Soho Coffee | Comments (8)
Posted in Coffee on 3rd September 2007, 11:44 pm by Stuart
Having spent a fair while working in and around Soho, London, I thought it was time to share my thoughts on the coffee shops that I’ve been to in and around the office as well as the places you can buy beans from. Let’s face it if you’re a geek then you’re probably into your coffee, how seriously you take it is a question of degree. For example one of my colleagues Tristan who originates from Paris will do all he can to avoid Starbucks.
I’ve updated the reviews following a visit to Flat White in Berwick Street
Coffee Shop Reviews
Anyway on with the coffee-shop reviews from the sublime to the quite average. My reviews are generally based on the quality of the mochas and lattes.
Pret a Manger
Pret a manger run fully automatic machines and their milk is Rachel’s organic. Their coffee is perfectly reasonable and the cost is one of the lowest compared to the coffee specialists. Their coffee is always very consistent which is always something I look for. The thing that lets the side down is that the staff lack care and attention to detail. Once I was served a skinny mocha instead of a normal one. When I returned they apologised and said they would make a new one. A minute later I was handed my drink. As I left the shop I tasted it and realised they had just given me the original coffee back again. As the price is very reasonable and the coffee is consistent and not to shabby I will give Pret .
Starbucks
Starbucks is prevalent around London as are many of the big chains, when I am in France for work I find the lack of coffee shops quite amazing they simply don’t exist except for a few Starbucks in big cities like Paris. In London Starbucks coffee shops are often within sight of another Starbucks. In fact for London all the jokes about Starbucks are not far off the mark at all:
New Starbucks Opens In Rest Room Of Existing Starbucks
and the scene in Shrek 2 where the people run out of Starbucks to escape the giant Gingerbread man to run straight across the road into another Starbucks.
Anyway I digress, onto the coffee; Starbucks coffee is ok, I prefer it to Nero and Costa but they do have some issues with consistency. I also think that the coffee suffers due to the milk being steamed to death, (I didn’t appreciate this at first but since Caffe Vergnano well… more on that later!). Staff are usually friendly and the stores do have a nice feel to them but once you’ve read books like Naomi Klein’s, No Logo you start to feel very targeted. The biggest problem with Starbucks is that there’s better coffee to be had elsewhere and the prices they charge are some of the highest. Whilst I don’t resent paying for quality this isn’t quite it. Rating .
Costa
Costa are ok, but their coffee is very inconsistent though their coffee is more often good than bad, but only just. I think a good way to describe them would be underwhelming. Prices are less than Starbucks but so is the quality. .
Cafe Nero
Similar to Costa in a lot of ways, coffee ranges from being okay to tasting burnt. Like Costa I tend to try and avoid them if I can. .
Monmouth
Now this place is quite different to the chains. Monmouth has a very down to earth feel and they produce all of their own beans. There coffee is always on the strong side and I’ve always found it good but a little overpowering. They also serve their coffee in very small cups. Pricewise it’s a touch lower than most of mainstream chains and for a Monday morning wake-up call I’d recommend it. .
Caffe Vergnano
Vergnano is the Daddy of the coffee shops near to where I work. It’s pricey but their coffee is awesome from a latte to a mocha you’re unlikely to be disappointed. Their machine is an Elektra Belle Epoque and it’s as beautiful as the coffee it produces. Highly recommended .
Flat White
Flat White was a recommendation in the comments of this post and they’ve been shut for a while for refurbishments. Now they’ve re-opened I went there to sample a latte. Quite simply this was the most amazing coffee I have ever tasted. The latte was served at the perfect temperature and had the most exquisite nutty/creamy flavour which complemented the rich coffee flavours. Not just recommended this is the best!.
Beans and Ground Coffee
Here’s the lowdown on where to buy your beans or ground coffee. This is based on the experiences we’ve had with the Rancilio Miss Silvia we bought for our office.
Monmouth
Monmouth Roast their own beans and have a fantastic range. We’ve tried several espresso blends with the Rancilo Miss Silvia we have in the office and overall found the organic espresso blend to be pretty tasty. It has a nice amount of crema with a nice rich flavour and cocoa aftertaste.
