The Caffeine Chronicles: Lumberjack

Over the past few years, Camberwell has jumped to the forefront of the south-east London speciality coffee scene. With the arrival of Daily Goods and The Pigeon Hole, Camberwell Church Street alone has become a hotspot for fine coffee — and now Lumberjack makes three. The new cafe opened up a few weeks ago at number 70, just across the road from The Pigeon Hole.

Lumberjack's USP is its focus on what it terms the three Cs: coffee, craftsmanship and community, all of which were in rich supply when I stopped by for coffee a couple of weeks ago. Huge glass windows adorn the shopfront, which let in a lot of light, even on a rainy Saturday afternoon. Inside, the café is light and airy with plenty of locally sourced wooden furniture (from London Reclaimed). There are a handful of seats near the coffee bar in the front room, and a few more small tables in the back room. The downstairs isn't quite finished but will be opening soon.

The coffee is from Peckham roaster Old Spike, another local favourite of mine, and there is a pourover bar for V60-brewed coffee as well as the usual espresso-based drinks. The coffee bar was garnished with some gorgeous looking cakes — the Jaffa cake looked particularly epic — but I had just eaten brunch at Honest Burgers and was too full for cake. Instead, I ordered a pourover (£2.30) and took a seat at one of the tables in the front room.

My coffee came in a gorgeous ceramic mug, which is produced by a local artist, whose wares are on sale at Lumberjack. They would make wonderful gifts — or gifts to self! The V60 itself was very well brewed: the fruitier notes of the Ethiopian variety came through very well. I wanted to try the espresso too, so I also ordered a macchiato (£2), which was also very good — the cup it came in wasn't quite as unique as the mug, but I could never be disappointed with Acme crockery.

There was a steady stream of customers while I was there — both locals and passersby — and it's nice to see that Lumberjack's little community is already taking off. They are Kickstarter funded and reinvest all of their profits back into supporting the training, support and career development of young people aged 16–25. The staff are very friendly too and it's a really lovely place to hang out with a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake. Stop by, and soak up Camberwell's flourishing coffee scene.

Lumberjack. 70 Camberwell Church Street, London, SE5 8QZ (Denmark Hill Overground). Website. Twitter.