A coffee and cake crawl through Cambridge

Six Cambridge stops from Hot Numbers on Mill Road to Stir in Chesterton, each open about the roaster, the machine and what is on the cake counter.

Cambridge has a specialty coffee scene that punches well above its size. Hot Numbers has been roasting its own beans since 2012 and runs two city cafes plus a roastery at Shepreth, a few miles south of the city. The Espresso Library on East Road pulls on a custom Slayer named Cambridge Blue and rotates single origins alongside the house Coffee Officina blend. The crawl is anchored on the Mill Road corridor and works north through the city centre before finishing at Stir in Chesterton, a bakery-led cafe on the north side of the river. Six stops, all independent, all open about what is behind the bar.

1. Hot Numbers, Gwydir Street

Hot Numbers is the roaster-cafe that put Cambridge on the specialty coffee map. The original cafe on Gwydir Street, just off Mill Road, opened in 2012 in a converted Victorian brewery building and pours beans roasted at the Hot Numbers roastery in Shepreth. The machine is a Sanremo Opera paired with a Mahlkonig Peak grinder, and the brew bar runs espresso, batch brew and V60 alongside. Retail bags of the current roast are available at the counter.

2. Tom's Cakes, Mill Road

A short walk east along Mill Road towards Parker's Piece, Tom's Cakes bakes its own handmade cakes and biscuits at a Cambridgeshire bakery and sells them alongside coffee from Monmouth Coffee Company. It is the cake-led stop on this crawl: the counter changes daily and the espresso is a vehicle for the bake rather than the other way round.

3. Espresso Library, East Road

The Espresso Library on East Road is one of Cambridge's largest specialty spaces, a cycling-themed cafe and art venue that runs a custom Slayer espresso machine finished in Cambridge Blue. The primary roast is The Coffee Officina, a Sussex roaster, with rotating single origins on the guest slots. Espresso, batch brew and V60 are all available, and the space is laptop-friendly, which suits the morning research crowd as well as the lunchtime walk-in.

4. Bould Brothers Coffee, Round Church Street

Bould Brothers opened in 2016 in a compact bar on Round Church Street, steps from the round Norman church after which the street is named. The roaster is Colonna and Small's from Bath, one of the more precision-focused specialty roasters in the UK. Retail bags are stocked and the espresso menu is short and focused, which is exactly what it should be at a bar this size.

5. Fitzbillies, Trumpington Street

Fitzbillies is Cambridge's oldest surviving bakery and cafe, founded in 1920 on Trumpington Street near the colleges. The Chelsea bun is the main draw: a sticky, heavily spiced affair that has been baked on site daily by successive owners for over a century. It is a cake-and-afternoon-tea stop rather than a specialty coffee destination, but no crawl through Cambridge is complete without it. Arrive before midday for the best bun selection.

6. Stir, Chesterton Road

Stir is the furthest stop on this crawl and the most bakery-focused. The cafe on Chesterton Road, north of the river, bakes its sourdough, pastries and cakes on site daily and pours coffee from Butterworth and Son with rotating guest roasters. The machine is a La Marzocco. It is a neighbourhood cafe in the best sense: unhurried, focused on what is in the cabinet as much as what is in the cup, and a good reason to cross the river.

Common questions

Which Cambridge cafes roast their own coffee?

Hot Numbers is Cambridge's main in-house roaster, operating a roastery at Shepreth south of the city and pouring its own beans at two Cambridge cafes, including the original on Gwydir Street off Mill Road.

What espresso machine does Hot Numbers Cambridge use?

Hot Numbers on Gwydir Street uses a Sanremo Opera espresso machine paired with a Mahlkonig Peak grinder. The bar also runs batch brew and V60 and sells retail bags of its own roast.

What coffee does Espresso Library Cambridge pour?

Espresso Library on East Road uses The Coffee Officina, a Sussex roaster, as its primary espresso and rotates single origins through the guest slots. The espresso machine is a custom Slayer finished in Cambridge Blue.

Is Cambridge good for independent coffee?

Yes. Cambridge has a strong independent coffee scene centred on the Mill Road corridor and the city centre. Hot Numbers, the Espresso Library, Bould Brothers Coffee and Stir in Chesterton are all serious specialty cafes, and the Mill Road strip has a strong cake culture through Tom's Cakes and independent bakeries.