Harris + Hoole
I can't score them too high, since I don't actually remember the flavour of anything…
Harris + Hoole is a chain in disguise. Walk into one and think you took a wrong turn into Starbucks (any road that leads to Starbucks is wrong) and then walk into another one of them and feel like you've stumbled upon some hidden gem of a shop, some old-fashioned coffeehouse in the middle of a busy high-street. They are all different, but they are all Harris + Hoole.
The jig might be up, but it doesn't matter. H+H is such a sweet place to be when you stumble upon the right one.
Which is what I did in 2012 ona visit to the UK. Only two things make you remember a place so many years later; you eiether had a horrible time or you had the best time. I had the best time.
I ordered (hold on to your cups) a cappuccino (!) and sat down to write. It was peaceful and quiet. A few snowflakes even stroked the glass outside my window. Then I ordered another cup, and when it arrived it was accompanied by nothing less than a frickin' mint marshmallow covered in moccabeans! Did you hear me? Coffee. Mint. Marshmallow. Mocca. Free. How did that barista have the clairvoyance to bring me this fluffy melt-on-my-tongue goodness? Did they carve it straight out of a cloud? I don't think that day could have been better.
With my Minty Fluffcloud of Perfection in my hand I could sit there all day, every day.
I can't score H+H too high, so they will only get a 4, because I don't actually remember the flavour of anything besides the mint marshmallow. The memory of the place is amazing, but the coffee could be crap… I would go back to check, but in 2016 they were bought up by Café Nero, a chain of coffee shop I don’t really like... Very sad news. Maybe they couldn’t afford giving away all those clouds?
Final verdict: 4/6 (but in my dreams you were a 6. R.I.P. Harris + Hoole)
