Bristol has a fair few places to get a decent coffee, but Dareshack is one of the more ambitious. It is a speciality coffee bar and concept shop in the middle of central Bristol, taking up 4,000 square feet of the Vintry Building on Wine Street, and it does a lot more than just serve lattes. The space runs a state-of-the-art studio, a busy coffee bar and a room for art exhibitions all under one roof, so it changes character depending on when you walk in.
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The coffee is the obvious starting point. Dareshack has partnered with Triple Co, an independent, open-access speciality roastery based over in Stokes Croft and Montpelier, to create a house espresso blend called 'Triple Dare' that you will only find here. Beyond that, the menu rotates through speciality coffees, rare guest espressos and fruity filter brews, with signature drinks like the Cherry Blossom Matcha and the Blueberry & Lavender Fizz for when you want something a bit different. There are also freshly pressed juice shots from Happy Shot, a local Bristol charity, which is a nice touch to have alongside the caffeine.
That same space takes on a second life after dark. In the evenings, Dareshack becomes the home of The Gaffe Comedy Club, Bristol's five-star rated dedicated comedy club, which puts on live stand-up every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The drinks list shifts to suit the mood, with premium alcoholic options from Bristol producers like Lost and Grounded, Bristol Beer Factory, Bristol Cider Company and Bristol Distilling Co, plus natural and sustainable wine from More Wine. It is not often a coffee shop turns into a comedy club at night, and that is a good part of the appeal.
There is a strong local thread running through the place. Dareshack is an active member of Safe Space Bristol, a charity supporting the trans community, and it keeps a community bookshelf going on a 'take a book, leave a book' basis. It also hosts the Bristol Film Club and local running clubs, and it is a partner of the Bristol Harbour Festival. The co-owner and creative director, Adda Cohn, also founded Happy Shot, the brand of fresh, healthy shots and juices made with real ingredients right here in Bristol, which launched in March 2024 with four functional flavours: Energise, Recover, Balance and Renew.
If you have been following the Bristol coffee scene, you might remember Dareshack once ran a second, shorter-lived site on Christmas Steps, which opened in June 2024 as a coffee house concept opposite 20th Century Flicks in a former Chinese restaurant. That location closed permanently in 2025 so the team could focus on the original Wine Street site, which is the one still going strong. It is one of 14 speciality cafés featured in the European Coffee Trip's Bristol Coffee Guide, and it sits at 4.6 out of 5 stars across 389 reviews, with the basque cheesecake, banana bread, carrot cake and matcha getting the most love. It opens at 07:30 on weekdays and 09:00 at weekends, closing at 17:00 every day, so it is a solid spot for an early morning brew or a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.
