I was visiting family up north when I was lamenting the dearth of independent coffee shops in Bolton whilst my mother listened patiently.  “We have a new café in town”, she said eagerly. I was expecting another café that costa lotta (star) bucks, but no, imagine my surprise when we went into an actual indie coffee shop.

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Nestled in the corner of the Market Place shopping mall in Bolton, is Patio 44. It is small, more of kiosk, and which can somehow make you feel like a giant Gulliver as everything appears to be teeny tiny cute. Still, it is charming in its walk-past-and-you’ll-miss-it way and the service with a smile in the form of barista K is delightful.

I had a flat white to go, and thought the coffee was delicious (nutty on the swallow with the fragrant tang of citrus on the inhale). It is commendable that Patio 44 (inspired name to boot) is flying the flag for independent coffee shops in Bolton. I discovered that Heart and Graft is the supplier, which I’ll look into more later today.

coffee-machine

Patio 44 has an impressive coffee machine, doubles up as a gift shop, and has a compact lunch menu. I hope Patio 44 does well, because they do great coffee, and this delicious beverage should be celebrated as much as possible. Their selection of cakes and pastries is good too; this shortbread looks ace and is on my list to try when I’m next back up north.

shortbread

On a separate note, I am working on an upcoming range of coffee related posts, as well as setting up a Coffee Fiends Group. If you love good coffee and want to find out more about meeting fellow caffeine heads who are passionate about coffee, please do drop me a message.

In the meantime, if you’re in Bolton and want to taste good coffee, leg it to Patio 44 in the Market Place Bolton. Do let me know how you get on and more importantly, what coffee you had, I would love to know.