Perfect Espresso Coffee Tour of London

Armed with the blue map to good coffee in London, Gwilym Davies’ Dis-loyalty Card and our own research, we had plenty of places to visit – on our mission to make an itinerary of 10 exceptional espresso experiences.

For those of you who are familiar with the Perfect Espresso training system, an exceptional espresso experience involves the AAA criteria of AMBIENCE, ATTITUDE and ACTION. Basically this means

1. The place has a good vibe or atmosphere.
2. The staff are all relaxed and efficient, welcoming and friendly.
3. The coffee beverages are so enjoyable, you want to come back for more.

Day 1: The East End

We started where we were told great espresso emanates from these days in London – the East End and home of the 2009 World Barista Champion, Gwilym Davies. Having sold his now famous coffee cart in Columbia Market, you will find Gwilym at Prufrock Coffee (140 Shoreditch High Street) – a trendy menswear store at the back and ‘drink-your-coffee-standing-up’ coffee bar at the front. There is usually a queue, but service is snappy and while waiting, you can take the time to learn – by looking and listening. My friend Margaret who shared this coffee pilgrimage with Paul and I, and quite a coffee connoisseur at home in Brisbane, declared she had the best latte of her life at Prufrock! So we were off to a great start.

Scattered around East End (taking in Spitalfields, Shoreditch, Hackney and Bethnal Green), you don’t have to go far to find exceptional espresso. Although there are many more, three made it on to our itinerary.

Nude Espresso (26 Hanbury Street, Shoreditch) rates well on all three Perfect Espresso categories. The space is modern and uncluttered, the staff exceptionally friendly and our beverages, rich and flavoursome. The menu states that ‘all espressos are served with double ristrettos’.  Say no more. This flavour-intense, a little-lower-in-caffeine option is just perfect for me. The owner and most of the staff are Australians who certainly know about the exceptional espresso concept.

Climpson and Sons (67 Broadway Market, Hackney) is a two-some in the very interesting and upbeat Broadway Market precinct full of trendy places to eat and shop. Firstly, there is the café where you not only get a great latte or cappuccino, but breakfast or lunch as well. The food looked as fabulous as the coffee. As well, the ambience was casual and welcoming and despite the lunch hour rush, the staff were friendly and helpful. Then just up the street in Broadway Mews is the small roastery, which means your beans at the café are certain to be fresh. Google ‘Broadway Market’ and you will find enough to keep you occupied all day near the area. It’s off the beaten tourist track and fascinating. We found the walk among the historic buildings along Andrews Canal particularly interesting.

Hurwundeki Coffee (299 Railway Arches-Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green) is a most unusual place that is really like a mini museum. You could get carried away browsing this large space jam-packed full of things from the past – and forget that you ordered a coffee. But the coffee is worth focussing on and you can always enjoy playing a tune on the old piano or popping a tip in the antique budget box later. We treated ourselves to an almond tart with our espressos and were on our way. The garden, which serves as a playground, also has treasures from the past – like tricycles and rocking horses.

Day 2: The West End

What better place to head off to next but to Soho and its surrounds. This was where espresso first hit London in the 1950s. Back then it was less about the coffee and more about the music. Post-war social reform and the birthing of rock and roll were both happening in Soho cafe basements. Moka Bar, the place where London’s first espresso machine was installed in 1953 no longer exists in Frith Street. But apparently, Gina Lollobrigida was brought to Soho from Italy to head up the fanfare that went with this historic occasion.

Five years ago we found only two places you could get a decent coffee – Monmouth Coffee (Covent Garden) and Monmouth Coffee (Borough Market) – and that was it. On our return to the famed Monmouth Street cafe, the place was just as popular with lattes and cappuccinos heading in all directions. So it was with great expectation the three of us slid through the gap in one of the little 4-sided booths to ‘cosy up’ for some cappuccinos. The roaster, which on the previous visit was in the basement rumbling the ancient floorboards under our feet and wafting freshly roasted coffee up through large cracks was, to our disappointment, no longer there.  A necessary business decision I am sure, but the ‘rumbling and wafting’ while consuming my cappuccino in that little booth years ago will always be one of my fondest coffee memories. Never mind; progress happens; the coffee was just as good. Afterwards a wander through the colourful Neil’s Yard precinct (behind Monmouth Street) is always worthwhile and out the other side to Neil’s Yard Dairy with its unrivalled display of English cheeses.

