It's officially Christmas at The Laine Deli!

When should you put your Christmas decorations up?

That's a good question - and one that's often a hot topic for shops. Too soon and you'll have customers muttering "it gets earlier every year". Too late and the same customers will probably claim you're related to Scrooge!

Well, we made a start this weekend. We've already catered for one Christmas event and have a couple of others lined up this week, so we reckoned it was about time The Laine Deli acquired some Christmas sparkle. We also have some lovely Christmassy gifts... but we'll tell you more about them in the next few days.

Christmas coffee

Many of the UK's 'traditional' Christmas celebrations aren't as old as you might think. For example, there's the Christmas tree - made popular by Queen Victoria - and Santa Claus, who only adopted his current red-suited form in the 19th century.

Which made us wonder: how long before the Gingerbread Latte becomes a traditional festive drink?

Anyway, if you'd like a warming Gingerbread latte (with or without whipped cream) - or a coffee that's flavoured with festive 'toasted marshmallow' syrup - we're happy to oblige. And you'll find our regular range of flavoured syrups available as well.

Christmas is coming

Christmas is still just over a month away but we're in a festive mood. That's because we've already started arranging the food for office parties and end-of-year lunches. And even if you're not celebrating Christmas at work, we can help with a few seasonal goodies. Perhaps a turkey and cranberry ciabatta for lunch... some chocolate stocking-fillers... or even (coming very soon!) a mince pie. Go on, treat yourself!

Coffee art

We think that making a decent cup of coffee is something of an art. But then we discovered an American woman who's taken coffee art to a new level. Karen Eland paints using espresso. That's right - she uses coffee. Most of her coffee pictures are painted in her local coffee shop and are coffee-themed interpretations of classic artworks.

A different perspective

Eagle-eyed customers will notice that we've removed the photographic prints from our walls and have introduced a new (borrowed) artwork. It's called "We Need To Talk" by Hugh McLeod and currently hangs at the back of the deli.

Brighton is full of (coffee) beans

Research carried out in the UK by the Local Data Company has revealed that Brighton is home to 121 coffee shops - the largest number of coffee shops per shopper outside London. There are now 11,805 coffee shops across the country, with 70% run independently (just like The Laine Deli).

Roadworks on Trafalgar Street

The top end of Trafalgar Street is closed at the moment because there's some resurfacing work going on at Frederick Place. (That's the one-way street before you pass under the railway station). And if you've been listening to the traffic news on the local radio, you'll now know that Trafalgar Street is also known as the B2119. Anyway, it's all due to finish this Friday -so we're hoping everything will soon be back to normal.