We’re excited to launch our brand new website and online shop. Whether you’re after fresh pastries, bread, or curated pantry goodies, you can now pre-order online and collect from your local Stir.
Below is a handy FAQ to walk you through how it works:
How does Click & Collect work?
Just head to our website, add your favourite items to your basket, choose your preferred Stir location and a collection time (see below), then check out. We’ll take care of the rest.
How soon can I collect my order?
We ask for 3 days’ notice so we can prepare your order and get everything delivered fresh to your chosen café.
When can I pick up my order?
You’ll select a specific pick-up time when you check out. Your order will be ready and waiting for you on that day – no queueing, no hassle.
Where do I collect from?
From your selected Stir café – just pop in and let the team know you’re collecting an online order.
What if something’s missing?
We do everything we can to make sure your order is complete. If something is unavailable, our team will do their best to find a replacement or let you know in advance.
Can I still get delivery?
Yes, but via Deliveroo. We’re now using Deliveroo for all home deliveries, so you can still get Stir to your door if you’d rather stay in.
Whether you’re hosting a weekend get-together, stocking up for the week, or simply craving a bit of Stir at home – our new site is here to help.
Take a look and get your order in: Visit the shop.
‘Barbecue’ in the UK used to mean a few blokes standing round a grill, burning a few sausages and burgers while telling each other they’re doing it wrong. It’s fair to say that those days are on their way out.
The rise of fire‑forward restaurants across the country has started showing people just how diverse, technical and interesting barbecues can be.
But with this comes a tendency to think that great barbecue (or any party for that matter) requires hours of prep, secret techniques or fancy equipment. It just doesn’t.
The truth is your guests just want to relax, laugh and eat delicious food. No one really cares that you hand‑blended a closely guarded ratio of 14 different herbs and spices or simmered the barbecue sauce for 11 hours. They care that it tastes good and they have the chance to enjoy your company between you buzzing about between kitchen and grill.
So that’s where we come in with our lovely baked goods, rubs, dressings, sauces and condiments. Leave the curation to us and get cooking. Here are some principles to think about and ideas to get you started.
Barbecues
Host the best barbecue you can with our curated selection of products to help you surprise and delight your guests.
If you haven’t had time to brine a chicken for two days ahead of time, don’t worry about it. Choose your protein or veg, coat with a seasoning mix at your disposal that matches the other components of your barbecue as closely as possible and pop straight onto the hot grill. By all means, do this step before prepping anything else but don’t stress.
Your average party‑goer isn’t going to notice the difference after a couple of glasses of Pimm’s and it’s questionable how much flavour really penetrates very deeply. Just chuck it on!
But we would stress that seasoning a bit more than you might feel comfortable with is a great rule of thumb. A fair amount of it will drop off and end up on the fire anyway.
2. Pick your vehicle
As you may well have gathered, we are big fans of sandwiches at Stir as our bread is a delicious and efficient food delivery system. Give people the chance to add different flavours, temperatures and textures to their own sandwiches and you’re onto a winner. Also, less work at the business end of the hosting process.
Brioche Buns 4 Pack
£5.80Original price was: £5.80.£4.35Current price is: £4.35.
For most people, barbecue tends to be a warm‑weather pursuit so it’s wise to avoid too many ingredients that are going to turn gross when sat at room temp. Consider avoiding mayo as your dressing base as it goes a bit claggy after time out of the fridge.
Give people the opportunity to balance the flavours on their fork/in their hands/sandwich by offering crunch, acidity, sweetness, spiciness, hot/cold temperatures. Crushed peanuts or a dukkah go a long way to elevating a potato salad and sausage. On the subject of sausages, a sausage grilled then braised in beer with loads of sliced onions will blow the mind of many a party‑goer.
Three Easy Recipe Ideas That Punch Above Their Weight
Peanut Butter Chilli Smash Burgers It’s not going to win any health‑food awards but smearing some peanut butter and chilli sauce on a bun encasing a deeply charred burger is delicious beyond description. The higher the quality of the PB, sauce, bun and burger the better the final product will be.
Mushroom Shawarma This was honestly a revelation. Give some portobello mushrooms a light drizzle of herby dressing and dust liberally with shawarma spice rub then cook them on the cooler side of a barbecue. Serve in a Stir Bakery flatbread with some chopped vegetables and a drizzle of the dressing and you are onto a winner. Also, wrapping flatbreads in foil lets those flavours marry up and the bread saturate with the juices, making for an incredibly nice and easy‑to‑eat morsel.
Jerk Chicken Skewers Just as wrapped sandwiches taste better, meat tastes better from a skewer. We marinated some chicken thigh fillets in Olive et al ginger and chilli dressing and a few tablespoons of jerk seasoning for about half an hour before skewering and grilling hot for twenty minutes. The results came surprisingly close to authentic jerk chicken. Of course, for the real thing there is a lot of work involved and results speak for themselves, but for a shortcut recipe packed with flavour, you could do a lot worse than trying this. With some pimento wood chunks on the fire, it would have been even closer.
It’s About Having Fun!
Essentially what we’re trying to get across is that hosting your loved ones over for a barbecue doesn’t have to be a super involved and stressful affair. It’s perfectly achievable to throw things together during the event itself and still create exceptional food. It’s also much more repeatable.
Next time you’re thinking about lighting the coals, pop down to Stir and fill your bag with some carefully curated products that do the hard work for you—and some of the best breads in Cambridge.
