Love It Local, Try Some Belfast-Blended Suki Tea at Your Nearest Ground Espresso Bar.

 Ground Espresso bars are scattered far and wide through out Northern Ireland, with new branches opening all the time. We visited the new Bangor branch again, it's located on the ring road beside Pure Gym. There will also be a second Bangor Ground concession inside the new Next that's being built at Bloomfield Shopping Centre.

The easiest way to see if there is a Ground branch coming to your town is to  join their Facebook page.

Last month we visited the new Bangor store and tried their special coffee brew bar experience. This time around I chose from their selection of Suki loose leaf teas, picking Apple Loves Mint.

Suki Tea is blended in Belfast and Ground are proud to source local products when available. If you are unsure which loose leaf tea to go for, ask a barista can you smell the different aromas on offer.  

Your tea will be served in a classic Suki Tea Pot, which are also available to buy in store, or on their website. 

£30

£22.50

The food choice at Ground are also sourced locally, and hand finished in store. 

Today my choice was a big, soft, lemon & blueberry muffin. Smix had his favourite, Nutella Cake.

So why not support a local coffee shop and visit a Ground Espresso Bar this weekend? 

Ground Espresso Opens Its First Bangor Store- The Coffee Shop For Connoisseurs

You may have spotted the new  Ground Coffee Shop which almost sprung up overnight on the Bangor ring road beside Pure Gym. The first Bangor branch of the super successful Northern Irish chain is now open, ahead of their second store in the new Next at Bloomfields launching later in 2016.

Smix subscribes to the little boy rule of 'it's 3 degrees but no I definitely don't need my coat, mum'. 

So what sets Ground Espresso apart from all the other coffee shops our seaside town already has? For coffee connoisseurs it has to be their exclusive 'Brew Bar', using expert brewing methods for the ultimate taste experience from their beans. 

Hannah from Ground talked me through the three methods you can choose from, which take a little longer than usual coffee preparation, but which are most definitely worth the few minutes wait- I can confirm the difference in taste was huge. 

The Kalita Wave method gives the 'cleanest' coffee I've ever tasted. The resulting coffee is recommended to be tasted without milk or sugar, to experience the true, full taste of the beans. 

The Chemex is another expert barista method giving a strong, true taste from the beans used.

It brews enough coffee for two people, or two cups if you really love your java. Even after the little tester cups I could feel the caffeine, which must be a result of the more efficient brewing methods.

The final method was the Aeropress. I'd heard people talk about purchasing these for home use for Christmas, and Ground have them in stock to buy yourself. 

In fact they have a selection of expert brewing accessories available to purchase. 

So if you love your coffee you'll definitely want to try those methods at Ground and taste the difference. So what else is in store? Lots of local tea from Suki, Elderflower, Red Berries and Pink Grapefruit varieties.

For kids there are milkshakes. Smix had an Oreo one and you can also choose from strawberry, banana, chocolate and salted caramel brownie milkshakes. 

Ground also have a selection of healthy smoothies on offer. 

After our coffee tasting I was feeling a little too buzzed to drink more, I would have been up all night, so I tried their Mumbai Railway Chai- mostly because I've never known what it was, and was too scared to ask before. I always assumed it was some sort of milky tea, but it's not! It's neither tea or coffee but it's delicious. That's me hooked.

I also got to try one of their winter drinks, the orange hot chocolate, which is equally delicious. 

Food wise they have healthy lunches, and terribly wonderfully majestically unhealthy traybakes!

Smix rated this the best Nutella cake he has ever tasted. All the food choices are hand finished in store. 

Ground are famous for their salted caramel brownie, with portions that are definitely not skimpy. 

Snickers Cake, Mars Bar Krispies and Golden Honeycomb bars are also on the menu. 

The new Bangor store is a little different from the Waterstones or Next located Ground stores you may have been in. It's a stand alone branch with a bright and airy feel, lots of seating including work stations along the windows with plug sockets galore for your laptops. There is a very cute toddler area too. 

So now I know what a chai latte is, and that I love it, we will be round at Ground often! Frequent visits mean it's good sense to pick up one of their reusable cups- your drink will be 10p less if you bring it with you.  

 Finally for offers, competitions and news you can like Ground Espresso Bangor on Facebook.

The Search For The Perfect Espresso Con Panna: Part One

My discovery of the existence of the espresso con panna came about last week, the morning of the  Premier Inn Purple Sauce launch media event . Despite being well versed in the blogging freebies philosophy from an early age, for some reason Michael was coy about taking a bacon sandwich, or drink, so while I had a bacon bap & big cup of tea, he requested to go get a cookie afterwards instead. We had to wait around until 11am for Yo Sushi! to open to get our takeaway to take home anyway, so we went to the Caffe Nero on Anne Street where he got a giant slice of chocolate fudge cake. I was full of bacon and tea, but wanted to get something to drink to occupy me while Michael attacked his cake, so I spied the espresso con panna, and thankfully for the coffee ignorant like me, a description of what it actually was underneath. Two shots of espresso topped with whipped cream. It sounded good, and it tasted good, and it was teeny enough to fit in after by giant cup of tea just half an hour before. Plus it was only £1.90, which seems cheap for a coffee chain where big, sugary coffees are over £3.

And so my experiment unwittingly began. 

Caffe Nero

 My next place to try their version of the espresso con panna was local coffee chain Bob & Bert's. Again the drink was printed on the giant wall menu, but the two staff members said literally no-one had ever asked for it before! This led me to Google the drink when I got home, finding out it's actually a very old fashioned coffee option, which was around before other lighter drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes.

