The Caffeine Chronicles: Stir Coffee, Brixton

Finding myself — unusually — with plans in Clapham on Saturday, I took the opportunity to visit a new-to-me coffee shop on the way. The Black Lab, on Clapham Common's Southside, would have been the closest coffee bar but I've already been a couple of times (it's great), so I had to look a little further afield. In the end, I decided to go to Stir Coffee on Brixton Hill, which has been on my list for a while.

When I'm in Brixton, I tend to hang out in and around Brixton Market; Stir Coffee is about a half-mile south of there and the Tube. On Saturday, I had already eaten lunch closer to home at the Bermondsey Street Festival, and although Stir serves food, I was hoping to miss the brunch/lunch rush. It was still pretty busy when I arrived, with a queue soon forming behind me. Inside, it's a cosy, rustic space with bar stools at the windows, a few tables in the front and on the pavement, and more seating in the back room. The exterior suggests that the site may once have been a pub.

As there were both V60 and Aeropress (£4) options on the menu, I asked what was on offer at the brew bar, but was persuaded to try the batch-brew filter coffee (£2.40), a Kenyan Mchana AA coffee from Round Hill Roastery, which had been selling extremely well. I also ordered a piccolo (£2.40) and, from the selection of nice-looking cakes on the counter, I plumped for a brownie (£2.90).

I nabbed one of the stools by the window and before long, the piccolo and the brownie arrived. Learning from previous mistakes, I saved the latter until after I'd tried both coffees to avoid overriding my palate with its rich, chocolatey, salted-caramel deliciousness (yes, it was great!).

The piccolo was excellent too. I didn't check which of the Round Hill coffees was in the hopper, but the flavours of the espresso were very well-balanced, making for a smooth taste that paired well with my sweet treat. It was well-prepared too, the latte art prevailing right down to the bottom.

The filter coffee arrived soon afterwards and given its rave reviews, I was slightly underwhelmed as to me, it was a little on the weak side, making it hard to pull out the blackcurrant notes I might have expected. A new batch had just been brewed and I suspect I was just unlucky. I thought about trying the coffee as a V60 as well, but ran out of time.

As I said, though, the piccolo was excellent and I otherwise really enjoyed my time at Stir. It was bustling and lively on a Saturday afternoon and the service was really good — well worth the short walk from central Brixton.

Stir Coffee. 111 Brixton Hill, Brixton, London, SW2 1AA (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

My Favourite London Specialty Coffee Shops (Updated 2025)

I've been writing about London's first forays and then larger leaps into the specialty coffee world since I started this blog in 2007. I've written about more than 200 London coffee spots over the years — some have since closed and my tastes have changed too, especially as the city's specialty coffee scene burgeoned and boomed, spreading from Soho and Shoreditch, into other central areas and then way beyond.

I compiled my first concise London coffee guide in 2011, updating it in 2012 and 2014. An update was long overdue but I knew a top ten would barely even scratch the surface and because friends, family and others often ask for my recommendations, I needed something more in-depth. 

A Rainy Day Brunch in Brixton

I was supposed to be playing cricket, of all things, on Sunday but rain stopped play before it even started and so I decided to seek shelter in the colourful arcades of Brixton Market, where delicious aromas from around the globe compete for attention. If you're looking for brunch, there is, to say the least, a huge number options. Last time I was there, I sampled Okan's tasty Japanese okonomiyaki, and this time, the prospect of authentic Mexican brunch won me over. My recent trip to Mexico has meant that I'm constantly on the look out for great Mexican food in London, and Casa Morita looked pretty good.

Casa Morita has just launched a weekend brunch menu, which, as you might expect is pretty heavy on the huevos. Unfortunately, I'd had eggs on toast for breakfast and so couldn't really order the huevos a la Mexicana. Instead, I chose the molletes with chorizo (£5.10), half a toasted bun, served with refried beans, cheese, pico de gallo and avo. The food was very tasty — comparable to some of my breakfasts in Mexico — and just spicy enough. Next time, I would like to try the chilaquiles, which I discovered in Oaxaca, although the all-day menu, with tacos, other street-food dishes and cocktails galore, also looks great.

With a homemade limeade, the meal cost me all of £7.50: pricier than DF, but not bad for Brixton. The restaurant itself is colourful and funky, with a few tables inside and a couple more outside under the arcade. Qué bonito!

