Kapow’s coffee shop fills “2 Floors of bean slinging goodness all tucked away in a victorian arcade”, in Thornton’s Arcade in the centre of Leeds. The house coffee on every espresso drink is a natural Yellow Bourbon from Brazil, and the house decaf is a Colombian lot from Finca Mustafa, decaffeinated with sugarcane. Around them sits a short, changing list of single origins: recent lots include a washed Gesha from Colombia, a washed Kenyan AB from Mutungati and a Kickstart Natural from Ethiopia. The coffees are also sold online under the Kapow name.
Each coffee comes with a brewing note from the team, such as pulling the Kenyan longer than usual on espresso, around 17 grams in to 45 or 50 grams out. Kapow’s home-brewing guide starts from one rule, “TASTE. IS. KING.”, and covers espresso and filter basics and the hand grinders used in the shop, the 1Zpresso ZP6 and K-Max.
Photograph: Kapow Coffee