Tea for two - coffee for the rest

MANY OF US Americans, taking cultural clues from Hugh Grant flicks and "Downton Abbey," are under the impression that our allies in the United Kingdom are loyal and exclusive tea drinkers, delicately sipping their Earl Grey out of pretty china while we pound mugs of stiff, black joe at hardscrabble diner counters. But the reality is that coffee consumption is a strong fixture of the U.K. day-to-day.

While it's still a relatively new consumer niche in England and beyond - the U.K.'s first Starbucks opened in London in 1998 - it's grown rapidly. London-based market research firm Mintel pegged 2012 as the first year that the U.K. coffee industry exceeded one billion pounds in sales. And the rise of big-box chains has been accompanied by growth in the specialty coffee sector, offering subtler alternatives to java fiends who drive on the left side.

It's all music to the permanently caffeinated ears of Brian Williams, a U.K.-based coffee blogger with a nagging travel bug.

"A lot of my American friends come to the U.K. and are shocked that I only drink coffee," said Williams, fresh off a 72-hour exploration of Philadelphia's coffee scene, which is enjoying an uptick of its own. "I actually don't drink tea. I can't stand the stuff."

Maybe Williams, who spent this past weekend trawling through a murderer's row of Philly espresso experts, was destined to fall for stateside coffee culture - his favorite (favourite?) shop in England is a Bristol cafe called Boston Tea Party.

"You go to a new town, somewhere you've never been before, you don't know where the good places are, and you end up in a chain because you want the security," said Williams, a Welshman by birth who resides in Guildford, in England's southwest. "You know the coffee's never going to be brilliant. I got fed up with it. [With chains], there's no individuality, there's no flair."

Dead set on documenting his coffeehouse picks throughout the United Kingdom and United States, which he visits yearly, Williams launched Brian's Coffee Spot (brian-coffee-spot.com) in 2012. Currently a technical writer for Visa, the blogger, who holds degrees in physics and astronomy, has worked in a number of industries, including radio communication, theoretical traffic analysis and software writing.

The Coffee Spot, a lively travelogue of qualitative cafe reviews and coffee-geek talk, is a fun diversion, but he approaches it with critical focus. "It's very much a hobby, but I take it seriously, like a job," said Williams, who's built a $1,000 brewing setup at his house. "I don't ever do anything by halves. If I do something, I tend to do it obsessively."

Williams, well into a multi-week tour that's also included stops in Boston and New York City, was coaxed down to Philly by Greg Cohen, a local who shares the blogger's passion for stand-alone cafes.

In 2012, Cohen, a wine industry professional by day, launched CoffeeGuru, an iOS app that catalogs and maps upward of 7,000 specialty shops in America, Canada and the United Kingdom.

"When I'm traveling, I want to go where the locals are hanging out so I can get a sense of the town, not just a generic place that could be anywhere," said Cohen of the app's inspiration. "I want a real sense of what the town is all about. That's why I always look for an independent coffee place."

Williams met Cohen last year in New York, and though he was unsuccessful in lobbying him to develop an Android version of CoffeeGuru, the two became friendly, and Cohen was able to lock Philly into Williams' breakneck Coffee Spot itinerary. (Still a new blog, Williams estimates he receives upward of 7,000 unique visitors a month, mostly U.K.-based; he's got nearly 3,000 followers on Twitter.)

He's come out of the experience with high praise for our scene. "The quality of the cafes is outstanding and the quality of the coffee is outstanding," said Williams. "There are places here that are as good as anywhere."

Though he dabbles in all manner of drinks and brewing techniques, Williams' go-to benchmark order is simple: a single shot of espresso, unadorned. "There's nowhere to hide," he said. "That's as pure coffee as you're going to get."

Granting high points for vibe and atmosphere, Williams was impressed by Ultimo's location at 22nd and Catharine, as well as the new Menagerie Coffee, in Old City. At La Colombe in Dilworth Plaza, he admired the deliberate choice to eschew a posted drink menu.

"You have to talk to the barista," he said. "Automatically, it forces you to break down that first barrier."

Visits to Rittenhouse cafes like Elixr and Plenty lent Williams insight into the personable nature of Philly's coffee pros - a compliment we rarely earn. "One thing I've been struck by is the friendliness," he said. "Everyone has been really welcoming. You would think it'd be obvious in the hospitality industry, but it isn't always the way."

At Bodhi, in Queen Village, Williams chatted up regulars and snapped a bunch of busy Sunday afternoon action shots. At the nearby Ox, in Queen Village, with co-owner Max Cudworth, he pored over the particulars of a Gibraltar, a one-to-one espresso-to-warm milk specialty drink served in a stout glass.

All these shops will be chronicled in detail on his blog in the coming months.

Williams makes it a point to pick the brains of customers and employees on his visits. "So much of coffee shops is people," he said. "I look at them less as coffee shops and more like neighborhood bars. They're your local."