The wonderings, ponderings and other 'ings' of me. Lifestyle, review, news and opinion posts. Chic with a hint of sarcasm... hopefully!

Saturday 25 February 2017

Review: Bould Brothers Coffee House

I'm not an expert at many things but one thing I do know is what a blogger or freelancer wants from their coffee houses, Cambridge's coffee houses to be specific. So I'm writing a series of posts where you can find out the cool, the quirks and the que? aspects of our independent coffee connoisseurs.  What better place to start than the newest coffee kid on the block,  Bould Brothers.


 The Cool
  • Coffee and conversation is the boy's motto and they seem to take this quite to heart.  They are so enthusiastic, naturally discussing the ins and outs of life with everyone they come in contact with.
  • The decor has all the charm of an English tea room with the chic metropolitan finishing touches you'd expect from a modern Cambridge establishment.  
  • They have a loyalty reward card, always a plus!
  • The coffee itself is smooth and delicately flavoured... or it was when I visited.  I don't doubt if you wanted something a little more slap-you-in-the-face-fantastic they'd be only to happy to offer recommendations for more intense loving taste buds. 
  • Their barista and latte skills are top notch, that coupled together with the decor means its a very instagramable place.
  • Their logo, a clever black and white silhouette showing the outline of 2 men (the brothers themselves I believe), is sleek and understated.  Similar to those optical illusion images that were popular way back when.
The Quirks
  • The lamps upstairs have a rustic, vintage look but for my requirements are too low.  When I banged my head sitting down (and standing up) I got empathetic smiles from the other diners.  A quick straw poll of each of the tables concluded every one of them had also banged their heads at least once, possibly every time, they stood up.  
The Que? 
  • A pet hate of mine is getting lattes in a glass rather than a cup.  I can't help feeling somewhat short changed when this happens as the coffee seems to cool more quickly and it looks as if you don't get as much. 
  • An unfortunate interjection from a customer did sour my appetite for a return visit, not something you can blame the boys for but unwanted comments or pompous interruptions do not exactly give you the warm and fuzzies!  
  • The wifi is weak, seriously so and at the time of posting their website seems to be having a few issues. While it works from certain smart phones, there are some issues from their google search and for pc users*. They may well be fixing this as I write** however while I have contacted them find out and ask a few questions getting a reply is proving tricky.
  • They don't seem to respond all that quickly and they don't have a twitter account.  I find twitter invaluable when it comes to corresponding with brands and bloggers alike so this is a little surprising to me.  
A poll I carried out (on twitter) inspired by Bould Brothers decision to forgo this platform showed 80% of those that responded use twitter for business either 'all the time' or 'quite a bit'.  Novi, another coffee house in Cambridge, advised 'we like to be where our customers are'***.
These issues, I believe, could well be teething problems and the friendly attitude and beautiful latte art I received on my visit means I'll likely give them a second chance to make a first impression.


I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

*Its not just my pc before you ask, I've had outside confirmation!
**they are! not sure if this is cos they have seen this or just noticed by themselves!
*** Now that's a response that smacks of common sense. 

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Monday 13 February 2017

Valentines Round Up

Gah! 
So Valentines Day is tomorrow which means its Galentines Day today.  A day to celebrate your friends and buy yourself nice things.



Obviously tomorrow is a day we all hope to get nice thing from other people. On the off chance your beau forgot, or was just plain lazy or didn't think about getting anything until this very second (rude!) here are a few ideas I had for presents from around Cambridge:
Byard Art - Aldona Juska
Country Traditionals
Bowns - Tara Jarmon

Burwash Manor - Manor Florist
You're Welcome!

Gif from Gify
Images from @TheeMiddleSister
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Wednesday 8 February 2017

I'm Quitting Social Media

Oh Good Lord no not me!  

This is something I've seen a few friends say recently and a couple have actually sworn off it altogether.  Not in that Essena O'Neil Instagram queen way, its more a 'social media is a mean place and I can't take how horrible everyone is' situation. 

And I get it. What with the shit show of referendums and elections that 2016 threw at us I've seen my fair share of hate spewed rhetoric myself.  I've been blocked by republicans who told me the Muslim culture are trying to kill us all!  And Democrats who didn't like that I insisted that not all republicans are evil. 

But I've also seen the other side. 

I've spent a whole evening joking with and tweeting complete strangers from Canada, some of whom promised to adopt me! I've had correspondence (sort of) with @technicallyron @jkrowling and @thelastleg, guys who have - and this is no exaggeration - literally kept my spirits up and inspired me to fight on while some of the most terrible situations in the world were unfolding. 

While the blocking and brain numbing chats with right wing "Christian" conservatives weren't particularly fun they were at least conversations. Which is what I believe we need this year. Conversations.  With people we do not agree with.   This doesn't mean we have to take abuse or ignorance.  And doesn't mean we can be patronising or condescending in response either (though a well placed gif does go down quite well).  



I believe we can't go on assuming those that think politically differently to us are idiotic or evil, but we can't shut down to them either.  And while I understand taking a break from social media I really don't feel shutting off from the best way to converse and correspond with the world is going to work.

Twitter and the like may never be the friendly-kitteny-soft-safe-space it once was.  But like I've said before If you can't see anything nice on your feed that means its your turn, you're up!

We need to be the change we want to see on Social Media.




Alright? lets get to work. 

Gifs from Gify
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