West Brighton & Hove

Overlooking the beautiful Palmeira Square as you enter Hove, Down To Earth Coffee is the first coffee shop to take advantage of this idyllic setting and this new coffee hot spot is just as peaceful inside.

With wooden slats lining the counter, seats, shelves and more, this shop offers an extremely laid-back vibe with welcoming staff and chilled tunes. 

While they offer a range of rotating guest espressos and filter options, they also roast their own coffee in cooperation with Pharmacie Coffee Roasters in Hove, which allows them to finely roast their coffee to suit their flavour palette. This not only allows them to offer detailed analysis of the coffee’s taste and mouthfeel but also allows them to help you match it with the milk or food they have on offer. 

During our visit we tried an espresso from Strangers Coffee using their Fine City blend, which produced a super sweet aroma before creating notes of pear and citrus, cooling down to reveal berry flavours and a creamy mouthfeel that coasts the mouth to reveal a very balanced coffee. With picturesque views, great coffee and a relaxed atmosphere, this is just what the area needed. Pay a visit and find out for yourself.

Like its sister store at Norfolk Square, Small Batch Seven Dials is a former bank. The atmosphere is always relaxed and the location seems to catch the sun at any time of day, and at any time of year.

Due to its narrow dimensions, it also manages to pull a neat trick of being both large and spacious as well as being small and cosy, so it’s perfect for any occasion.  Like all Small Batch stores, Seven Dials offers their Goldstone blend on espresso, Blue Note blend on filter, and a choice of a single origin on hand brew.

The Seven Dials laboratory is also where home brew courses are held, enabling you to get cafe quality drink in your own home, or perhaps even a career in the coffee industry itself.

The all inclusive courses educate on the entire process, from the farms in the far flung corners of the world, to how the beans are roasted, and finally to the cup in front of you.

A short stroll away from Seven Dials sits Stoney Point, formerly known as Mr. Wolfe. Upon entering, it’s immediately striking that the high ceilings, calming music and airy space make it the perfect place to catch up with friends, or sit alone and enjoy a book and a coffee. The handwritten prices on the chalkboard behind the machine coupled with a minimalist, wooden aesthetic, give Stoney Point a homemade feel.

As a standard, they try to keep an Ethiopian coffee in stock all year round when possible, and we tried their double espresso made using the Organic Espresso from Monmouth Coffee; made up of beans from Suke Quto (Ethiopia), Froilan Mamani (Bolivia) and El Pastoral (Nicaragua). Offering a lemon zest aroma from the off with a silky mouthfeel, it produced a sweetly tart flavour initially before really coming to life as it cooled, with notes of pear and orange leaping on the palette, reminiscent of a fruit tea.

With plug sockets, comfy seating and some delicious coffee, as well as the occasional guest roast, Stoney Point is one Brighton coffee shop that is too often overlooked.

Turning off The Drive down onto Cambridge Grove, you find yourself in one of the most idyllic setting in Hove. Exposed brick houses sit atop beautiful cobbled streets and amongst this delightfully old-fashioned street is Pharmacie Coffee Roasters.

A micro-roaster and training facility first, the coffee shop is exclusively open on Saturdays. A beautifully rustic feel inside and out, they offer a selection of pour overs including a V60, drip decanter, kalita wave and aeropress as well as cold brew.

On the espresso machine they have their single origin beans, which are roasted in-house specifically to create the bright and incredibly refreshing notes that Pharmacie’s coffee has become renowned for. It may only be open one day a week but when the weekend rolls around Cambridge Grove turns into a giant community of coffee lovers who all gather to enjoy fine coffee and fine conversation.

Keep a Saturday free and head on down to the cobbled streets for some of the best coffee in the city, we can’t recommend this hidden gem of a shop enough.

Anyone who’s seen the 1980s sitcom Cheers will be instantly familiar with the Small Batch at Norfolk Square’s layout. The ‘bar’ sits in the centre of the room, with seating dotted around the surrounding area. The former bank is bright and airy, with a high ceiling, and good outside space. 

