Hot Numbers Coffee

Website: www.hotnumberscoffee.co.uk
Dales Brewery, Gwydir Street (just off Mill Rd, south of Parker's Piece)
Fare: house roasted coffees, tea, Fitzbillies pastries, breakfast, sandwiches, bottled drinks, wine & beer
Price Range: £-££
Service Tips: leave dishes at table
Reviewers Tried: 8 oz. cappuccino (Brazil Sertaozinho); iced latte; porridge w/ prunes & honey

This little coffee shop is a bit of a walk, but if you have the time and you love seriously good coffee, Hot Numbers is a gem and well worth the effort. First of all, they're an independent small batch coffee roaster -- music to my ears, anyway. They've incorporated that into quite a nice menu, where you can actually choose from one of three different single origin espressos, served as a 2, 4, 8, or 10 oz. americano or traditional cappuccino. They also offer another roast for "filter" coffees, in this case, not drip coffee, but rather a choice of aeropress, syphon, or pour over. For those who are inclined to have their coffee over ice, that's also an option, and they even shake their iced lattes, which doesn't necessarily accomplish anything special, but the end result looks pretty. You can even get a single origin decaf there, which is a feat in and of itself.

The cafe itself looks like a great place to work, with a couple of large wooden tables meant for group work (if you've been to Fitzbillies, it's like the long table they have on the cafe side, except that Hot Numbers has at least four of those, and they look like they can far more comfortably accommodate a large group). It's nice and sunny with the big front window, and they double as an art gallery, so you can peruse the collection or just enjoy the ambiance of a clean, artsy cafe that knows how to make your coffee right. Plus, they serve Fitzbillies' pastries, so if you want all the goodness without all the crowdedness, Hot Numbers is the place to go.