London Coffee Festival
Little did you know, I’ve been off coffee for a full year last year - nothing major, just didn’t feel the ‘crave’ and save a few bucks - why not? But things changed ever since I got hold of this minipresso machine, solid fresh coffee every. single. morning.
That said, being a new coffee fanatic again, you can’t really miss the coffee spectacle of the year - the four-day London Coffee Festival, returning for its ninth year, giving Londoners a chance to taste their way around different bean blends and learn more about the science behind their favourite brews.
It’s been two years since we were there and it didn’t disappoint. London's coffee scene has always been buzzing, in every sense. From long-respected roastery, world-class baristas, startups, innovation to keen beans for all things coffee, you can immediately smell the enthusiasm at the entrance. Find out some of our highlights from the festival:
9Bariasta
If you think jets and coffee can’t at all be linked? Think again. One of the main highlights from the festival was meeting the team behind 9Barista, the first jet-engineered stove top espresso machine. The story started out when founder, William Playford went on to study jet engineering at Cambridge and found his love for good coffee in Italy, slowly turning from love to something of an obsession. If you think about it, a top notch espresso machines need three things to make perfect a cup of coffee: high pressures, perfectly controlled temperatures and precision engineered components. The same three things that a jet engine requires. Impressed as I am? Support their Kickstarter project here .
Round Hill Roastery
As a classic East Londoner, I have always been a Climpson & Sons die hard fan - always perfectly roasted with the right amount of acidic flavor and bitterness to my liking. Today, I’m happy to announce I have found another new found love from Round Hill Roastery, just from one cup of perfectly glided latte, you can tell every single batch was brewed in a variety of ways to ensure maximum flavour and quality. Of course, not to mention the packaging was made for Instagram - pink for espresso and blue of filter brewing - easy peasy!
As a closing note, I must applaud the organizer this year. As of last year, sustainability has been a topic around the industry, especially when it comes to coffee cups. Other festivals have taken the lead and I was pleased to see Keep Cups providing rinsing counters for coffee lovers to rinse and grab another coffee - well done!