At Bob & Bert's there was a small or medium size, which I'm guessing just meant one or two shots. It was served in a cute little glass this time, and was just as good as Caffe Neros. 

Bob & Bert's Espresso con Panna

On Saturday, I was rushing around doing messages before my son got back, and stopped into my local Independant chain Coffee Cure, which has several branches in Bangor, including  the restaurant at the heritage centre. I live very close to the original flagship branch on the Rathmore Road, so I popped in to see how their espresso con panna held up. 

This time it wasn't on the menu, so I just asked for two shots of espresso with whipped cream on top. They made the cream up fresh, and it was really thick. I forgot to get a photo, but it was good. 

Coffee Cure, Rathmore Road, Bangor

The final contender in part one of my search for the best espresso con panna is every coffee snob's nemesis, Starbucks. I love Starbucks, and Michael loves Starbucks, although we rarely go as it's just so bloody expensive. Luckily the espresso con panna was not only on the wall menu, but only £1.90 and apparently only 37 calories. I'm not sure I can really judge Starbucks fairly, as I got the drink to take away, and with all the other cafés I sat in. Why this effects the outcome is that by the time I drove round home with the drink, the cream had completely dissolved into the espresso, so it was just like a tiny strong coffee with a splash of milk in it. It definitely wasn't good, but I might give Starbucks another go sitting in with it next time.

Tiny little takeaway cup

So far I think the best version has been the original, Caffe Nero. But I've plenty more places to try, so watch out for part two! 

The Two New Loves of My Life: Bob & Bert

Bob & Bert's is a Northern Irish artisan coffee chain I first became aware of when we spent our week up in Portstewart last month. Because we know and love Ground Espresso, we were already set for coffee while we were up there, and didn't venture into a Bob & Bert's. Now we are back in Bangor, with our nearest Ground Espresso in Belfast, we decided to give Bob & Bert's new Bangor store a try. It's located above Tempest in Main Street, and you can access it via the escalator in Menary's.

We weren't expecting to fall in love with the place, but we did. The interior is very quirky, and the cakes are to die for. They do food too, baked potatoes, ciabattas etc. as well as big, American milkshakes and Ben & Jerry's sundaes. 

We went for coffee, pancakes and rainbow cake. There's also a huge Belfast sink with rows & rows of sparklingly clean glasses for you to have free, fresh tap water. We will definitely be back. Check where your local Bob & Bert's is on their website.

Espresso topped with fresh cream is my current favourite £1.90

Short stack, I couldn't even finish it all! £4.25

We Do Summer at Ground Espresso

Last night we were invited along to the launch of Ground Espresso's summer menu, at their Waterstone's branch in Belfast city centre. With branches in Coleraine, Ballymena, Lisburn, Portrush, Bushmills, Cookstown & Dublin, Ground are one of Northern Ireland's fastest growing local businesses. It's the originality of their menu and the crafting & care each new product receives that sets Ground Espresso apart from other coffee shops. 

They have three new drinks for the summer menu, a coffee based salted caramel frappé, a fruit juice lover's choice Tutti Fruitti, and a coffee-free, kids' dream drink of chocolate vanilla frappè. 

I tried the tutti frutti which was a delicious peachy, poolside type adult slushie. My son tried the whipped cream & mini-Smarties topped frappé which I managed to sneak a sip of too, comparing it to Milky Bars and vanilla icecream.  

Call into any of the Ground Espresso stores to try their summer drinks now, and follow them on all social media @groundespresso  

My First Time: Ground Espresso Bar, Belfast

My friend and fellow blogger, Sera McDaid, always tweets about her favourite coffee spot, Ground Espresso Bar. She lives up North Coast way, where the family owned business first sprouted, and until now I hadn't had a chance to taste the delights she always raved about.

Manager Dermott invited me up to their Next branch in Belfastcity centre to see what makes Ground different to the chains of coffee places elsewhere in our towns. 

The second floor cafe is spacious, bright and even has a little play section for kids who need a break from being dragged round shops. I had a white mocha & little Michael chose a strawberry milkshake & Aero muffin.

Crazy face

The coffee is proper coffee. Not the sickly sweet, sugar-laden stuff you'd get in certain places. Their new exclusive Purple Dragon blend is selling very well, and after one mocha I felt like I was buzzing on caffeine- something that never happens usually! It was smooth and delicious.

The tea that Ground Espresso serve is another local product, Suki Tea, made here in Belfast. They pride themselves on ethical, local sourcing of food, drinks and even the wood used for the interior design.

The traybakes are hefty and rich. Dermott kindly gave us some to nibble on our train journey home too. They launch their Christmas drinks soon, which includes a Snowball- a white hot chocolate with coconut- which sounds like my dream drink. So why not mark Ground Espresso as your shopping break spot when you are in the city for Christmas shopping?

Chasing Ground's Purple Dragon

To celebrate the re-launch of Ground Espresso Bars’ two Belfast stores and the recent unveiling of their newest coffee blend, ‘Purple Dragon’, Ground will be hosting a family fun day in each Belfast store on Saturday 11October from 2pm – 4pm th.

Join the Ground team for a number of FREE activities including face painting, balloon modelling and Ground’s famous hot chocolate complete with whipped cream and marshmallows for the kids.

Mum and Dad can recharge over two speciality coffees for the price of one, prepared using Ground’s newest coffee blend, Purple Dragon – a unique blend of beans from Sumatra, Honduras and Ethiopia which promises to take your taste buds on a magical journey.

For more information on the Ground Espresso Bars Family Fun Day, visit www.facebook.com/groundespresso or www.twitter.com/groundespresso