After brunch, I walked over to the other side of the market, across Atlantic Road, and went for coffee at Federation Coffee, which I've wanted to try for a long time. I saw on their website that they would soon be introducing a brew bar and had hoped to be able to have a pourover, but the brew bar hasn't arrived yet and the espresso machine was broken, so it was batch-brewed filter coffee or nothing.

I always feel like a terrible person when I ask about hand-brewed filter coffee, but it does usually taste much nicer; however, Federation's brew with Campbell & Syme coffee, was rich, fresh and very flavoursome. I also tried a tasty, fruity, almondy cake called a friand, which worked well with my cup o' joe. Plus, the window seats are excellent for people-watching. Federation is a great little place for a coffee stop in the Brixton area. Perhaps when I return, the brew bar will be installed or, at least, the espresso machine will be working again so that I can sample the macchiato.

Casa Morita. 9 Market Row,  Brixton Village Market, London, SW9 8LB (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter.
Federation Coffee. Unit 77-78, Brixton Village Market, London, SW9 8PS (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Saturday Night at Brixton Market

After watching Greece — my World Cup team in our office sweepstakes — under-perform on Saturday afternoon, I was in need of some serious commiseration. I was with some friends near Brixton and everyone was surprised to hear that I had never been to Brixton Market, so off we went. Don't get me wrong: I've been meaning to go for years, and had Honest Burgers not opened up in central London, I probably would have gone sooner, but Brixton is a pain to get to from Bermondsey and I had never quite got round to it.

We were expecting the market to be rammed on a warm Saturday evening, but everyone must have still been in the pub as it was just pleasantly bustling. Inside the market, there are numerous restaurants, with cuisines from more countries than are represented by those in the World Cup group stages. There were many tempting options, but my eye was caught by a Japanese restaurant called Okan, which specialises in okonomiyaki — the tasty grill-it-yourself savoury pancakes from the Osaka and Hiroshima regions of Japan, which I enjoyed recently while in Hiroshima.

We started with a bottle of sake, served in a beautiful ceramic bottle with matching cups. We shared a starter platter, which included some edamame, kimchi, fried aubergine and tofu salad. The edamame were so moreish, we ordered another portion.

Okonomiyaki means "grilled as you like" and there are a huge variety of toppings for the pancake batter base, from tofu to fish and meat. I went for the prawn version, and they throw some cabbage, egg, brown sauce and seaweed flakes on top. Although at £7.25, it was slightly more expensive than the okonomiyaki I had in Hiroshima, it tasted just as good. We didn't get to sit at the grill and make our own, but it was a hot evening, so it was probably more pleasant to sit and people-watch in the market instead. The sake was £10 for the bottle, and was a refreshing and reasonably priced complement to the meal. I even managed to practice a little bit of Japanese, which is always nice.

We had a couple of hours before football part two, so we went to a casual but cool and intimate cocktail and tapas bar called Seven at Brixton. The decor inside is great: colour-coded bookshelves, suitcases as shelves for spirits and funky lighting. It was quite dark inside and as I only had my iPhone with me, my photos aren't great.

The best thing about Seven is that most cocktails are only £5. Yes, five pounds (or 5 lb, as it says on the menu). They are all creative, expertly mixed and well-presented too, so it's quite the bargain. I was going to have a ginger beer and basil mojito but when they offered to make me a raspberry-mint one instead, how could I say no? I was slightly jealous of my friend's Hemingway & Sons Daiquiri, which was served in an upcycled medicine bottle. The Bitter End — short, sharp and sweet — was also great.

As usual, I tried to go for something different for my second cocktail, and in the end, I decided on the Buffalo Passion, which involves Buffalo Trace bourbon, Licor 43 (a citrusy Spanish liqueur), lemon and passionfruit juice. I wasn't quite sure that bourbon and passionfruit would work together, but the fruity tartness of the latter complemented the smoky smoothness of the former very well. After a series of miscommunications stemming from the similarity of English people's pronunciation of churros and jerez, we eventually ended up with some delicious churros for pudding. What a great place!

Then it was time to find a pub with a big TV screen for more football-related disappointment. I left, though, vowing to come back to Brixton Market again soon to try out some of the other food and drink offerings. If only TFL would improve the transport links between south London's two best foodie destinations beginning with B!

Okan. Unit 39, Brixton Village Market, Brixton, London, SW9 8PS (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter.

Seven at Brixton. Unit 7, Market Row, Brixton, London, SW9 8LB (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter.