Coffee Frappé

Wells Deli

15 The Quay

Wells-next-the-Sea

Norfolk NR23 1AH

Ice, coffee, milk - blended. Coffee frappés are just the thing on a hot day. This one, £2.30 from Wells Deli, came with almond syrup (just a dash or two, mind - I prefer the flavour rather than the sweetness). Creamy and cold, and light, it was down quickly and woke me up gently. If only someone could invent a self-cleaning blender I'd have one for breakfast every day.

Vanilla Villain

The Hideout

617 Congress Avenue
Austin
Texas 78701

A brief stop to rest from the cold - and WAKE UP - before new year's celebrations went off demanded caffeine in some form. Being a dedicated experimentalist, I shunned the Americano and turned to a strange concoction called the Vanilla Villain. Described as a cappuccino with vanilla foam, this was simply a shot of expresso, several squirts of vanilla syrup and a giant cloud of dairy foam. But it was strong without being too rich - and nice and light. If this is villainy then 2010 will be okay.

Coffee (Unlimited)

"Coffee?" I hear you ask, full of doubt. "Since when has a bog-standard cup of ground beans and hot water represented a bloggably Good Drink?" When it costs $2 (£1.20), including unlimited refills from a friendly waiter, and tastes amazing. This one (or three) came from Kerbey Lane Cafe, in Austin, but it might have come from any number of places in the States. I've only ever seen the bottomless coffee cup in London once or twice (including in Borders bookshop, weirdly) and I say it's time Britons started demanding it more often. Right is surely on our side. Until that time a never-ending supply of reasonably priced quality coffee is secured across the capital, perhaps we should strive to support those establishments already doing it the American way.

HELP! Know any places in London offering free coffee refills? Please let me know in the comments!

Gingerbread Latte

My long-standing semi-boycott of Starbucks, confused somewhat by the coffee giant's recent conversion to Fairtrade, is always most tested at winter time, when its selection of festive coffees hits the stands. Waiting for a train at Victoria station last weekend I succumbed to a Gingerbread Latte. It was full of those special seasonal spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, ginger - that make you feel Christmassy inside. No matter, this time, that those same spices were delivered by a few squirts of industrially-produced sugary syrup: mine tasted just fine. I went for a medium/"grande" (skimmed milk, no whipped cream), which cost a ridiculous £3.20 - another reason why my Starbucks fix comes but once a year.