Get your coffee fix in London
Home or away, ours coffee fix is sacred. Especially when we are wandering through a city, a cup of coffee is indispensable. But even if we do stay seated for a while, we still want to imitate the Swedes with their fika - coffee, something sweet and, above all, some pure enjoyment time. And yes, you can get coffee on every street corner in the city, but sometimes (quite often) we just want really good coffee on a nice street corner and preferably with a good story. Where you you coffee fix find in London? Here, at one of these coffee addresses, of course.
Huh, what? Yes, Kiss the Hippo. Trust us, after you've had coffee here, you'll want to give that orange hippo a big treat – one that you never wanted from your aunt. Working with coffee from all over the world, they always know how to find a suitable coffee for you and - more importantly - brew it. As you often expect from restaurants, they also go with the seasons. Which is of course easily possible if you get the coffee from anywhere, but there is no reharvesting until the previous beans are gone. Whether you fancy an espresso, latte or filter coffee, choose your thing. You can't go wrong here as the baristas have won national championships. What you must have tried here: the ice pour. Comparable to a cold brew, but they did this much, much earlier, so good ideas there. The first location can be found at Richmond Park (where their roastery is also behind glass), but now they also have a more central location in Fitzrovia.
At Alchemy Café, just like the alchemists in the past, they work with a combination of science and... craft to provide us with a golden product – and yes, they succeed very well here. They work directly with coffee farmers here and that is not only nice for the farmers, but also for us because you occasionally come across some less common fantastic coffees. The beans then arrive in England and they roast them themselves in small batches. They now still attend events - not the least because they have been serving coffee backstage at the Glastonbury festival since 2005 - but they also have two locations that you can visit. The first can be found near the Museum of London, the second in Shoreditch.
Not in the mood for coffee? They also have super tasty tea from Good & Proper here.
With a twist from Australia and New Zealand, you can really enjoy yourself here in the English capital. With two locations not far from each other in Fitzrovia you can get a cup of fine coffee, currently a bit more local, but they often work together with coffee roasters from Australia that you don't often encounter on this side of the world. The display cases here are also full of cakes, pies and cookies that will stare at you until you give in. Not that you'll regret it, because it's the best pastel of nata is waiting for you outside Portugal. A bit more hungry, no problem, breakfast and lunch are just as good as the sweets. With weekly changing menus, it is ideal to work with the best ingredients that can be found at that moment. Pancakes, sourdough (toast) or granola you name it, they have it. More favorite breakfast spots in London We have already put it in a list for you.
The coffee is in, some time for shopping or perhaps a museum, but we actually only want one thing: a nice drink and a meal. We do that here.
A lot of coffee is roasted in London and so too here. Ozone can be found throughout the city, but you prefer to go to one of their own cafes with enormous windows, brick walls and wooden furniture. At Ozone they make the different parts work together and so it happened that they now have two places where they roast and serve the coffee and where you can also find a good breakfast or lunch. Starting in Shoreditch, the second, brighter location can be found a little further east in Bethnal Green. With the open kitchen and the many people who also get their filter coffee, cappuccino or aeropress here, there is always something to see and let the rest of the world pass you by.
When you walk in here you almost feel like you are stepping into a Finnish sauna with all that wood. However, you do not see or feel the steam, you only hear it heating the milk. A further sleek but light interior as we see in more Japanese restaurants. At Omotesando, Japanese culture is mixed with the coffee and that is what makes it extra special. The product is already good, but it receives so much more attention and respect that it tastes even better and you will automatically feel special. Quality over speed and they are happy to explain more about the beans and their origin. And don't forget to take one - or more - kashi to take with you. Then you ask what that is. Tasty, very tasty. Do you know canelé? So that. Baked, caramelized custard in which they occasionally add jam or cream. Give us the traditional one, any time of day – yes, even in the middle of the night.
Near St. Pancras station on the Grand Union Canal you will find Coal Drops Yard: an old industrial hall where culture, design and of course good food and drink come together. A nice place to take a look around and then enjoy the quality that the French Alain Ducasse brought to London. In his Le Café you don't just drink coffee, but in the way you would go out for dinner or in a cocktail bar. Even better is that Alain not only brought his coffee here, but also his chocolate. And chocolate from Paris, you can wake us up for that, especially with a wonderfully scented cup of coffee. What we really like is that Alain Ducasse is involved in the entire process, because in addition to pouring and roasting, there are also a number of their plants in Panama.
Photo: @pierremonetta
Australians bring a lot of good to London and here at Rosslyn they combine their perfection with the conviviality of an Irish pub. And yes, we always want to spend more time in a pub. Founders James and Mat have done that perfectly here. With a light contemporary space, there is also a newspaper that you can read with your cup of coffee. One thing you know for sure here: you will get something you like. It doesn't matter what is popular, but what makes you happy. What more could you want? That they are open on weekends. They are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, but the beautiful ceramic cups, specially designed for Rosslyn, in which your coffee appears make up for a lot.
Get coffee at the comic book store, because why not? Black Box ensures that you really no longer have a reason not to do it, but gives you a reason why. Anthony West previously owned a coffee shop, Black Chapel, but he decided to take a new path. He likes coffee, desserts and also sustainability. For example, Black Box is one of the vegan coffee roasters in London, but he actually didn't want to do take away to save on waste - so get your own cup along, just in case – and they appear with the coffee bike at various festivals or pop-up locations to collaborate with other entrepreneurs. And it was exactly that thought that brought Anthony to Orbital because why wouldn't you use all that space? It's not really that crazy, coffee and books go together very well, so comic books also work well.