At Stir, we’re known for taking coffee seriously. But lately we’ve been getting just as excited about matcha and investing as much time and diligence into bringing you the best matcha possible.
Our Head of Coffee, Balint has been hard at work on this project for a few months now and settled on a ceremonial-grade matcha from Yame, Japan, one of the most respected tea-growing regions in the world. It has passed our staff taste tests with flying colours and we’re certain you’re going to love it.
To celebrate, we are bringing Cambridge four brand new drinks you can try during our Matcha Special Weekend, and a new ingredient that all but the biggest matcha nerds might not be familiar with.
Let’s get into it!
What Makes our Matcha Different
Most cafés use culinary-grade matcha – bold, grassy, often bitter and designed to be masked with sugar or milk.
Ours is ceremonial grade, sourced directly from Yame, Japan. That means:
It’s made from the youngest leaves of the first harvest
It tastes smooth, naturally sweet, rich in umami with no bitterness
It’s the best expression of what matcha should be: vibrant, earthy and energising. We’re confident you’ll taste the difference if you drink it with milk or straight.
It’s that good.
A Thousand Year Tradition
Matcha has deep roots. First consumed in China as a ground-leaf medicinal tea, it was brought to Japan in the 12th century by the monk Eisai, who praised it as “the ultimate mental and medical remedy.”
Over time, matcha became central to Japanese tea culture, especially in the chanoyu (tea ceremony) developed by Sen no Rikyū in the 16th century. Today, matcha’s still a daily ritual for some and a global trend for others but it all starts with how it’s grown.
The Health Benefits of Matcha
In Japan, the world’s leading producer of matcha, the export value of tea in 2023 rose by 33% from the previous year. The global market for matcha-based products is worth around $4.24bn and will grow around 53% by 2029, predicts the Business Research Company, a consultancy.
Drinks made with matcha are incredibly visually appealing. It’s difficult to see someone enjoying a drink the same colour as a teenage mutant ninja turtle and not be a little bit intrigued. This makes it pretty sharable with the hashtag #matcha garnering over 23 billion views on TikTok.
It’s the same kind of phenomenon that made Aperol Spritz an overnight hit in the early 2010s.
Also, the young people driving the trend are more health conscious than their coffee loving elders. Particularly the gut health and focus benefits matcha affords:
High in antioxidants (especially EGCG, a powerful catechin)
Sustained focus thanks to L-theanine and caffeine combined
Supports metabolism and fat burning
Unlike coffee, matcha gives you a more sustained, slower release feeling of alertness without the crash sometimes experienced when drinking coffee.
From Field to Cup
The process is slow, deliberate and rooted in generations of expertise. Here’s a simplified overview of how ceremonial matcha is produced:
Shade-growing: Tea bushes are covered 3–4 weeks before harvest, reducing sunlight by 90%. This increases chlorophyll and boosts L-theanine (the calming amino acid that gives matcha its distinct umami).
Harvesting: Only the youngest, most tender leaves are hand-picked in early spring.
Steaming: The leaves are steamed to preserve colour and nutrients.
Drying and sorting: They are then dried, deveined and de-stemmed. At this stage, it’s known as tencha.
Stone-milling: Finally, tencha is slowly ground into matcha. It takes an hour to produce just 30g of powder. That is ages!
This video provides an excellent overview.
How to Spot Good Matcha
Here’s what to look for when buying or drinking matcha:
What to Look For
What to Avoid
Origin: Japan (Uji, Yame, Nishio)
No listed origin
Ceremonial or premium grade
“Matcha” from outside Japan
Vibrant, grassy green powder
Dull, brownish-green colour
Packed in tins or foil-lined bags
Bulk containers or plastic pouches
Oxygen absorber & best-before date
No freshness indicators
What is Hojicha?
Hojicha is a savoury, “grown-up” green tea – roasted in a porcelain pot over charcoal until it takes on deep, nutty notes, gentle smokiness and just a hint of something almost maritime, like kelp or nori.
It’s not sweet or grassy but warm and earthy. Lots and lots of umami. Great for people who find matcha a bit too bright and probably more closely associated with the flavours that attract people to coffee. It’s also low in caffeine and completely unlike anything else on our menu.
Ask your barista to swap out any of your favourite matcha drinks with hojicha if you’re interested.
New Stir Matcha Drinks
We’re launching four drinks across all Stir locations during the Bank Holiday weekend. Each one brings out a different side of our matcha.
Matcha Cortado
A short, bold drink made with the same amount of matcha as our latte but using less milk. It’s rich and concentrated. An excellent expression of a milky matcha drink.
Hojicha Cortado
Our first time using hojicha, a roasted green tea ground like matcha. Warm, nutty, and comforting – especially good for coffee lovers.
Iced Raspberry Matcha Tonic
A tart, sparkling drink made with raspberry syrup, tonic water and layered matcha. Sweet, earthy, and perfect for hot days.
Iced Mango Matcha
Mango purée, cold milk and matcha, layered for a fruity, creamy, tropical vibe. A more indulgent iced matcha.
Final Thoughts
We’ve chosen one of Japan’s most revered matchas and built drinks around it that do it justice. Over the years, Matcha has become one of our most popular drinks in every one of our cafes. It’s also clear that the people of Cambridge have a very discerning palate for quality – on the rare occasion we make a mistake in our matcha preparation people are quick to let us know!
We’re really striving to serve the best Matcha available in Cambridge. Pop by this weekend and taste some of the thoughtfully sourced, beautifully prepared matcha we have on offer.