Sitting on the border between Brighton and Hove, the Norfolk Square Small Batch offers a haven from the often overwhelming Western Road. Going in from either entrance, you’ll be greeted by the sights, sounds, and smells of a bustling coffee shop.

As well as the Goldstone Espresso, served in all Small Batch’s locations, a rotating brew bar is also available. The method and bean changes often with the seasons, as does their menu.

In the colder months you can enjoy an espresso, or hot chocolate, at the bar. In the summer it’s worth taking the short wander to the beach, with a take away Iced Flat White or Iced Bounty, and enjoy the sun. Whatever the weather, Norfolk Square is worth visiting when that craving for caffeine kicks in.

The Small Batch at Goldstone Villas has undergone a drastic transformation over the last couple of years. With the roasting operation moving from one half of the shop in Hove to Wellington House, in Portslade, allowing half of the cafe to be turned into a workspace. The area is perfect for students and freelancers, with ample space, plug sockets, and its own dedicated Wi-Fi.

Being only a stone’s throw away from Hove train station makes it a great place to stop off if you have time to kill before travelling, and with a quick filter option on offer it’s also a great place to grab a coffee before catching the train. If you have more time on your hands then they also have a brew bar, offering a range of pourover options, with a rotating range of single origin coffees, roasted by the company themselves.

If you are able to kick back and relax with your coffee then the shop’s decking area out the front is the perfect spot, soaking up the sun throughout the day like few others in the area.

Goldstone Villas also has a wide variety of coffee equipment for sale, as well as a range of single origin coffee beans.

Of all the Small Batch locations, Wilbury Road is easily the cosiest. Just off from Church Road, it’s like a home away from home. 

The first thing you’re greeted with is the beautiful outside decking which is a perfect sun-trap in the summer. When the weather is a little less agreeable, the comfy indoor seating makes the Wilbury Road Small Batch the ideal spot to catch up over coffee or get all the caffeine you need whilst working. 

It is also especially pet friendly, with plenty of free dog treats and water bowls readily available. On offer is a range of espresso-based drinks, using their Goldstone Blend, as well as a rotating origin of the month coffee is available on a range of hand brewed methods. 

There is also a changing seasonal menu and their Blue Note batch brew filter. If you’re looking for coffee without stress, and a quiet relaxed atmosphere, Wilbury Road Small Batch is the place for you.

One of the first to open in Portslade, The Plant Rooms can be considered something of a trend setter for the area. Located on the bustling Boundary Road, The Plant Room has become something of a hotspot for locals. Like all their locations, they serve AllPress Espresso, as well as their vegetarian and vegan treats.

The cool and inviting minimalist style has become something of a trademark for The Plant Room, and Boundary Road is no different. Opposite the bar, on one side is a bench that runs the full length of the cafe which creates an open and inclusive atmosphere. There is also a sofa around the back if you want to hide away in a nook.

Outside, the sun hits The Plant Room in the afternoon, making the outside benches a great place to spend a day off if you find yourself in Portslade with a hunger and thirst for some good coffee.

Since launching Ground Coffee House in 2009, the Kemptown coffee shop has become a community staple, serving high-quality coffee to locals ever since. Their Seven Dials store, opened in 2017, certainly continues this tradition.

Set just off from the bustling traffic, Ground is a peaceful spot to sit and relax or grab a quick coffee on the go. With homely seating upstairs and down, there is more than enough space to while away the hours with friends, or just spend some time alone catching up on work, or reading a good book.

There’s also a rustic room out the back, with a textured stone wall on show, wooden crates for tables and exposed concrete flooring, offering the perfect spot to grab a bite to eat from their wholesome breakfast menu.

With single origin beans from Pharmacie Coffee Roasters, you also have the option to choose from an espresso-based drinks menu or a hand brew filter coffee, which includes a V60, drip decanter, and Aeropress. With a dedicated and friendly team of baristas, this cosy spot continues to add to Brighton’s thriving coffee scene.