Ground Espresso Bars – Ballymena has been a great place to relax and refuel for many years now! Their Ballymoney Street based coffee shop has been open for around 15 years, serving coffees, teas, juices, a good selection of food and arguably, the best brownies & caramel squares ever!

Ground Espresso Bars began in Coleraine in 2001. Since then the family owned business has grown steadily. If you follow them on social media you’ll have noticed the steady stream of new stores being opened all over Northern Ireland. We spoke to Lorna, Ground’s Ballymena manager, to find out more.

What new food or drink items have you planned for 2018?

“We’re excited to introduce several new items! New food items include stout brisket beef on sourdough bagettes, beetroot and falafel wraps, also Mexican chicken ciabattas. For everyone with a sweet tooth you’ll love these!! Sticky Toffee Sponge, Oreo Brownies and Plum Bakewell. One of the most popular drinks we introduced recently is our salted caramel latte. So add these to our current selection of food and drink and there’s lots to tempt the taste buds! 

Ground Espresso Bars – Ballymena ~ Special promotion on Friday 19th January.

We’re also having a fantastic promotion happening this Friday 19th January 2018. Buy a slow brewed coffee and get a FREE muffin. A perfect opportunity to try something different! The promotion runs from 8:30am – 12pm.”

Ground Espresso Bars - Ballymena

Talking about coffee, you’re obviously passionate about the coffee you serve. Tell us more.

“The coffee we’re using now is a blend called ‘Winter Is Here’. We work directly with suppliers from Honduras and adhere to strict Fairtrade standards. We have combined three individual beans from Honduras, Peru and Brazil in this unique, one of a kind espresso. Also on our brew bar at the moment we have Chinga and Finca Limoncillo beans, both from Has Bean Coffee.”

Finally what do you love most about working at Ground Ballymena?

“I have loved seeing the business develop in Ballymena. It’s great to see customers return every day and myself and the rest of the staff building relationships with them. I have thoroughly enjoyed working for Ground for the last 15 years simply because I work with good people and good customers. They are a company who value morals, integrity and who really care about their customers needs and employees development path.”

You can keep up-to-date with Ground Espresso Bars – Ballymena news on their Facebook page here. You can also follow Ground on Twitter here. If you’re out and about elsewhere and want a Ground coffee, click here to see a map of all their locations.