Coffee break, when I started work in The Argus ten years ago, meant going upstairs to our tiny windowless kitchen,
boiling the kettle, stirring in some instant coffee or dunking a tea-bag in a mug. Then, during those heady years of the Celtic Tiger, Dundalk like the rest of Ireland, discovered the coffee culture. A couple of years ago, a sweet couple who gave up their corporate jobs to follow their dream, opened a food shop across the road from our office. It sold all sorts of admittedly expensive delicacies and they took pride in their freshly ground Java Republic coffee. We soon became regular customers, so regular that they knew which of us drank double expressos, americanos, lattes or herbal tea.
Sadly, as a number of shops and offices along the street closed and the recession began to bite, they closed their shop at the end of the summer. So we were forced to find an alternative source for our takeaway coffee. Now, two of us favour the coffee from Gurman's, run by a charming ex-tv journalist from Lithuania. This attractive coffee shop sells a wide range of coffees and teas and has become a favourite spot for getting our caffeine boost.