Up early in the morning and a sharp little espresso hit – watch those words go down on the page. You can find good coffee in unexpected places, and when you make the discovery, you keep going back to the same spots… My favourite for a LOOOOONNG time has been Ground - when they first opened in Coleraine, it was a spot I frequented with indecent regularity. I loved sitting at the long window bench, reading a paper, working or watching the world go by. They very kindly play my music on their playlist, occasionally, too... In a world full of scalding milk or bitter black water, Ground seems to do cappuccino the way it should be (in my opinion), with enough foam to blanket the hot milk and espresso in luxury. Their caramel squares are the benchmark by which I judge all caramel squares now. Also developing nicely (and close to where I live in east Belfast) is JACK, the coffee shop at the EastSide Visitor's Centre, where staff know what they're talking about when they recommend a 'long black' - pictured above. AND they play Little Feat and Marvin Gaye on their playlist. But really... anywhere I can read, write, mingle with friends, see the world going by -and enjoy wonderful flavours and smells can't be bad. If it's warm inside and cold outside, that's even better.

Copies of the new album Ink are available from the STORE page at this website.

The album will be officially launched at the Lyric Theatre on Sunday evening, April 23rd, in a concert that will feature special guests Ciaran Lavery, Eilidh Patterson and John McCullough. Click HERE to be directed to the ticket sales page at the Lyric Theatre website.