Whether reading Brecht and Ionesco for my masters degree or typing this very blog post, in fact, a lovely café is my workspace of choice. I know from past visits to Edinburgh, and from Lindsay’s round up of favourite coffee places here during her year abroad that I am spoiled with options in this city.

To avoid simply parking at my local Lovecrumbs ^ every day, I’ve vowed to go on a year-long café crawl, sampling various teas, cakes, and atmospheres to make my work a shade brighter.

The crawl started at Brew Lab, a truly artisan coffee bar – you know, the kind that, when they say coffee, they mean coffee. I love my affogatos and PSLs as much as the next girl [uh, probably a bit more to be honest], but this is classic joint is all about quality and finesse. I mean, my coffee arrived on a platter. The pulsing beat and rumble of chatter made this the perfect place for me to mutter Oedipus Rex aloud without bothering anyone.

For a colorful, sophisticated yet girlish style, pull up a chair at Eteaket before the afternoon tea crowd hits. Brew Lab is to coffee as Eteaket is to teas: They have a full, massive page of offerings, and I’ve seen their loose leaf selections in other cafés and shops across town. Perfect for morning journalling and Heroine Training lesson planning.

“None of the cutlery matches” was all I needed to hear to be persuaded to meet at Spoon for a pre-class theatre chat. This utterly shabby chic space is hidden away on a first floor landing on Nicholson Street. To those familiar with Oxford’s haunts, this may just be my new TSK. I hear they have the best soup in town, but so far I can only speak for their cake, which is exquisitely flavourful and not too sweet, just the way I like it. This cheery, rustic space makes the most tedious of assignments tolerable.

You can follow my #cafecrawl on Instagram [And join in, if you’d like!] :)

> monday mini adventures: making the most of one’s surroundings through conscious exploration and appreciation

P.S. Why I write in coffeeshops