The Caffeine Chronicles: Chapter 72

A few weeks ago, I took a day off work to indulge in my two favourite Cs — coffee and cinema — and although I already had a couple of coffee spots on my itinerary, including the [H]AND by Has Bean pop-up, I spotted a promising new coffee shop a little closer to home. Chapter 72 on Bermondsey Street occupies the space vacated by patisserie Southerden. They serve coffee from Bristol-based Extract Coffee Roasters and quirky coffee cocktails in a cosy, intimate cafe.

I've been into Chapter 72 a couple of times now and was impressed with the quality of the coffee; my brother, who works just around the corner, also sung the praises of the cafe's coffee. The coffee menu consists only of espresso-based drinks for now, so I had a piccolo (£2.50) on both visits. 

The first time, they were technically still in soft-launch phase, so it was even more noteworthy that the piccolo, made with Extract's Original espresso blend, was so smooth and well-balanced. Second time round, it was just as good. I just think they need to get some piccolo-sized cups!

The seating area of Chapter 72 runs along the wall opposite the very tactile coffee bar, with a combination of low stools and comfier bench seating. A dark wooden structure reminiscent of Tudor (or at least mock-Tudor) beams cuts through the centre of the cafe — if you're taller than me (not difficult) you may need to mind your head as you pass through to the back room. 

I think the best seats in the house are next to the front windows, of course. Bermondsey Street always presents some particularly fine people-watching opportunities.

If you're in the mood for something a little harder, the cocktail menu includes seven coffee cocktails, all priced at a reasonable £8; there are also a few wines and beers on offer. The Fake News Flat White has a catchy name, but the Chapter 72 Old Fashioned sounds more my kind of drink. Most of the others involve Tia Maria, which, despite my love of coffee and cocktails, isn't my favourite liqueur. 

I could be tempted by the Dark Arts Negroni, however. I haven't been to Chapter 72 for cocktails yet but they were serving a sample of the Netflix + Chill (Tia Maria, espresso, milk and popcorn syrup) at the True Artisan Café section of the London Coffee Festival this year.

I've long been fond of some of Bermondsey Street's other coffee shops — in particular, Black Swan Yard, Watch House and Hej — but it's always good to welcome another to my neighbourhood, especially one that transforms, Cinderella-style, at cocktail o'clock — and of course, precisely when cocktail o'clock begins is a matter of opinion...

Chapter 72. 72 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3UD (Tube: London Bridge). Website. Instagram.

The London Coffee Festival 2017

Last week, when my colleagues asked what I was up to at the weekend, given the brief burst of warm sunshine in London, they were probably expecting me to list a few outdoor activities. Instead, I said I would be drinking coffee all weekend at the London Coffee Festival. To be fair, I spend most weekends drinking coffee, come rain or shine, but the Coffee Festival is special. For one thing, there's a lot of great coffee in one place (Shoreditch's Old Truman Brewery) and for another, there are a lot awesome people to meet who work in coffee and/or just love coffee.

The Caffeine Chronicles: The Espresso Library, Cambridge (CLOSED)

UPDATE: The Espresso Library is now permanently closed.

Given the amount of time I once spent in various Cambridge libraries, the name of The Espresso Library, a cycling-themed specialty coffee shop on Cambridge's East Road, appealed instantly.  The Espresso Library has long been on my list, and several friends had recommended it.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Stir, Cambridge

I studied and worked in Cambridge for seven years, arriving in 2002, spending four years studying linguistics and then starting my career in scientific publishing. By 2010, I was no longer living or working in the city and my visits became less frequent. My last trip was two years ago, when I went to second Hot Numbers on Trumpington Street in 2015, and the penultimate trip was in 2013, when I went to the original Hot Numbers and mused on the flutterings of change in Cambridge's coffee-shop culture.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Jericho Coffee Traders, Oxford

Jericho Coffee Traders is a relative old guard of the Oxford specialty coffee scene. Owners James and Lizzie Armitage have a roastery off Walton Street in the titular Jericho neighbourhood just north of the city centre, and a distinctive turquoise Vespa Piaggio Ape, which serves coffee on the go. Their coffee also features at various Oxford cafes.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Curve Pop-Up Brew Bar (CLOSED)

Barely a month ago, I was enjoying a very fine cortado at Blackburn Coffee in Paris when I made a resolution to try more coffee from Curve Roasters, the Margate-based roaster whose coffee was in the Blackburn hopper that weekend. By happy coincidence, I didn't have long to wait because last weekend, Curve came to me. Well, technically, they came to open up a pop-up brew bar at Nape, the excellent new charcuterie bar and deli in Camberwell, but who's counting?

Camberwell's main drag, Camberwell Church Street, has some great restaurants (Silk Road, of course, among many others) and three of my favourite south-east London coffee shops: Daily Goods, Lumberjack and The Pigeon Hole. Nape itself is located just down from Camberwell Green, near the junction with the wonderfully named Artichoke Place. They open at noon at the weekend and from 5 pm during the week for cured meats and drinks, and I've noticed a few tastings on their website — both gin and whiskey.

For the next few weekends (excluding London Coffee Festival, of course) Curve will be taking over the bar from 9–2 pm and serving brewed coffee and doughnuts, and as I'm not going to be in London for many weekends in April, I prioritised a visit last Saturday after a brunch nearby with the girls.

