Le Traiteur, Beckenham, UK

It was a hot sunny day in the suburbs when I popped into Le Traiteru on Beckenham high street. As a food place I had heard good things and a friend even worked there in the past, she was an Aussie so I expected excellent coffee to boot.

The coffee didn't look too bad with a light frothy crema floating on top but it was over-ridingly bitter in flavour. To its credit it had real knock your socks off strength and even a little sweetness but that can't avoid the fact that the taste was pretty foul. 


There was one final bright moment to my visit, a large coffee costs £2.00, they charged me £1.50 for a short double so either I was lucky, they were generous or you have have to pay 50 pence for hot water.

• Double shot black americano, drink in
• Strong
• Bitter
• Frothy crema
• size medium
• £1.50 

A pretty poor tasting coffee.  I don't see much hope for Beckenham but I will persevere.


Map
http://www.cuisinegroup.co.uk/

The Mad Hatter Cafe, Brighton, UK

This was the coffee I had before speaking at the Develop Conference in Brighton. I was nervous so it was a bit of a risk going somewhere new but The Mad Hatter Cafe looked popular and more importantly was where I had got off on the bus. 

After trying to score some bacon (I was low carbing it) I found it was a vegetarian establishment. Although I'm fairly certain the man did then try to offer me ham. I declined the under counter chacuterie and went for a mushroom and cheese omelette. Fluffy with a gooey heart and plenty of it; this protein feast was just what I needed to power we through my talk. I very much enjoyed demolishing my plate and had need to wash it down.

As is usual I opted for a black americano. When it first arrived it was so hot I could not get near it. There was n0t much going for it in terms or aroma and there was no crema to think of so I had to bide my time and wait for it to cool. Cool it did and I was rewarded with a good, above average coffee. Although a little weak for me it shone with regards to flavour. It was full and flavoursome and smooth all the way through. There were no sour notes and at the end a little sweetness shined through. 

• Double shot black americano, drink in
• Medium to weak strength
• A good robust flavour
• No crema
• Size medium
• £2.00

A really nice coffee that by not going for gusto has ended up with a lovely smooth taste. They are not at the top table yet but this is undoubtedly good and leaves a large gap between them and those behind.


Map
http://www.themadhattercafe.co.uk/about.html

Brindisa, Borough Market, London, UK

Year round this is an incredibly popular Tapas bar right on the corner of Borough Market. Luckily Brindisa also run an excellent store in the market where you can get your hands on all the wonderful ingredients they cook up here. 


To complete the facts they also have two other restuarants, one in Soho and the other in South Kensington. I have tried to get into this eatery but quite late many a time but if you are not prepared to wait (hours) then you won't get in. This time we went early and found it is popular for a reason.

This is not a food blog but the food was great so I have to list what we devoured. We consumed divine manchego, succulent olives, crusty bread, little deep fried parcels of Monte Enebro cheese with honey. 


We demolished an Iberico selection of sliced meats, tortilla and an anchovy salad. The salad was the least green salad I have ever had but it was pitch perfect. This was all washed down with a lovely bottle of  Blanc Planell, a Macabeo Sauvignon Blanc, yums.

After such a great meal you want to have a little digestive or a coffee. I opted for coffee, an espresso to be precise. It came in a shot glass and was short, hot, sealed with a layer of crema and like the meal the coffee was simply excellent. 


No bitterness, not overly espressed and so it was silky smooth and hit me with sweetness when it was done.

• Double shot espresso, drink in
• Strong
• Smooth and sweet
• Thick crema
• Size small
• £1.90

A lovely short espresso, velvety smooth and honey sweet. A perfect end to a rich, satisfying dining experience.


Map
http://www.brindisa.com/

Sherriffs Coffee, Penge, London, UK

Situated outside Penge West Station, Sherriff's is another of these mini coffee vans kited out with a single machine. They were serving up Fair Trade Columbian beans and at the time of posting have been around for about a year. The coffee was served in large bugs but the barista was carfull not to overfill them for the train journey ahead.

Once I got my coffee I sat on the platform and took a good sniff, there was right away a wiff of station coffee* about it and unfortunately the taste confirmed it. It was a coffee that was overly bitter and suffered from a claggy after taste so I was not a happy bunny.

Although he was a friendly guy, put the coffee top on and sources his coffee ethically I can't give a good review to Sherriff's. Not the worst but really not very good.

• Double Black Americano, take away
• Medium strength
• Bitter taste
• Frothy crema
• Large
• £1.20

Sadly a pretty bad coffee from an independent stall. Skip it, wait and go to Monmouth when you hit town.

Map

*That general poor tasting coffees found on stations across the UK 

Monmouth Montage

Monmouth Montage.
Casey Fulton 2011

http://www.flickr.com/photos/f8125/

http://photoart.blog.com/

Monmouth Coffee, Borough Market, London, UK

Let us start with some transparency. Monmouth is my favourite coffee in the world. It is the one I base my judgement of all others on. If you go back to my 1st post you will see it was finding Monmouth that stopped me logging coffees in my book and loosing Monmouth that made we start up Damn Fine Joe.

Damn Fine Joe was started in Brighton. A place with such an incredible coffee scene, I feel so lucky to have been there whilst it went through such a strong period of growth. Wow, have I drunk some great coffees down by the sea. 


But Monmouth holds a spiritual place in my heart, the original mind blowing coffee and that can never be taken away.

So 3 years later how does it fair? Still excellent, still great attentive baristas, a lovely refit on the Borough Market store and some old faces working the machines.

The coffee is always strong at Monmouth and always made short. They roast their own beans at the Covent Garden roastery and perhaps this is part of the secret, those beans are fresh. 


You get plenty of flavour from their espresso blend and the coffee comes out hitting all the right notes.   It smells right, not stale, it tastes strong but is not bitter and at the end the sign of a great coffee, without any aids you are left with a sweet taste in your mouth.

Lets neg on something. Back in the day they kept their espresso and americano at an incredible £1, then finally it went up to £1.50. Now for some reason I pay an extra 35p for my hot water in my americano over my espresso. A minor grumble and I don't really care. It is still cheaper than most foul chain cups but I had to have some kind of counter point here.

• Double shot black Americano, take away
• Very strong
• Full rounded and sweet
• Thick healthy looking crema
• Small cup
• £1.65
• Beans: Monmouth Espresso Blend

A full flavour with a rounded smooth taste which leaves a lovely sweetness behind. This is as close to perfection as coffee gets. I look forward to becoming a regular again and having them remember what I drink.

Map

http://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/

A huge thanks to the excellent Casey Fulton who made this an extra special post by coming and taking photos for me. You can check out more of Casey's great photographic work here: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/f8125/

http://photoart.blog.com/

Competition: Cafe Coho Prize Draw Winners

The winners of the Cafe Coho prize Draw are:

Brianna Beck - 1st prize: 10 free coffees
Liam Kelly - 2nd prize: 4 free coffees
Lucy Fowler - 3rd prize 2 free coffees
Rachel Dey - 4th prize: 1 free coffee
Swisscub Janlove (Greg) - 5th prize: 1 free coffee
Simon Lewis - 6th prize: 1 free coffee
Tom Ewing - 7th prize: 1 free coffee

Well done to the winners and thanks to everyone who spread the word on Facebook and took part.

Joe will make contact to explain how you can claim your prize. Sorry this took so long.

The Review: http://damnfinejoe.blogspot.com/2011/02/cafe-coho-brighton-uk.html