Max and Alex Bould opened the first Bould Brothers in December 2016, a stone’s throw from St John’s College near the Round Church, with one mission: “to bring fantastic coffee and service to Cambridge”. Before the move, the brothers worked in London, Max at the advertising agency DDB and Alex at Quintessentially and Brand Exchange, and between them they have more than a decade in coffee. Their aim is to bring more good food and drink to the city.
The second café opened in 2019, on the walk from Cambridge station into town, and Trainline has recommended it. The business hires a highly trained team so that the coffee tastes the same every time, on the principle that good coffee is for everybody. The best-seller is the chicken sandwich, on the menu since day one: chicken, crispy bacon and chive with a spiced, tangy mayonnaise that began as their father’s salad dressing.
The house coffee is sold as beans, in an espresso or a filter roast profile, and by subscription. The current lot is a washed coffee from Zambia, grown at 1,400 to 1,800 metres, with tasting notes of raspberry, dark chocolate and almond.
Photograph: Bould Brothers Coffee