Workhouse Coffee brings “gourmet coffee” to the town centre
There’s not exactly a shortage of coffee shops in Reading, but now we’ve got one that promises something different to the mediocre-coffee-mass-produced-pastry-and-free-wifi crowd. Workhouse Coffee - until now located only on the Oxford Road, away from the town centre - has begun trading from its new branch after a low-key opening on Monday.
Based in the George Hotel, it’s directly opposite Starbucks and slap bang on coffee corner near where King Street meets Broad Street.
We popped along yesterday and can happily report it’s a world away from the homogenised chains that dominate this end of town. Even though the place isn’t yet finished (there are no prices on the wall and the back half of the shop is empty), it’s in a nice old building with a one-off, independent feel. And the coffee is excellent.
That, certainly, is no surprise. Anyone who’s taken the trouble to visit the other Workhouse branch will already be familiar with the company’s range of single-estate coffees. Founder Greg Costello promises “gourmet coffee” and the staff are on a bit of a mission to make really good coffee more accessible to those of us who don’t work in the industry.
That’s important, because buying a drink somewhere like this can be intimidating. You can’t just order a black coffee; you need to choose the beans you want it made from too.
Even the simplest of choices tend to confuse this particular Reading Roars writer, so thankfully when we visited the friendly staff were on hand with lots of advice. The filter coffee we tried (the 1576 variety) was first class and even at £2.70 seemed worth the asking price, especially given the care and attention that went into making it.
Although there was a delicious-looking range of pastries, quiches and cakes on display and more food is planned to tempt the lunchtime crowd, don’t be fooled: this place is all about the coffee. Encouraging people to try different varieties and helping them to appreciate the flavours seems to go to the heart of the Workhouse philosophy.
Life in the town centre isn’t easy for independent businesses, and we really hope Workhouse Coffee manages to emulate fellow independent outlet Picnic and thrive in its new location. It brings another much-needed slice of diversity to Broad Street, and offers a quality of coffee never before available in the town centre.