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News and Features
Anyone for Coffee? Foodies are spoiled for choice in Somerset - there are many award-winning restaurants, cafes, coffee shops, farm shops and delis, set in stunning setting such as World Heritage Site, Bath, or in the rolling glorious country scenery, such as Yeo Valley farm. Coffee lovers, in particular, have excellent opportunities to indulge themselves. The typical coffee-food coupling is coffee and cake and there is a grand selection of both chain and independent coffee shops in the area to choose from. One of the current favourite locations is the independent coffee-house, Jika Jika on George Street in Bath, launched by two professional rugby players,who boast the best chocolate brownie in town plus a wide ranging menu using locally sourced produce. There are other excellent local producers of sweet products too, such as the Beach House Bakery's delicious cupcakes which are made from scratch daily from local and fresh produce or Bath's Fudge Kitchen which has secret hand-crafted recipes, which have been lovingly honed and perfected over its twenty-five year history. The Kitchen boasts 'devilishly different fudge' with a 'creamy melt in the mouth texture'. Perfect as an accompaniment to an afternoon cup of coffee or as an after-dinner treat. There is a true local interest in the blends and variety of coffee on the market. Bath has its own Coffee Festival (the 2011 event took place in May to great applause) including many stands to demonstrate the intriguing ways of marrying the coffee bean with other food stuffs - stalls included chocolate coated coffee beans, coffee-flavoured ice-cream and even demonstrations from celebrity chefs incorporating coffee into their recipes for the day. The Bath and North East Somerset area also has an official Zone status with the Fairtrade Network, to show the commitment of the area to the terms on which farmers in developing countries sell their wares. For example, Keynsham and North-Radstock have Zone Status. The local farms and those in the countryside also add to the coffee experience of Somerset. For example, the Marshfield Farm ice-cream, based in Somerset has won awards for its excellent diary ice-creams and sorbets. The products are organic and Marshfield Farm has 25 flavours for ice-cream, including Coffee Ripple which blends coffee-flavours with their organic ice-cream. The nearby Marshfield Bakery, based in the Village, also contributes to the excellent food experience with high quality cakes and biscuits - even Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Cornwall has paid a visit to open their Tolldown site. Yeo Valley Organic is another Somerset farm experience that is succeeding in its aim to make high-quality organic produce available at affordable prices. It produces a range of dairy products including cheese, yoghurt and ice-cream. You can marry an excellent cheeseboard from the farm with your after dinner coffee, or use their butter to create a delicious coffee cake (coffee and walnut is a classic example). Somerset is a county obviously popular with tourists, many access the produce of the county online or in national stores. Coffee beans too can be ordered online, e.g via Cafe Society.
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