Espresso Mundo

London is a fantastic place with a large mix of cultures that is reflected in its food and busy street markets the only draw back for us coffee lovers is the lack of quality espresso ,and as the UK is so close to the coffee loving Italians and other European countries I was left scratching my head as how this can happen in comparison, Australia is on the other side of the planet and takes its Coffee drinking very seriously but the British are a funny bunch if they happen to purchase a coffee and its not up to standard it not at all important its just the way it is.

 We Australians love to complain and this is why I believe our espresso coffee industry is so strong ,we keep on the Barista's heels and make sure quality and consistence is number one. I have been here for nearly 1 year and it took me a few weeks to find a decent café where I could have a cup of coffee anywhere decent, its not just the bad coffee and service but also handing over the equivalent of $5 Aussie dollars for a cup that had less odds of being good than picking a winner on the Melbourne cup. The British are in love with chain stores and it was a surprise. Its the complete opposite to the Aussie market where we support the bloke in the corner shop here the multinational kick the little blokes around and eventually run them off the street. stores like Café Nero ,Costas, Prett, Paul, Baristas and off course Star Bucks make life very hard for small café business not only by paying a higher rent for locations but also by taking whole streets between themselves . Off course when I first arrived here I did try coffee at all the stores above, not only was I very dissatisfied with the quality of the beverages but the stores were full of people drinking the stuff. This gave me a clear indication of what the average Londoner -knew about espresso- Not much!. If you asked for an espresso at any of the stores above it would consist of 30-40mls of under extracted coffee with a blend consisting either with too much Robusta or something that was so weak with no body whatsoever it makes Illy taste like rocket fuel. Once I got so desperate for a good tasting coffee I ended up having coffee in a Turkish coffee house where the smoke was so thick from the shisha pipes it was hard to see your espresso cup least getting back up and finding the exit, the coffee at this bar was ok but I found it would have been an insult going back with a smoke mask and a bottle of eye drop solution. It was not until my lovely wife started her new job here in London that my coffee intake got so much better times two. While wondering around her work area trying to pick up the scent of a good double shot latte and in the process getting lost without a map did I stumbled or my horse to water (barista to coffee) instincts guided me to the front door of Monmouth coffee in Covent Garden. I could not believe that here in front of me was a tiny little shop where you have to do a yoga trick to accommodate yourself in one of their booths as the leg space is so small, let me give you a warning if you are taller than 6.3 feet be prepared to call the fire brigade to get you out of your seat, you are much better off taking a seat outside or drink the Italian way standing. Not only does this place roast their own house blend but as well as single origin, fair trade and organic type coffee. The baristas can make quite a good cup even though in more recent times the coffee has been quite inconsistent under extraction being the main problem in a particular time when I ordered a espresso I got only 15mls of coffee in the cup. As for the coffee itself it has its days being from very good to fair. Their house blend when correctly extracted has a very nice chocolate tone with just the right amount of acidity. Monmouth also sell roasted coffee beans by the kilo or grams but one draw back I saw was the way the coffee is stored for sale to the general public. I personally do not agree with the coffee beans display they have. Roasted coffee beans stored in a box with no lid and left to Mother Nature’s elements for such long hours is not healthy to their delicate flavours. Cold, heat ,dust ,humidity ,car fumes all take their toll and once a great coffee can deteriorate loose its character and become tasteless if not stored correctly. Apart from the lows this place scores it is a very good coffee that reflects the commitment of the master roaster and with a steady flow of high caliber Barista it will continue to supply the coffee loving people of this city with good espresso. Regarding my wife's employment I was going to tell you before, to my delight the company has a bean to cup machine fitted in their lunch room, using coffee roasted by a company that I have never heard of before {could be one of those repackaging jobs} but the coffee itself is not too bad 100% Arabica fair-trade, and how can you complain when its free and you are desperate. So my day had two winning situations. What a fantastic day, London got a lot better today.