Caffe Vergnano
Verganano’s coffee allows you to attempt to make a tasty coffee with your home machine. However we used the pre-ground tubs and found the grind to be all wrong for espresso. I guess this highlights that haveing a decent grinder allows you to dial in the best grind for your machine. Flavour wise it was good but not as complex as some of the Drury beans.
Drury
Drury have been roasting since 1936 this experience really shows. We’ve been using their coffee pretty much exclusively. Our favorites are the Gran Riserva, this is the Daddy of all coffees with a really amazing flavour and extreme levels of caffeine. Caffe Cuidado takes the overall prize for the best all-round coffee in my opinion. This coffee is smooth but full of flavour and exhibits a beautiful hint of cocoa overtones which just make it perfect for every day drinking.
Conclusion
In conclusion Caffe Vergnano Flat White wins for the best coffee shop and Drury for the best beans and ground coffee if you like to brew your own. If you’ve found a little tucked away deli in and around soho or Covent Garden that serves amazing coffee be sure to recommend it in the comments.
Personally I prefer Caffe Nero’s blend to any of the others you mention. To say it’s similar to Costa is unforgivable! Having said that, have you tried ‘Flat White’ in Berwick St? If you haven’t, you really should…
I agree with the previous comment that “Flat White” is definitely worth a try as an alt. coffee shop (I think they use Mommouth Beans and do well with it), very kind people there, gave me a good feeling. As a sidenote: except when I tried they used the La Marzocco triple basket for my ristretto shot, which I found a bit too overpowering , the next with a double basket was better IMHO.
Thanks for this review on what’s available, I am not a Londoner, but was searching for decent shops the last times I was there. Personally I’d also prefer Nero to the other chains, including Pret a Manger, which is very good on other food items, though.
I feel, however, that when I gave Monmouth a try, on both locations they fared far better ANY of the coffee house chains mentioned. The quality of the espresso blend they use is far superior (and fresher!) to the chains. Espressi in NERO, PAM, etc. consistently lack decent crema, and had bitter aftertastes. For me, their blends were leaning towards giving some good coffee taste in milk-based drinks, but didn’t do well in straight shots. That being said, on the service side, the barista’s skills at Monmouth seemed FAR superior the any coffee chain shop I visited in London. Milk frothed to death, no microfoam (they did not know what this is at PAM…), etc.
So, I’d simply ranked both “Flat White” and “Monmouth” around 7 to 9 for quality of the grind, service skills and shot consistency, and the usual other suspects between 2 and 5, but feel free to disagree…as I said, not much experience in London from my side as I am not local. I appreciate the recommendation for Vergnano, I am happy to try them next time I come to L.
Roasters: not much experience, but I brought home some pounds from Monmouth that were recommended to me by their staff for a lever machine. It faired very well on my Elektra and also on a semi-auto commercial Rancilio I had access to. Again, thanks for the rec. of Vergnano and Drury, I’ll give both a try next time…
@Lester Lembke-Jene: thanks for your in-depth comment. I went to check out Flat White this afternoon though unfortunately it was being re-fitted. As soon as it’s open again I will pop by and update the reviews.
Checkout the cafe at Foyles bookshop. One of the best Americano’s I’ve had in the West End. Also, free wifi, and it’s next to the computer books department. What more could a geek want? The cafe is also combined with a Jazz records shop – so there’s cool Jazz to go with your coffee
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Try the little oasis on the middle of soho, the place is called “16mm” on d’Arblay st, beautiful place, gorgeous coffee and then tell me latte.
My vote definately goes to LJ Coffee House on Winnett Street. Its only opened recently but their coffee knocks the socks off of everyone else out there – including Flat White! I was a regular at Flat White but got converted with a freebie from the guys at LJ’s.
Simply stunning coffee – locally roasted – deep chocolate flavours with a toasted caramel finish. Strong and bold, the ultimate coffee. Has anyone else tried them out? I’d love to know what others thought.
Anthony
@Anthony: Will definitely check them out – sounds good.
Mrs Marengo’s….cakes and coffee