Afternoon Coffee With Currys At Waterloo Tea House

This past Sunday saw me attend my very first blogger event which I was invited to by the awesome http://www.joeblogsnetwork.com.

The event was held at Waterloo Tea, an adorable tea house located in Wyndham Arcade, Cardiff that also happens to serve coffee. Amongst a vast selection of hot beverages they also serve food on a continuously updated menu.

Currys, combining forces with Nespresso, hosted an afternoon of latte art, cupping/tasting and cocktails blended (bet you saw what I did there) into a barista course http://waterlootea.com/products/barista-course-series. I must remark that I particularly appreciate the efforts Nespresso go to to remain environmentally friendly whilst producing very sophisticated coffee machines. You can see more of the Nespresso range here Currys Nespresso

My first challenge was finding the venue. I admit, before this weekend I had never visited Waterloo Tea. Shocking considering I am extremely addicted to tea! That will definitely change as I fell in love with its relaxed, cosy atmosphere.

Despite being absolutely terrible at following directions I managed to find the tea house extremely easily.

Love of tea aside, I admit, I do enjoy the occasional Skinny Mocha. I take all of my drinks free from dairy and caffeine since I'm intolerant to both. I tend to predominantly drink de-caff green tea. Green tea is my favourite.

The latte art considerably appealed to me and I was especially excited for this part of the event. After being walked through the basics of coffee making and viewing a demonstration courtesy of one of the baristas we were given the opportunity to create our own latte art. I did not get a photo of my creation (it was an elegant full stop, okay) because I drank my coffee immediately after I made it.

 

Heart Latte made by the barista!

Despite my favouritism towards tea I found myself lost in a cup of delicious, aromatic and flavoursome coffee. Perfect temperature, perfectly smooth. I was impressed to say the least.

Following the latte art was a delightful coffee tasting session. Various flavoured black coffee was presented in cups for tasting. In order to taste the coffee properly it is advised to slurp. Something I just couldn't bring myself to do. Call me uptight but it wasn't something I felt comfortable doing. I am also not very fond of black coffee in general, I much prefer the addition of milk and alternative flavours. Regardless I found the aroma of the coffee absolutely divine.

At this point my hunger got the better of me and I set off upstairs in search of the food kindly provided for us. Laid out was a delectable spread which included glazed salmon, couscous and ciabatta hummus vegetable bites. I thoroughly enjoyed the food, it was SO tasty!! The only item I skipped out on were the beef bites as I don't eat beef.

To complete my meal I indulged in a mini chocolate cake and some green tea which I believe is included in Waterloo Tea's menu. It was a combination green and honey style tea and it was literally so delicious.

Once downstairs again I watched the cocktail demonstration. I am not big on alcohol, I rarely drink. And due to the fact that I am lactose intolerant I was unable to taste the 'mocktail' versions of the coffee cocktails that were made with regular cows' milk and milk chocolate. But the whole process was interesting to watch and I heard that the cocktails themselves were very tasty. The chocolate element of the cocktail awoke my interest so I'm tempted to re-create my own with my lactose-free milk at home! Look out, you might see a future creation from me on here!
 

Sadly I did not get to go through the final part of the event which, from what I can gather, involved layering coffee and other ingredients in a glass. By this time I had to unfortunately leave the event as I had to travel home.

As I departed I was given a lovely free goodie bag which had a free Nespresso Pixie kit inside it containing stainless steel cups.

I extend many thanks to Currys, Nespresso and Waterloo tea for hosting this event. I met some lovely people and had a wonderful afternoon.

Waterloo Tea, you will see me again! I definitely want to try out more of your teas! And food. Nom.