Samuel Netherton, a 22-year-old student from Lisburn, has gone viral on TikTok for setting up a pop-up coffee shop on the London Underground, serving free freshly-brewed coffee to commuters. The video, posted on his account @samsroamingcafe, has garnered nearly 500,000 views.
From actuarial science to coffee passion
Netherton is studying actuarial science at Queen's University Belfast but discovered his passion for coffee during a placement year in London. He began perfecting his brewing skills and wanted to combine his love for coffee with social media content creation, inspired by friends involved in filming and photography.
Speaking to Belfast Live, Netherton said: "I've always enjoyed going out for coffee with people, and the depth of conversations you can have when you go out for a coffee. Then when I went away to London, like a lot of people I helped myself through the 9 to 5 by drinking a lot of coffee."
Setting up on the Tube
The idea came from wondering where the most unusual location for a café in London would be. After investing in a generator, Netherton set up on the Northern Line. Despite initial dirty looks from commuters, he quickly found people queuing for coffee.
"When we first set up on the Tube there were a lot of dirty looks, when people initially see someone doing this they probably think I'm doing something strange," he said. "After the slight awkwardness of setting up the coffee shop on the tube, we had our first customer which took a wee while. Once I made him the coffee, it seemed like everyone in the carriage wanted one."
Positive response and future plans
The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with Netherton noting that the coffee "helped put smiles on people's faces." He plans to take his mobile coffee venture to the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, transforming his car boot into a café. He also aims to turn his university house garage into a coffee shop and has even considered setting up on a plane.
"I'm very excited about what there is to come, and all the different places I'm going to make coffee," Netherton added. "I'm excited about documenting having great conversations with people over coffee, and documenting the journey of hopefully setting up my own coffee shop one day."
