Ulster Rugby players show '˜sweet' side in coffee and donuts business

Team mates Callum Black and Darren Cave are the owners of Guilt Trip which opened just over a week ago on Orangefield Lane in east Belfast.

Prop forward Mr Black explained: “I’ve been into coffee in a big way for quite a while now. I created an Instagram account called @baldybarista to show my home barista work.

“I really enjoyed trying lots of different coffees and roasters from all over the world. I’ve wanted to open a coffee shop for a while but didn’t want to open one just for the sake of it.

“With my passion I wanted to strive towards serving the best coffee possible. Then along with donuts, keeping it simple but doing them very well.”

The 31-year-old American-born rugby player continued: “I’ve known Darren for over 10 years through rugby and he has always supported my coffee on Instagram and pushed me to open a coffee shop.

“Darren has good business sense which stops us running away with our passion for coffee. I’m very passionate about coffee and we are slowly creating a team of like-minded people that strive to be the best at what they do.”

When asked which Ulster player is the biggest donut lover, Mr Black had no hesitation in naming the club’s captain Rob Herring.

Mr Black and Mr Cave developed the concept of Guilt Trip along with branding company Angel and Anchor and barista Ben Hamilton.

Manager Mr Hamilton said: “We serve speciality, single-origin coffee from a variety of roasters each month. We also have our delicious donuts made by chef Corri Withers in our own kitchen in-house.

“We set out to build a brand that was bigger than a coffee and donut shop. We wanted to create an experience which people could engage with on different levels. We wanted to harness that feeling you get on a road trip when there is only good vibes and the journey.”

He added: “If people haven’t experienced speciality coffee before we want to take their coffee game to the next level.

“It’s important for us to educate the customer on where the coffee is from, the flavour you expect and the different methods to brew. Similarly, regularly visitors of Belfast’s other great independent coffee shops will find themselves at home with us.

“Since opening we’ve had to increase our daily batch every day to meet the demand and they are still selling out quickly. There has been a constant flow of customers, queuing often outside. We’re already beginning to get regulars.”