Rain is practically a personality trait up here. Newcastle gets more than its fair share, and Gosforth gets soaked right along with it. At some point, though, you stop fighting the weather and start finding the good bits instead. So here are five things we genuinely love about rainy Newcastle mornings, written from behind the counter at KULT.
1. The windows steam up and the room gets smaller
There is a particular moment on a wet morning when the glass fogs over. The street outside turns into a soft grey blur. Suddenly the whole coffee shop feels about half its actual size. Meanwhile the espresso machine hums, someone shakes out an umbrella by the door, and the world shrinks to one warm room. We would not swap it for sunshine.
2. The first hot drink tastes twice as good
Cold hands wrapped around a warm cup is a simple pleasure that never gets old. A flat white you would have drunk without thinking in July becomes an event in October. Rain does not change the coffee. It does, however, change how much you appreciate it.
3. Everybody arrives in the same boat
Rainy Gosforth mornings are a great leveller. Everyone comes through the door damp, windswept and entirely unbothered. There is a quiet solidarity in that. Strangers actually talk to each other about the weather, and for once it is not small talk. It is a shared experience.
4. It is perfect matcha weather
Matcha drinkers, we see you. There is something about cradling a bright green cup while rain streaks down the window. Honestly, it feels far more cinematic than it has any right to. Two minutes of pretending you are in a moody film is, we would argue, an excellent use of a wet morning.
5. Nobody is in a rush to leave
On a bright day, people grab a coffee and go. When it is hammering down, they stay. Second cups get ordered. Laptops come out, conversations run long, and the place settles into that slow, easy hum we like best. Bad weather is quietly the best thing that happens to a coffee shop.
Come and sit out the rain with us
If the forecast looks grim, take it as an invitation. We are on the high street in Gosforth with coffee, matcha, protein shakes and somewhere dry to sit. Have a look at what we serve, or see what is coming up on our events page. Alternatively, just turn up and drip on the floor a bit. We really do not mind.