Hitchin Coffee Lab is a small independent café on the historic Sun Street in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. It is a ‘micro-roastery’, roasting it’s very own Hitchin Blend on the premises. Hitchin Coffee Lab opened about a year ago and I visit quite often.
The visit I’m reviewing for BestCuppa took place on Saturday 4th March, around noon. This is a busy time for Hitchin coffee shops, but amazingly we found a table for four in this relatively small café. It’s a narrow café where you are immediately met as soon as you walk in the door by the counter full of very impressive cakes! Always a good start in my eyes 🙂 The décor is simple and trendy, artisan even. My only criticism is that our table had a wonky leg (but apparently the floor was uneven, not the table – it is a very old building). I’m purely guessing, as I didn’t count the number of seats, but I reckon there’s seating for between 20-30 people in total. Not much space for strollers/prams, but people were leaving these tucked away in front of the counter, which solved the problem.
If you know me you’ll know that I judge any café on the quality of their flat white. It’s all I drink and I really can tell a good one from a bad one. I always get a good one here. I’m not sure what coffee blend they use, but it is definitely to my taste. Conversely, Huw always has a large Americano with hot milk. On this recent visit he wasn’t entirely taken by the coffee blend – individual preferences of course. Now, I’m not sure if you can request the different blends that are available and on display, but there were a lot to choose from as you can see in the following images.
Now, let’s talk about cake 🙂 I’m always very happy to discuss cake … hmmm, very nice cakes here. I won’t name names, because she wouldn’t like it, but a friend of mine with Portuguese/South African connections, told me that she can (and has) wolfed down a lot of natas here (a regional custard tart). They did look very tempting, but I was drawn to the brightly iced blueberry and lemon loaf cake. The children, predictably, opted for the millionaire shortbread. It’s not just about cakes here either – there’s a great selection of paninis and savoury foods too. Some are quite unusual, and I like this. Oh, by the way, the blueberry and lemon loaf cake WAS lovely; the icing was extremely sweet however, so I had to share it with Huw. The portion was definitely one to share anyway!
A nice touch is the bottle of water on each table and I do like how they bring extra milk in mini milk bottles (I’m easily swayed by little touches like this!)
Hitchin Coffee Lab is a welcome addition to Hitchin. It’s tucked away just a few metres from the hustle and bustle that is the popular Hertfordshire town. It’s a place you can escape to, to chill out for a short while, to drink top-notch coffee, and to fill up on lovely handmade cakes and savouries.
Definitely try it out when next in the area. Until then, follow their Facebook page here.