In the heart of Soho there is now a lot of choice for good espresso. We chose Flat White (17 Berwick Street) where we had some great Aussie style cappuccinos. Once more we were greeted by the relaxed friendly service we were becoming accustomed to in these new wave espresso bars operated by Australians and New Zealanders. One thing I have never seen before is a customer wheeling a pushbike into a café to place an order. At Flat White, these guys just took this in their stride and offered to prop the bike up while the customer consumed her cappuccino. Now that’s service! On top of that they willingly pointed us in the direction of a number of great places to eat. We chose Yauatcha, the dim sum place over the road, which was sensational – it’s on the corner to the right behind the blue glass walls.

We then headed through Soho Square (worth a wander particularly on a sunny day) and straight across Oxford Street to Tapped and Packed (26 Rathbone Place). It was a fiercely hot afternoon by then, so I chose the affogato – an all time favourite of mine. I have to say it was one of the best I have ever had – so much so I was back a few days later for another ‘two scoops topped with a double ristretto’. Paul’s long blacks had good crema and were neither over-extracted nor bitter. One thing we learned about the London coffee menu that is different from the Australian menu is they distinguish between an Americano and a long black. The Americano was usually larger.

To reach our next destination we wandered through several ethnic eating precincts in search of a meal. There are lots of English pubs in the area too as well as the International Coffee Organisation in Berners Street, where you would go to do some serious coffee research. They have a library of every conceivable book and record on coffee but you must make an appointment beforehand.

We eventually arrived at Kaffeine (66 Great Titchfield Street).  Again, the place was run by Australians and again, the experience was exceptional. We had lattes and they came with great crema and foam pencilled into perfect look-alike designs.  The Portuguese custard tarts were delicious too.

Day 3: The area between

Not to be missed are two other interesting places located between the East and West Ends. They are quite a distance apart but we stopped off at the Museum of London along the way and found some interesting snippets about London’s coffee history to photograph for future publications. It is worth a visit for a fascinating précis of London’s history over the past few hundred years.

Our first stop was Caravan (11-13 Exmouth Market), which had only been operating for a few months. Roasting happens downstairs and upstairs is a large café that does exceptional coffee and modern meals too – breakfast, lunch and dinner. Awesome for breakfast! And great for cocktails in the evening! But we stuck with the coffee and ordered ‘cortados’ which are Spanish for small milky coffees that are becoming a bit of a trend in London. We would call these ‘piccolo lattes’ in Australia. Their affogato comes complete with two generous slices of Italian biscotti. Yum!

We walked all the way to our next destination, some miles away, zigzagging through narrow back streets (to take in the sites of London’s early coffee history as much as to avoid the high street traffic). We wandered through the areas where the first coffee shops were to be found around Cornhill, Threadneedle, Gresham and Bow Streets (pre-espresso in the 17th century). The first coffee shop is reputed to have been opened in 1652 in St Michael’s Alley near the Stock Exchange. Unfortunately the Great Fire consumed most of London’s early coffee houses and those that remained in this area were bombed in the war. What many people don’t realise is that in the early 18th century various records state there were thousands of coffee shops in London which at the time only had a population of half a million. Tea drinking only became popular after this in England.

In the heart of the city amidst all this history and just south of Liverpool Street Station is Taylor Street Baristas (12 Old Broad Street). A billboard outside states they are proud their baristas are all Australian trained. The ambience is unlike a lot of other places we visited in London in that it is more noisy and upbeat. But if popularity is anything to go on, it obviously has the right formula and is a credit to the three enterprising young siblings from Australia (again!) who run this very busy café. For me it echoes the early beginnings of coffee houses in London being the place for people from nearby offices to discuss business and commerce.

In conclusion, I believe a new chapter in coffee history is being written in London. It is just the start but the first paragraph reads that Australians and New Zealanders are paving the way for a change in the way Londoners appreciate coffee. The trend may never be mainstream but it is interesting that baristas from young countries ‘down under’ are having such an influence in a country where the first coffee house outside the Arab world came in 1652 and to where the first espresso machine outside Europe made its way in 1953 – about 10 years before one arrived in Australia.

All you need is an A-Z map of inner London (from newsagents), good walking shoes and a day pass to cover bus and ‘tube’ (from tube stations) to participate in your own fascinating three day Perfect Espresso Coffee Tour.

Enjoy your coffee!

NOTE: The 10 best espresso experiences in this espresso tour are based on our experience in 2010. May I offer an apology to any great espresso coffee place we have missed. Please CONTACT US about any exceptional or interesting experience you would like us to consider; we’ll do our research and may visit you next time!