London Through Coffee By Al Higgins

I met Al as a Photographer, through my best friend Pete Conway as a BMXER. Funny thing is now, I see Al as another Coffee guy. Al has an amazing eye for imagery, but as proven recently his good taste dosen’t stop there. He recently surprised many coffee based peers in Ireland by achieving 1st in the Cupping Competition at the IBC as an independent . He is in my eyes a true discerning customer, who knows what he likes and why he likes it. 

Here is a walk through London via coffee and coffee experiences he compiled with his fair lady Meghan. 

Dunne

alsphotos:

The London Good Coffee Tour.

Myself and Meghan took advantage of our trip to London to scout out various recommended cafes. In order, we have…

-Notes Cafe

-Monmouth

-No.26 Tapped & Packed

-Flat White

-Dept. of Coffee & Social Affairs (Not Photographed)

-Prufrock

-Protein

-Kaffeine

Notes became our regular, being just around the corner from where we were staying. Great cafe, great atmosphere, great coffee and good food. I’d been there a year previous and was disappointed by their syphon coffee and general knowledge, but they’ve really up’d their game.

Considering Monmouth was just up the road, we paid a few visits there. I found the coffee all round to be very dark, and didn’t give as much as I’d hoped. The cafe itself was really nice, the staff members I talked to didn’t seem to have much information on the coffee, which was disappointing, considering it was all their own beans. We brought back a few bags, including a Guji which got particularly tasty after a week or two. 

No.26 was nice. Busy, but nice. We didn’t get to talk to anyone in there, and it seemed very much like ‘drink your coffee, and out you go’.  I shouldn’t complain, the coffee was well made, the treats were grand, and it was a nice place. I just wish it was a bit friendlier.

Flat White was disappointing. Very. I guess I had somewhat high expectations, but it was a bit dirty, the staff weren’t very pleasant and the coffee was a bit crap. We asked for a flat white and a cap, and got two cap’s, both covered with chocolate, which was a bit disappointing. Nothing about the place made me want to come back. Or try anything else on the menu.

Our trip to the Dept. of Coffee & Social Affairs was an odd one. We asked what was on filter and was told an African coffee, but not much else. We ordered it, and it tasted grand, nothing special, nothing terrible. The cafe itself is really nice, bright and pleasant.

Luckily, Prufrock was just down the road, which was great. The staff were really friendly and knowledgable, even though the place was really busy. We managed to get through a filter, an espresso and a flat white. It was definitely one of the best cafe’s I’ve been in. 

Protein was definitely our best coffee/cafe experience in London. Rob Dunne is running a pretty tight ship in there. Everything looks good, tastes good, everyone is chatty, and Rob’s experiments with coffee/cupping are great. We probably could have spent the whole day in there. It’s great to see a cafe trying to experiment and look beyond just the cup of coffee they’re serving. 

Our last cafe was Kaffeine. And it was great. Again, we managed to get through an espresso and a flat white each.  The staff were friendly and we had a chat with the owner/manager who was great, interested in feedback and an all round sound guy. I’m looking forward to getting back there.

I think a trip back to hit up the multitude of other cafe’s is due, very soon. Also, a minor request; Wifi in your cafe’s - Please!?!