but also need a spot of lunch…or brunch.

Great Northern Works, Hartham Ln, Hertford SG14 1QN

I’m not in the habit of reviewing coffee vans or trailers. Not because they’re not capable of doing a decent coffee but their transient nature and lack of plumbing so often means that they just don’t bother. They’re selling point is convenience not quality. However, several times I’ve been told to try out Bean and Gone in my local town, a trailer that sits outside the bike shop I visit when I need my cycle looked over or adjusted in some way, but it’s not somewhere I visit regularly. After I got past my initial reservations of visiting it, every time I’ve dropped in for some biking bits, the trailer has shut up shop so it’s taken me until now to finally get around to trying it. Fortunately (in some ways at least), I find myself needing a new head light to stop the aggressive drivers of the area running me off the road on my evening commute home, what with the present option not being strong enough to warrant twisting your neck to see what’s coming before blindly taking a turn at a junction. I needed something that is retina burningly bright and used the opportunity to stop off for some coffee.

Investing in Roastworks coffee, a speciality coffee roaster from Devon, is the first sign that this small shop on wheels is not just your average coffee trailer as it’s taken the time to invest in a half-decent coffee to serve to those who pass by. In fact, I suspect it doesn’t just serve ‘passers-by’ or the caffeine starved cyclist but rather has regulars of its own. For one thing, this seemingly portable horse box of an establishment stays put, even having seating outside it to encourage less of a takeaway nature to its coffee and cake than the initial premises would provide. I suspect, part of its being located in a trailer has something to do with the business rates in Hertford but this is pure speculation on my part.

Either way, starting to get damp from the light drizzle, I approach the window to see a selection of vegan and gluten free cakes also available from this space and I’m further convinced that it may actually be the real deal. I’m severely tempted to give one of these baked goods a try but it’s taken me this long to work up to the coffee from here so I continue with my baby steps and ask for my standard oat latte. After some initial to-ing and fro-ing with the card machine (the joys of modern technology), I am served up an exquisite cup of smooth coffee with a strong chocolate tone that has a slight nuttiness throughout. There is a touch of bitterness to it at the end that simmers on the tongue after every sip that just cuts into the silky smooth mouthfeel and provides a jaggedness that juxtaposes nicely with the creamy oat milk.

Happily walking back through town, bike light acquired and latte in hand, I have to admit that my prejudices about coffee from a horse box have been turned around. Maybe I’ll have to find more reasons to head down to the cycle shop in the future.

www.brewgarden.co.uk

3 MAIDENHEAD STREET, HERTFORD, SG14 1DP

Appearing just before the festive season, The Brew Garden seemingly stole in out of nowhere and just set up overnight. Perhaps a little miserly, right across the street from much loved local establishment Hertford Coffee Lab, but business is business and a little competition certainly isn’t going to hurt the Herts coffee scene. 

With an A-board proclaiming the ‘Best Espresso in London’ from The Times, I’m instantly dubious. Do you know how much good coffee there is in London? And, I’ve never heard of the Brew Garden before it rocked up in my little commuter town that is rapidly becoming an enclave of hairdressers, estate agents, coffee shops and little else more. However, I’m also not one to turn their nose up at more speciality coffee being on my doorstep.


A tiny premises, its selling point seems to be that it is a coffee bar during the day and wine bar at night, the sort of establishment I would have been crying out for when I was a drinker but now I’m just non-plussed at another hospitality business trying to stake a claim on an ailing high street. But, making a big to do of speciality coffee and craft beer, I give it its due and make a mental note to drop in some time and, sure enough, the opportunity presents itself on a week day working from home where I’ve had to stroll into town for some such necessity and thought, why not stop off here rather than my regular caffeine dealer?

There’s not a lot of room but the rounded glass frontage and al fresco tables (abandoned at the moment given the place is covered in snow and ice) certainly offer up a view to pleasant drinking. I wipe the condensation from my glasses and peer bleary eyed at the pastries on the front counter but then I see it: a glorious Elektra Belle Époque. One of the classic style Italian espresso machines that is all chrome and rounded like a bullet, a spread eagle bonnet ornament adorning it like some sort of Roman flagstaff. A vertically developed machine, it has a retro feel that evokes a sort of 1950s charm whilst actually being fairly up to date with coffee technologies. I love the look of them but I have a certain scepticism of places that use them just because, all too often, they become signifiers of style over substance. A sort of café equivalent of the hipster or the middle aged cyclists that so often frequent them, all the gear and no idea.

What is delightful is that, with each coffee comes a 70% cocoa slab of chocolate. Very Italian in its service and delightfully snaffled into a coat pocket for later consumption as I order an oat latte to take away. Traditional Italian coffee should mean I’m served a bitter espresso and a glass of water and flatly refused anything with milk (or in my case, milk alternative) after 11.30 am but this is middle-class, middle England and so I’m served up my oat latte from the steaming, monolithic bell jar of an espresso machine without a word issued against me, and I cheerily venture back out into the cold again.

Of the coffee itself, a mild experience with a hint of lingering bitterness but nothing too striking to say it really stands out from the crowd as pure, authentic Italian coffee. But then, I imagine most Brits would struggle with that and perhaps it has had to been altered to appeal to native tastes. Either way, a nice little addition to the swelling coffee scene of the town. I must try it again some time and perhaps, just perhaps, that need to return could well shake up the established hierarchy of Hertford town.