Once Spring had finally sprung in Aberdeen, I experienced a renewed desire to walk its streets. This made for a perfect excuse to do something I am rarely inclined to do – order a take-away coffee. Or a few, in fact, as I had made it my mini-mission to visit a few pop-up/take-away-only cafes, following a number of recommendations from fellow lovers of city strolling.

The first on my pop-up list: The Witchery.

The name caught my attention straight away, reminding me of a beautiful dinner I had in Edinburgh many moons ago. The West End location was also alluring; what wasn’t, however, were the opening times.

Spoiler alert: limited opening hours seem to be a thing binding this mini-series together. The Witchery is a purely breakfast and lunch spot, open Mon-Fri until 2pm only – out of my reach except for the odd day of working from home, as happened to be this particular March Wednesday. 

I did leave it late, however, and on arrival thought I had missed a premature closing for the day, seeing its cardboarded-up windows. But as I scanned the length of the inconspicuous building, I realised the venue was bigger than I had assumed – also, the card on the door still said “Open” so I proceeded without haste. 

The time was 1:50pm but the place had already undergone a clean: the pastry case was empty and the barista on the other side looked like she was shutting down the coffee machine – but thankfully not before crafting my mocha. 

I was back on my way promptly – just took a minute outside to take a snap of the concoction. 

Now, I hadn’t read my review from Figment proper before heading to its pop-up shop (I did not want it to taint my judgement in any way) – but I still had high expectations. I remembered I had loved their creative website, which the flying pig logo reminded me of.

Alas, that would be it in terms of positive experiences. The Witchery’s mocha was simply bland – oddly, it didn’t even taste particularly milky, as if it struck an impossible balance between its ingredients to hit a flat, no-sensation zone. Which is a shame, because it was of the right drinking temperature for taking away and sipping from the get-go – the texture was also nicely blended.

Sadly, with neither the taste of chocolate nor coffee, it did not warrant drinking much beyond half a cup. 

And while the Spring weather allowed me to burn those few wasted calories with a step surge, this first cafe pop-up had left me pretty deflated.

Worry not though – my quest continued.

To learn more about The Witchery by Figment, visit their website.