New shoes. (Brown Sugar Coffee Bar, Long Stratton)

Brown Sugar Coffee Bar,

Long Stratton,

Now Closed Down

This Sunday is the Boudicca sportive (currently a rather bigger affair than the Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour sportives) and as part of my recovery I'm planning to do the 40 mile route. In preparation I thought I needed to step up my mileage and therefore yesterday arranged to do a 25 mile ish ride with guests Chris (wife) and Barry and Helen and their tandem. My Long Stratton route seemed about the right distance and would also give us a chance to try the Brown Sugar Coffee Bar. I was also trying out a new pair of cycle shoes so was hoping the ride would be blister free.

On a cold but sunny day we arranged to meet up with Barry and Helen and their tandem at Caister St Edmunds.

Meeting Barry, Helen and their Tandem at Caister St Edmunds

As it was a cold but sunny day all my guests were faffing about with jackets coming on and off to make sure they were not too hot or cold. This required a few stops before they got their clothing requirements right. 

A stop for my guests to adjust their clothing layers

However once optimum clothing layers had been achieved we made it successfully down to Long Stratton and located the Brown Sugar Coffee Bar on the edge of the Co-op car park. I locked our bikes with Alarmio and accidentally set off the piercing car style alarm causing a disappointing lack of reaction from the Long Stratton co-operative shoppers. I suspect car crime must be a regular event in Long Stratton.

In the outside seating area at the Brown Sugar Coffee Bar.

Not only is there an outside seating area, which offers stunning views of both the Co-op and the car park, but an outside seating alley which is another first on a Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour.

Tables and chairs in the outside seating alley

The Brown Sugar Coffee Bar is nicely laid out with choice of sofas or bar stools plus another room with comfy chairs and tables. At the bar there was a cake selection consisting of scones, muffins or two types of cake. All looked nice but  I could only give a lowish effective cake selection (ECS) rating due to the small choice. We ordered our drinks and cakes and decided to sit in the comfy chairs and tables section.

The bar area at the Brown Sugar Coffee Bar

With my hot chocolate I had Coffee and Walnut cake, Chris and Helen went for skinny Mochas (plus carrot cake for Chris). Barry had a coke and therefore excluded himself from any further involvement in today's cafe rating.

The cakes and drinks arrived and both myself and Chris thought our cakes were excellent. This was the first really good coffee and walnut cake I had had on my Norfolk cafe cycle tour as they can often be a bit dry. My hot chocolate was nice and hot but could have been a bit stronger. Chris and Helen couldn't agree about the Mocha as one thought it too weak and one thought it was perfect strength. I got bored with their coffee related bickering so just averaged their individual marks to call a halt to it.

Drinks and cakes ready for rating

An added bonus was that the Brown Sugar Coffee bar operates a generous loyalty scheme requiring only 6 visits to qualify for a free drink. I have added the card to my recently introduced loyalty card library feature which you can see on the right of the blog. Not only is the scheme generous but the loyalty card is enormous being  postcard size making it the biggest I have seen. It is difficult to keep in your wallet but on the plus side very hard to loose.

The enormous post card size loyalty card with first cup signed

Despite the trip back being into the wind I got home not too tired and only needed a short kip which is an improvement on my last ride. I now feel ready to restart the Norfolk Cafe Cycle Tour sportives with the next one planned for 31st May, so hope to see you there. The new cycle shoes fitted like a foot type glove and I remained blister free.

Scores for Brown Sugar Coffee Bar

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6	7.5	5	8	6	6.50

Map of route

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