There are a few coffee spots in Bristol that lean into the 'destination' label, and Lost Horizon Coffee is one of them. It sits in a 19th-century church crypt beneath the City Road Baptist Church in St Paul's, at 50 Upper York Street, just off Stokes Croft, so the setting alone does half the work before you've even ordered. It's a small-batch, independent roastery and café run by Kit Nisbet, who roasts the coffee on-site, with Peter Blacow handling the café side of things while Kit stays focused on the roasting.
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The space has a bit of history to it. It first opened in 2016 as Door & Rivet, and before that the youth organisation Babbasa used it; Kit had been roasting in the space for a year before the café actually opened. That roasting is still the heart of the place: single-origin, high-quality specialty beans, named down to the producer, roasted every Tuesday and Thursday. If you're not in Bristol, the coffee ships UK-wide the day after roasting; within the city, it goes out by bike the next day. There's a genuine effort on the carbon side too, with the business offsetting its carbon twice — even for boiling the kettle to brew the coffee — and using letterbox-friendly, compostable and recyclable packaging.
At the counter, the choice is built around the coffee rather than a big menu. You'll find espresso, batch brew and pour-over, with V60s and a rotating guest espresso; the current guest comes from Agua Sarca in Nicaragua, alongside two Colombian filter options. If you're buying beans to take home, the list runs something like the Samba Reserve Natural from Brazil at £12.00, the El Carbanero Anaerobic Washed from Colombia at £17.00, the Bavyevi Natural from Burundi at £14.00, the Aracaçu Anaerobic Natural from Brazil at £15.00, the Muthigi-ini PB Washed from Kenya at £14.00, the Las Laderas Honey from El Salvador at £15.00, the Nare Ware Natural from Ethiopia at £15.00 and the Tumbaga Sugarcane Decaf from Colombia at £12.00, with a £12.00 Lucky Dip Bag for when you can't decide. There are subscriptions too, from a £13.00 personal one up to a £42.00 gift subscription, with free UK-wide delivery on all coffee orders.
It's the kind of place that rewards a bit of a plan. Peter Blacow brings some real background to the table — he previously lived in Nicaragua, where he ran an ecotourism project and owned a coffee farm near Matagalpa — and in the warmer months he wants to turn the outdoor patio into an event space with a festival feel, live music and craft workshops. For now, it's a quiet, comfortable spot with WiFi and food, and the reviews tend to land on the smoothness of the pour-over and the friendliness of the staff. It's open Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 15:00 and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00, so it works as well for a morning brew as for a weekend wander round St Paul's.