Beyond the understated, grey exteriors of the shopfront, Nape was bathed in sunlight and its minimalist interiors accented with cheery daffodils when I visited, and the welcome from the lovely Jon and Teresa from Curve was just as warm. There are a few stools perched next to the bar with plenty more — of both high and low varieties — towards the back of the space. The interiors are very industrial-chic: monochrome stools paired with the white tiles and non-nonsense steel of the bar itself.

As well as a selection of doughnuts and croissants, there were no fewer than five filter coffees on offer when I visited, three hand-brewed (£3) and two batch brew (£2). Overwhelmed by the selection and (if I'm honest), more than a little caffeinated already, I ordered on the basis of the flavour profiles — the delicate, floral washed Chelelektu from Ethiopia seemed to go with the gloriously warm sunshine. Brewed through the V60, the coffee was light but flavoursome and came beautifully presented (I particularly love the cups, which were made especially for the pop-up).

I realised too late that I had missed the chance to try a Papua New Guinean Maga variety, so I'll have to cross my fingers and hope there will be other opportunities when I next return. My friend, who lives just around the corner, stopped by on Sunday and was impressed by her coffee too, and she and her young daughter were made to feel very welcome.

Curve's brew bar will be at Nape (21 Camberwell Church Street, London, SE5 8TR (Denmark Hill Overground) on 1 & 2, 15 & 16 and 22 & 23 April 2017 — but keep an eye on their Instagram. You can also catch them at the London Coffee Festival, which is on from 6–9 April 2017.

[H]AND by Has Bean Coffee Pop-Up at Uniqlo, Oxford Circus (CLOSED)

I don't really need any more reasons to visit Uniqlo's London flagship store near Oxford Circus, which relaunched this time last year. I shop regularly at Uniqlo, particularly in the winter when I live in their HeatTech thermal tops and ultra-light down jackets. As such, when I heard that there would be a temporary brew bar serving hand-brewed filter coffee from Has Bean at Uniqlo for the next three months, I didn't think there could be a pop-up more perfectly tailored to me.

[H]AND has been open for just over a week now, which means you still have almost eleven more weeks to check it out. As I seem to have so few free weekends in London at the moment, I was glad that I had a day off work on Friday for some shopping, cinema and, of course, coffee. I arrived at Uniqlo fairly late in the day but the store was still busy. [H]AND is on the third floor and although you can take the lift up, you might then miss out on the retail opportunities along the way.

The brew bar is set up at the front of store and, like Uniqlo itself, has cool, minimalist stylings: a white-brick wall, a pared-down sans-serif logo and the wooden brew bar itself with a quartet of Kalita Wave drippers lined up ready and waiting for action. 

The menu is pretty simple: there are three single-estate coffees, brewed through the Kalita, and three single-batch teas (from Lalani & Co) on offer each day, and you can order a single cup for £3 or a flight of three for £8. I ordered the tasting but because I have a strange form of reading problem whereby my brain blocks out tea from menus, I was thus surprised when Pete, the super-friendly barista, asked whether I wanted a coffee or a tea flight. I'm sure the teas were lovely but naturally, I was in the market for the hard stuff.

The three coffees of the day were from Colombia, Guatemala and Bolivia. Bolivian coffees hold a special place in the heart of Has Bean head honcho Stephen Leighton, Pete told me. Bolivia is land-locked and it is actually rather difficult to export coffee from the country. Indeed, I couldn't remember the last time I'd tried a Bolivian coffee so I was looking forward to trying it out. 

I stood at the bar chatting to Pete while he brewed up my flight and a fourth coffee for another customer — no mean feat and I certainly enjoyed the theatre and the ritual (after all, when in a Japanese store...). It helped that the brew bar wasn't too busy at that point, which meant there was no need to rush and plenty of time to enjoy the experience.

There are four battered but very comfortable leather armchairs set up around a large coffee table near the bar. With a large rug on the floor and plenty of foliage, it was almost like having coffee in a friend's living room, albeit one with coffee on demand and shopping opportunities. The small café makes for a peaceful haven in an otherwise hectic Oxford Street store.

I tried the Colombian coffee first (in the left or at the top in my photos), which was very drinkable indeed. Then, I moved on to the Guatemalan, the Ciudad Vieja Los Jocotales, which had some really lovely berry notes. Finally, I sampled the Bolivian (Vincent Paye — the name of the farmer, although the farm itself doesn't really have a name), which was probably furthest out of my comfort zone, but a really interesting and complex coffee, with apricot and coffee notes coming through very nicely indeed. All three were very well brewed but I think the Bolivian might have been my favourite.

In case you want a souvenir from your trip and don't need to stock up on any Uniqlo clothing, a beautifully stocked shelf next to the brew bar has bags of retail coffee beans and teas and some gorgeous coffee brewing kit, including the stunning copper Kalita Wave Tsubame (named for the northern Japanese city where it is handmade). I already have far too much coffee-making kit for one person, so I restrained myself from this purchase, although I'm sure I will be back to [H]AND before too long to try some more coffee and to stock up on some Has Bean beans — particularly if they still have any of the Vincent Paye left. I repeat: there are still eleven weeks to go, so enjoy [H]AND while you can! For another perspective, you can also read a review of [H]AND by Brian at Brian's Coffee spot here.

[H]AND by Has Bean @ Uniqlo. 311 Oxford Street, London, W1C 2HP (Tube: Oxford Circus). The pop-up has now ended.