Welcome to the blog section of www.bestcuppaintown.com. Cafés, tea shops, coffee shops – whatever you prefer to call them – are often taken for granted. After all, we’re only talking about a cup of tea or a mug of coffee while we enjoy a quick rest while out shopping, yes? Absolutely NOT! Today’s cafés are so much more than that … they host social gatherings for parents with young babies and children / they are informal business meeting rooms / they are a place for chilling out, relaxing with a latte while reading a book, forgetting for a short time all the tasks that need doing that day. And yes, they are also simply a place to call into when you need to rest your legs and quench your thirst. A café in the Noughties is so much more than a soft-drink watering hole – today’s cafés provide us, even during these difficult financial times, with a little ‘luxurious treat’ that we can all (just about) justify.

As with all businesses, the range of quality, standards of service and facilities vary greatly. We’ve all had a naff visit to a café – where the tables are grubby, or the drinks/food are cold and uninspired, or the customer service is non-existent - and let’s not mention the restrooms that haven’t seen a cleaner for some time … On the flip side of the coin, there are some FANTASTIC cafés out there. There are some that go that extra mile to make your short visit incredibly pleasant – and these DESERVE to be talked about, to be recommended and to be singled out as THE venue for your coffee or tea break when visiting the area. And that’s where bestcuppaintown comes in. We want to help ensure that the cafés you visit, and spend your money in, deserve your patronage. This is no mean undertaking as we all want something different from our visits – for example not many business folk will want to hold an important meeting in a café that’s hosting a toddler play morning … and conversely, a parent with a baby would feel more comfortable in a child-friendly café. So we came up with a review form that will, hopefully, provide you with all the information you need when chosing where to go.

But we won’t be a success without your help. We need reviews – thousands and thousands of them. There’s only so much coffee and cake I can consume (some would suggest I ought to cut back now!), yet I’ll be making a huge effort to get reviews for all the cafés in my local area. Remember, we’re not just wanting to cover the High Street cafés, but any establishment where you can sit down and enjoy a hot drink without being under obligation to order food too; this includes garden centres, children’s soft play centres, department stores and supermarkets, airports … even hospitals! (Seriously - I’ve been reliably told that the café in Lister Hospital, Stevenage, Herts, serves THE best scones for miles around!)

Our database of reviews will be complemented with other info which we hope you will find interesting: tea/coffee/café trivia will be added daily via our BestCuppa Twitter account, while a news section will display Press Releases that we believe you’ll like to read. Our blog (this!) is where you’ll find our opinions of café-related stories in the news, or interviews with café owners, or product/tasting reviews … there is no limit as to what we might cover, but it will always be related to cafés. We’ll also use this blog area to inform you of any upcoming promotions.

Finally, let me introduce myself properly. I am a mum of two young children, aged 2.5 and 5 months. I am also a freelance journalist. BC - before children – my work was my life and as a fresh out of University graduate I climbed the ranks of B2B publishing with relative ease and endless enthusiasm. I loved the work, but I hated the daily commuting, so 10 years ago I became self-employed and I still believe it was the best decision I’ve ever made. My work has been incredibly varied, often stressful, but always challenging – but I’ve always wanted a product to call my own, and this is it …! Why this? Well, two years ago I moved several hundred miles from Wales to Cambridgeshire and found myself needing new friends and acquaintances to help break the monotomy of fulltime working from home. My then 6mth old daughter was my saviour as I soon had a full diary of play dates with other mums with young children – and nearly every first meeting took place in one of several local cafés, and I’ve frequented them regularly ever since. But I can’t take the credit for this site as the idea wasn’t my own. Thanks dad!