The Espresso Room

Wow, take this literally. The Espresso Room, is just that, a little room devoted to coffee. A very little room. Impressively small actually. Now I know that's many ways to say The Espresso Room, was small but you get my point. I take a photo from the front as I approach, but I genuinely feel imposing with a camera inside. So I tuck it away quietly in my bag and take two steps towards the counter. I am also impressed as I enter, to hear an English guy (evidently the owner) reprimanding a barista in training for the sound of her milk. I already like this guy. He proceeds to tell me about the beans he has available to purchase and where they come from. I am impressed again to find such a selection of good coffee coming out of such a tiny room. I order myself a flat white to go, there is a guy reading and relaxing on one of the 3 benches provided and he looks like he has been there a while, another good sign.
I sit outside and begin to enjoy a delicious coffee and watch the human traffic pass from the hospital across the road.
The A frame black board outside informs me that “coffeeness + cakeyness = happiness” and by the looks of the perfectly placed treats inside, I tend to agree. I like this little room. I fear the location is lost on me, however, the hospital staff and visitors I believe would be grateful for The Espresso Room's very close proximity. The coffee is great I must say. Another cafe using square mile roasters coffee in London. The perfection of my milk is appreciated and I enjoy my first flat white for the day very much.

Monmouth Coffee Company

Well, a coffee company dedicated to all things great and wonderful that can come from the coffee plant. These guys are bang on. They have a roasting site and 2 cafes that are always busy and buzzing with all things yummy and delicious. The roast coffee from single farms and estates and they visit all of the farms to ensure that they know what they are buying and where it is coming from. They roast on Italian manufactured machines that help retain the fruit and bright acidity of their medium roasts and develop the body and sweetness in the dark roasts. What I love about Monmouth is that they recognise that getting the best out of any coffee roaster and the coffee itself is that it is a continual learning process that needs to be profiled with every batch.

They offer a newsletter in the store that you can take with you that details all the information regarding all the individual coffees and allows you to choose what you want. They always feature a different coffee and I really love being able to go and taste something new and try to discover new flavours on my palette.

Today I am indulging in an espresso from India, Balmaadi Estate. This coffee comes from a certified Organic and Biodynamic farm. At high altitudes and favourable growing conditions this is a very distinctive coffee. It is rich in caramel and has a very clean finish on the tongue. I really like this one, and the colour is something I cant describe. Pure delight! I am very happy.

Monmouth in the Borough Markets of London is a cafe with a line at least 30 people long every time I come, and they take your order in line so that by the time you arrive at the counter all you have to do is pay and drink. There is a large communal table full of jams and baguettes to indulge and a large selection of pastries, treats and chocolates. You can purchase any or all of the coffees that they roast and the entire experience of standing in line is wonderful.

I am yet to visit their roasting site but I will go for sure, and soon. I have also been to the smaller store just near Covent Garden which is magnificent also. So small, I am sitting in a booth made just for one and people are in line waiting forever if they have to just to get a taste of this magic liquid gold. The barstia's are right next to me and I can hear them commenting on how good this shot is and how one of them is a little obsessed with perfecting her grind. It is wonderful to hear and very rare in this tea drinking city. Of course, the Australian accent of my barista is hard to miss. Again....