Brian's Coffee Spot is a blog about places I like to have coffee. However, since I started the Coffee Spot in September 2012, it's become so much more than that. It's grown to become an on-line resource for finding great, independent speciality coffee shops.

Tired of going to a new town or city only to end up in the same old chains because you don't know where the good, independent coffee shops are? Then take a look at the Coffee Spot! I only write about places I like, so anywhere featured on the Coffee Spot is going to be good (at least, it's going to be somewhere I thought was good!).

From the outset I decided that I didn't want to take advertising or sponsorship on the Coffee Spot. My independence is very important to me and the freedom from advertising and sponsorship means that my only criterion is "do I want to write about this place?". I don't have to worry about page views or click-throughs, I just write about what I want.

It's very liberating and I believe that this independence is key to the Coffee Spot's success. However, the simple fact is that the Coffee Spot costs me money to run; money for travel, money for coffee. Although I'm based near London, I get around as much as I can, covering almost all parts of the UK. I've also travelled further afield with places from Ireland, France, Portugal, Denmark, Hong Kong, China, Vietnam, Japan, the USA and Canada all making appearances on the Coffee Spot.

At the moment, I'm fortunate enough to have a flexible, part-time job that pays me to travel and leaves me enough time to write the Coffee Spot, so I don't need the Coffee Spot to support itself. Instead, I've decided to use the money raised from your Patreon donations to improve the Coffee Spot website.

My most pressing need is an upgrade to my mapping platform. The current platform, which is free, is now unsupported and creaking at the edges. It is only a matter of time before it breaks completely. However, the new service will cost me $35 a month, and the plan is to use my Patreon funds to help offset those costs. In an ideal world, it would be great if my Patreon income could completely cover the costs, but any and all donations will be gratefully received. Even a donation of $1 a month would help!

Head over to www.brian-coffee-spot.com to see what I do. Hopefully with your help, I'll be able to make the Coffee Spot bigger and better.

Many thanks,
Brian.