Coffee in London

Is it actually possible to find a good shot?

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RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Coffee in London

Postby Gwilym » Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:18 pm

Monmouth always used to display the roast dates. can not think that would have changed, if so staff will always know.
turn over on one of those boxes was very quick when i was there 4yrs ago and i am sure that has only speeded up.
if still in doubt mention it to the staff & i am sure they will let you sample it
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RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Coffee in London

Postby espressomattic » Sat Aug 02, 2008 5:50 pm

When I was there a couple of years ago, I asked the very same question. It would seem their turnover justifies them as they are never more than 2-4 days old at the most.

Their espresso is really really good and I was lucky enough to be given a couple of S.O shot which I cannot remember. I will never forget the up turned yellow old milk container for a hopper downstair either!
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Re: RE: Re: RE: Re: RE: Coffee in London

Postby CakeBoy » Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:26 pm

Styles wrote:Nick and Cakey - you're really missing out then. They have a great offering of single origins. Well researched, and some of the best easily attained coffees in London.


You are quite right Tim and I didn't mean it to sound in any way dismissive. There is no doubt about the excellent selection of SO beans, and I'm sure they are a great resource within London. However, the big open bins are still not the way I prefer to keep my coffee and the prices are also very London for beans that are often available elsewhere too. I have had their blend on several occasions, pulled by various baristi, and it's clearly very good, just not one of my favourites :)
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Postby lukas » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:42 am

Since today's my last day here in London sitting in a filthy little internet cafe, I thought I'd post my opinions about the coffee I've had:

Toast's place - brilliant. Love his L'anna :) and homeroasted stuff, thanks for lending a pillow!

Flat White - they're using a blend developed with Squaremile now, and their short black (as they call it, ultra dense thick fuuuull bodied ristretto thingy) is awesome. Thick thick short dense chocolaty fruit bomb, certainly not what I'd expect from such a short shot. Talked to the barista (Dwayne?) a while and he seemed really passionate about everything coffee and also loved their new blend. You Kiwis have an interesting way of squeezing the flavours out of the puck!
Also tried the flat white (awesome) and a piccolo latte, which is something like a single ristretto in a very small glass topped with very nice latte art, the perfect milk drink for me not-so-milk-drinker. Surprisingly bright and fruit cutting through the milk. Thanks toast for the recommendation!

Fernandez and Wells - Cakeboy, thanks for the recommendation! No regrets their either. Very nice staff, had a brilliant breakfast and a very nice double espresso off the monmouth blend. good coffee good food, nice combination. But - I've never seen a barista working so messy with the grinder covered in grounds ... they've got a very strange dosing style, but still the coffee tasted very nice.

Squaremile - I'll leave that to when I'm home. We're about to cup some very special coffee tonight :)

London doesn't seem so bad when you're having nice coffee all day long.

edit: I totally forgot - Monmouth Coffee!
Last year I had a really strong cup of brewed coffee there, last week it was rather the opposite. A nice brewed cup of some Guatemalan Coffee IIRC, just a tad little overextracted/they could've dosed a gram or so more, but nevertheless still a nice cup. Very nice place to sit too, if you get a seat that is!
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Postby caf-fiene » Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:13 am

Next time your around try Beas of bloomsbury and milk bar , Went to both yesterday coffee was excellent and the cake at Beas was the best i've had in the uk .
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Postby Gwilym » Wed Aug 06, 2008 4:19 pm

Bea's cakes are very very good
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Postby leecb » Wed Aug 06, 2008 5:58 pm

Please don't tell Cakey that or we'll never hear the end of it!!! :wink: :lol:
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Postby CakeBoy » Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:35 pm

:cry:
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Postby kingseven » Wed Aug 06, 2008 10:51 pm

Hey Lukas - thanks for coming by and for the opportunity to cup the coffee. It is a shame we didn't get the new toy working in time for good shots. All is up and running today. The problem was the pressure in the cylinder was too high, so we've taken it down from 232 bars to about 135 and it is doing what it should. (post about the new toy coming soon)

Let us know what you think of the coffee. Glad London is finally starting to brew better coffee!
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I'll never own too many items with which to enjoy coffee.
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Postby lukas » Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:53 am

Haven't finished the writeup, but to tease you all even more, Jim speaks of a pressure profiling toy that works without a pump. Seeing a shot flowing into the cup without any noise at all was quite an experience!

Anette, Jim, Stephen - it was a pleasure to meet you all. Thanks for taking your time!
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Postby CakeBoy » Thu Aug 07, 2008 11:51 am

Well then boys ..... tell us more! :P
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Postby Aadje » Thu Aug 07, 2008 10:23 pm

Hydrolics?
Bits 'n' pieces . . .

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Postby Styles » Fri Aug 08, 2008 5:42 pm

This is worth waiting for...
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Postby Jasonscheltus » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:14 am

is it pedal powered too?
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Postby kingseven » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:42 am

I power it with my mind.
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