Full Court Press cafe on Broad Street is the newest arrival in Bristol of a speciality coffee shop where espresso beans from Ethiopia are described as having flavours of prunes and cheesecake, and making a perfect flat white is half art and half science.

But that’s not the most remarkable thing about this new cafe, which at the beginning of this year was named in the Independent as one of the UK’s best coffee shops, an incredible accolade for somewhere that hadn’t yet even opened; rather making a mockery of the choices of the newspaper’s expert panel.

Now finally open, Full Court Press joins month-old Didn’t You Do Well on Park Row and the nearby Small Street Espresso to form a triumvirate of truly top-notch coffee shops in Bristol.

Espresso beans currently on are Mugomera from Burundi courtesy of Radstock’s Round Hill Roastery, and Ethiopia’s Konga 1 Yirgacheffe from Extract Coffee of Iron Acton. Filter options are the Irupana from Bolivia and Tolima Vista Hermosa from Columbia.

My flat white was expertly made, and tasted even better when combined with even more intriguing flavour combinations not from the coffee beans but a chilli-cheese flapjack from Bosh, positioned on the counter alongside pastries from Hart’s Bakery.

The coffee menu is written in felt tip behind the bar in a room which is mostly white – cups, saucers, walls, ceiling – apart from a few splashes of colour in the lampshades, plastic cartons on the counter, a stained glass window and a clock which looks like a strand of DNA.

At the far end of the room alongside the stained glass window is an original fireplace in a building owned by the church next door which most recently used to be a lady’s outfitter and also has a wonderfully rickety metal spiral staircase down to a basement level.

The Independent’s crystal ball was thankfully in full working order. Full Court Press is a marvellous addition to Bristol’s increasingly sophisticated coffee options.

Full Court Press, 59 Broad Street, Bristol, BS1 2EJ. 07794 808552.

Website: www.fcpcoffee.com
Twitter: @FCPcoffee