Do you ever travel to a city and want to try something off the beaten path?What if you could enjoy a universal experience, but feel how culture and environment shape that common routine. When I think of universal experiences, one of the many things that come to mind are: driving, showering, eating out and grabbing your espresso (or to others, a cup of coffee).

In fact, majority of my friends drink coffee. Some to stay awake, some for pleasure and some out of habit. I have friends who have spent over $1,000 on espresso machines and are extremely particular about their coffee. On the other extreme, I have friends who are content with a standard espresso/coffee drink and wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a high-end espresso and an average espresso. To a certain degree, coffee could be compared to wine — with much less complexity. These thoughts surfaced to me a few months ago while in London and I thought it would be interesting to try out various coffees, see how the London experience, both in taste and ritual, differed from what I was use to. Also, it would give me a handful of espresso bars to recommend to friends in the future.

Here is the story of my day roaming the streets of London and trying espressos:

I had just got back from a short vacation and had a day or two to relax in London before leaving back to San Francisco. I wasn't keen on doing anything touristy, Arsenal wasn't playing and had knocked out most places over the years. Instead, I thought, “what would I love to learn more about?” It hit me: for over 4 years now, I would have 1 espresso around 1PM every day, post-lunch. At Zynga I had been spoiled over the years with top quality coffee, but I really didn't know too much about coffee nor had explored coffee from different parts of the world. The game plan was to do a “coffee hunt” around London.

I began mapping out my Monday coffee hunt, with the goal of trying as many coffee shops as possible and getting a feel for how London coffee compared to San Francisco coffee. Let me first say, a coffee hunt is not for the faint-hearted. Literally. My heart was palpitating after six drinks in five hours. Second, by no means am I a coffee expert: coffee snobs, be warned, this may not live up to your expectations. I typically asked for their standard or “house” blend, so tastes differed from place to place, but the experience can still be compared across locations. Simply put, this was unique journey by a coffee amateur that had espressos and chatted with as many barista’s as possible. Hopefully it serves as a guide the next time you are in London and looking to park for a gourmet espresso.

I originally used http://www.coffeehunter.org/ to map out my journey. I picked areas that I could either walk or easily tube to so I stayed on the central line and mostly focused my efforts in the SoHo area.

My first stop was Workshop in Marylebone. This franchise is one of the few bars that roast their own coffee (at their Clerkenwell location). The Marylebone spot was much smaller than its counterpart, with 6–8 seats and a small bench outside to park. I ordered my espresso and sat on a barstool facing the busy streets of central London.

Inside (Courtesy of Yelp)

Outside (Courtesy of Yelp)

The espresso came in a standard cup, but was bright baby blue, which actually looked pretty nifty. While sipping on my espresso, I overheard a few people talking about depreciation and other finance lingo — a moment before that, I thought I was still in the Valley. As for the espresso, it was smooth, consistent and balanced. No acidity and little to no residue at the end. It was a good start to the day.

Espresso @ Workshop

The next stop on my list was Kaffeine. I got there just past lunch and it was packed — I caught the late lunch crowd. Not only was the place a coffee bar, but it was a salad/sandwich spot too; I grabbed some food along with my espresso. Thankfully they asked if I wanted my espresso after my food and I nodded.

Inside (Courtesy of Yelp)

When the espresso came out it was accompanied by two friends, cold tea and sparkling water. The sparkling water was normal, but the tea? I had never seen this before. The espresso had a mildly acidic taste to it and was darker than Workshop. It was also consistent as I sipped it and never changed “form” as one might say. Afterwards, there was little to no residue and I finished the sitting with the tea.

Espresso w/ sparkling water + tea @ Kaffeine

Espresso residue

After talking with the barista, apparently the tea soothes the espresso so you have it before and after your drink. I took this as an opportunity to talk to him about my coffee list; he pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down five bars he would pick over anything else in London. With a local giving me recommendations, how could I not go with them? My agenda changed for the day…

Mother’s Milk was next. Imagine a popup with three bar stools and a machine (or just look at the picture), that was Mother’s Milk.

Mother’s Milk Bar

The barista at Kaffeine mentioned that the guys at Mother’s Milk were chatty so this would be perfect for me. The guy at Mother’s Milk did not disappoint and we spent ~30min talking about coffee in London and San Francisco. He told me that Blue Bottle was rumored to be looking for a London location and knew about their recent round of funding. Mother’s Milk sourced their own coffee, so after talking about the beans for a bit I was ready for my drink.

Espresso @ Mother’s Milk

The espresso had a heavy look to it and was darker than the other two drinks of the day. At first, it was very acidity, but improved as I consumed. The end of the drink was a bit of a surprise as well, it tasted like hemp. I asked about this and the barista mentioned that there were some herbs mixed into the grind (or something to that effect). It was definitely a different, but enjoyable experience.

By this time I had finished 3 espresso drinks in under 3 hours, not terrible, but definitely not healthy.

Off to Flat White I went. From what the various baristas had told me, Flat White was one of the pioneers in London coffee. It once was the “Mecca of London coffee” and then slowly deteriorated in quality. Apparently it had made a resurgence so I was excited to test it out.

Flat White Bar

Once I got there, I grabbed a bench outside and had my espresso. Unfortunately, my views were of gates since the entire street was undergoing construction. The first thing I noticed was that I didn’t get any sparkling water with my espresso. Now a lot of people might find that detail trivial, but at coffee bars it’s the norm from what I have experienced.

Espresso @ Flat White; notice the splattering of espresso drops

I started drinking the coffee and was surprised by how bitter it was — I was not expecting that. It didn’t change as I went through the drink either. At the end of it, the espresso felt burnt and low quality. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed with Flat White.

Off to the final stop, Prufrock. The Mother’s Milk barista use to work at Prufrock and spoke highly of it. The moment I walked in I could see why. They had weekly coffee classes on the right side and it wasn’t a “one class fits all.” There were beginner, intermediate and advance classes. There were also numerous awards for their coffee — honestly it felt a bit commercialized, but hey I was hunting for good coffee, arguably an already commercialized niche.

Prufrock Bar

By this point I could feel my body jittering and heart palpitating. I had no idea how I would have another espresso. I went to the barista and hold him what I was doing for the day and about his friend at Mother’s Milk. In turn, he gave me a blend of Kenyan and Ethiopian beans for my espresso and also thought it would be a good idea to give me a cappuccino along with the espresso. That’s a total of six espresso drinks in less than six hours (remember, these places serve double shots)…I was in trouble.

Prufrock had a slightly acidic taste and was very similar to Kaffeine. There was a bit more residue, but nothing to complain about. I would say the key difference between Kaffeine and Prufrock was that the latter had a bit of a lighter roast and wasn’t as clean.

Espresso @ Prufrock

Espresso residue

My caffeine jitters aside, I headed back to the central line to make my way home. It had been a productive day and coffee hunting in London turned out to be a lot of fun. I would say that I prefer San Francisco coffee to London, but I am inherently biased. I am not sure if it the environment or the fashion in which coffee in served in San Francisco, but it does “feel” better. I did find some of the rituals (tea) to be interesting.

If anyone has some spare moments while in London I would recommend trying to grab coffee at one of these locations. My ranking is listed below, but everyone has their own preferences when it comes to coffee!

1. Workshop

2. Mother’s Milk

3. Kaffeine

4. Prufrock

5. Flat White

Happy coffee hunting folks!