Sir Isaac's Artisan Coffee offers more than just 'coffee and cake'

We spoke to owner of the shop, in Sir Isaac's Walk, James Channon as part of our new campaign to support the dozens of fantastic independent and family-owned businesses in Colchester.

Sir Isaac's Artisan Coffee is a coffee shop that stocks more than just traditional coffee and cake and has been serving Colchester residents for four years. 

Beaming - James Channon at the store (Image: Newsquest)

James, 28, has owned the business since its opening in late 2020, which he says made it 'challenging' due to the global pandemic. 

He said: "We were lucky enough to skip the very first lockdown but I’d say it did make it a bit more challenging in that time.

"But at the same time, people remember us from the initial opening because that was a time when we could open up when a lot of other coffee shops couldn’t.

"So we had quite a bit of an impact in the town when we did open as it was quite a rare time to do stuff like that."

Work - James making a coffee for a customer (Image: Newsquest)

As the name suggests, the store sells coffee, however, it has many other unique items on sale.

"We sell coffee, cakes, coffee beans, gift hampers, syrups and mugs, there is quite a range of retail in-store that people might not expect if they haven’t been inside before," he said.

"A lot of people may walk past and just assume it is hot coffee and cakes in the window but in terms of what we offer in store, especially at Christmas, is a lot of different stuff."

Items - the menu (Image: Newsquest)

James has years of experience in the food industry and has worked with lots of different industry businesses.

He said: "Previously I had involvement with a coffee stand business in Chelmsford and I worked in the head office of Uber Eats.

"I have worked with a lot of food businesses and coffee shops across the UK so Colchester being a hometown when the opportunity came up I took it."

Through the four years of service James says the town has changed a lot.

James said: "The town has changed quite a bit in terms of locations so when we opened we had different shops next to us and opposite us. The town has changed quite a bit around us."