Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Square Mile Coffee Roasters London

I guess i planned already 4 times the last 12 months to go to London. This weekend it finally happened.
And one way or another it looked like the perfect moment.
Square Mile is the new coffee company started by Stephen Morrisey, James Hoffmann and Anette Moldvaer.

Since it only opened a couple of days/weeks ago i had the honour of being one of the first visitors.
With my mate Dave we strolled in on monday afternoon for a cap, espresso and a lot of coffee talk.
The Poyser street accommodation looks very rough but gives it a nice big city rock and roll feel.

To me this project is one a kind.
The beans selected (a review later on the week), the Anfim grinders coupled with the Synesso machine (a dream team), the new beans packing system (in buckets with a valve!), the cool designs (strong black and white), the strong and friendly personality's of this trio and the omni present passionate and professional approach are going to shake the coffee world for sure.

I tried to make two epresso's on the Synesso and this felt really nice. The shots were running with an incredible consistancy. Very good flow, without dripping, and dark colored during full extraction time. Unfortunately the roast was way too fresh so it lacked details and the fruit tones were hidden behing the bitter and roast flavors. But never tasted such a strong shot with such a clean and pleasant after taste. I can't wait to try out their espresso blend on my own machine this week.

Square Mile Coffee Roasters
. Don't forget the name.
You can click the blog link on the links list to follow their path.


Of course Square Mile was not the only coffee experience these 2 days. We had fantastic Latte Art by Cameron at Flat White. Never saw Latte Art patterns live at this level. And very consistent. A genius.
The espresso could have been better though. Larissa, a Caffenation addict from the early days and newly London resident, already warned me for the bitterness.
It tasted like a 1 day old roast, but appeared to be a over roasted Monmouth Blend. Not my cup of tea, but a perfect match for the milk. Very good cream and chocolate taste. Wonderful and highly recommendable.
And with their ordered Square Mile espresso beans waiting at Poyser Street I hope to be back soon.

Besides of the above coffee i only had one small espresso at a Costa Bar at Camden. Not the best shot, but compared to the other big chains it was an improvement. A bit comparable to the Coffee Company espresso.

I hope there will be more independent espresso bars coming to London soon. For a city sooo big and packed with Starbuckses, Nero's and Costa's it's almost unbelievable you can't drink, besides of a couple of exceptions, decent espresso.

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