Ro Mo Coffee, Borough, South London, UK

Ro Mo is a coffee van situated outside London Bridge Station; to be precise it is outside the post office building. This is a brilliant location with almost continuous footfall. The location is so good I believe this stall could serve hot mud and would still make a tidy profit. 

On this grim and grey day the coffee came fast from the lone but cheery barista and he comfortably took my order whilst making the drink for the previous customer to keep things moving. 

The machine looked a little automated and the grinder had a hopper for fresh beans to be ground into, the later and the impact on freshness did worry me a little. I opted for the 8oz "small" black Americano and took it off to work. 

I did have a little issue with the cup on the way in; it seemed slightly weaker than some others which resulted in a little more spillage than normal but this is a minor niggle.

On taking off the lid and giving a good sniff I found it didn't have a strong aroma, there were however a few gentle sugary notes to be found.

The overall taste was confenctionary sweet and surprisingly smooth. It was however rather weak for my tastes and had trouble in getting across all its flavour because of this. 

The body of the coffee had some healthy tannin like licks that dried the mouth and counterpointed the sweetness. 

There was a little lack of clarity on the finish and a touch of bitterness came through here. These issues were extremely slight, and perhaps a stronger brew would have brought these negative traits to the fore.

• Black Americano, take away
• £1.60
• Weak strength
• Sweet & smooth
• Light crema
• Small size

A good solid brew backed up with a good price, fine location, pacey service and a smile. The pleasant sweetness was let down a little by a lack of power.

Map

http://romocoffee.com/

@romomobilecafes

http://www.facebook.com/RoMoCoffee

info@romocoffee.com

Hurwundeki Cafe, Bethnal Green, East London, UK

Hurwundeki is a cafe and fashion boutique based in fashionable but tatty Bethnal Green. This is their second store in London, the other being round the corner in Spittle-fields but which is not a cafe. The store is distinctive as it pokes out from under the railway arches with a clear sign and a large front garden.

The front garden is covered in sand and decked out with children's furniture and toys which gives it a unique run down child's play ground look. Inside the store is divided into two main sections. The main clothing area and cafe counter and then in another arch a large seating area with some other displays. 

The furniture throughout is recycled and mainly consists of school desks, pews and stools. There is an eye catching display of shoes and taxidermy on the far wall and the entire scene is lit high up with chandeliers. 

The music is kept up pretty loud which was a good counter to the trains which you feel thundering overhead. I've always had a soft spot for railway archway establishments so I was very happy with the environment.

Ordering a regular Long Black I settled down in a threadbare sofa and relaxed. The crema was very white and in the gaps of the thin layer you could see quite an oily coffee. The aroma wasn't strong but on tasting one found a tangy acidic flavour that was sharp on the tongue. 

It was a little muddy throughout and this lurked on till after the coffee was gone. To the end it remained sharp and citrus like but not overpowering and pleasantly smooth.

• Regular Long Black, drink in
• £2.15
• Medium strength
• Good citrus notes
• Whitish thin crema
• Small size
• Beans: Square Mile
• Machine: La Marzocco 
• Grinder: Mazzer

Great venue; you can shop for clothes and the furniture selection works. The coffee had some good citrus tone to it & had the potential to be great but was spoiled by the murky fuzz that overtook everything else that was going on.

Map

http://www.shop.hurwundeki.com/

@Hurwundeki

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Taylor St Baristas, Shoreditch, East London, UK

This is my 2nd Taylor St Baristas review after covering Brighton previously I move onto their Shoreditch branch. The Brighton cup was top of the range so let us see how East London fairs.

It takes a little finding as this Taylor St. is inside a small light-industrial estate. Where is it exactly? Well it is in the little shed (quite a large shed really). This cute, homely looking venue is a modest setting for a brand well known for producing excellent, mouth watering coffee. 


Inside 3 staff were busy tiding up after the post lunch rush and quickly moved to serve me as I entered. There was a little room to sit but it felt cosy rather than cramped in here. The shed itself gave everything a pleasent Alpine feel. 

I took my coffee outside to enjoy the lovely spring sunshine and to sit on the attractive curved wooden benches. Before doing so I had a mishap of my own making; when trying to photograph the hut I poured some of my recently espressed purchase over my hand creating quite a burn. Not a good idea.

Alongside my poor throbbing mit the agency or magazine opposite was holding auditions. I'm not sure what was more agonising, probably the constant circulation of models through the area. Who am I kidding? sitting drinking coffee in the sunshine watching extraordinarily beautiful woman stream pass is of course my idea of heaven. 

Enough pre-amble, lets get onto the joe. Sitting down to enjoy my drink I found the coffee held a ripe fruity aroma, reminiscent of my fathers elderflower wine making.  


It was smooth and sweet to taste and the fruitiness brought notes of plumbs and other stone fruits to bare. It held a little bite but was well balanced and not overpowering in flavour. It was not overly strong, nor too weak and remained clean to the finish.

The actual coffee was brilliant but for some reason the cup seemed to permeate the taste near the end. It started to shroud the coffee in the taste of waxy card; I have chewed on a coffee cup or two in my time and recognised it instantly. 


I'm not sure if this was a technical issue with my specific cup or that batch but it created an unpleasant taste that was hard to remove but I firmly believe it was a random issue outside of the actual brewing.

• Small Black Americano, take away
• Medium Strength
• Sweet & smooth with a plumb fruitiness
• Light Crema
• Small cup - 60z
• £1.90
• Beans: Union
• Machine: Marzocco
• Grinders: Anfim Super Caimano 

A very good coffee as one has come to expect with lots of fruity flavours and a unique venue to boot.

Note- They are not open at the weekend.

Map

http://www.taylor-st.com/

@Taylor_St

info@taylor-st.com

http://blog.taylor-st.com/

Get lost? Call them on 0207 929 2207

Ethiopian Harrar, Ozone Coffee Roasters, UK

Hailing from the Harra region of Ethiopia this East African coffee is both fair trade and organic. Like the sourcing of many independent roasters, this single origin coffee comes from a farming co-operative. In this case it is the Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union.

The beans are largish and the medium roast gives them a fine chocolate brown colour. After giving my nostrils a good work out in the bag, the beans gave off a rich opulent aroma, a little acidity and something else; a hint of coco.

When ground the beans broke down evenly and helped the aroma blossom. This Ethiopian coffee smelt absolutely spot on; very fresh, & very much alive, wonderfully fruity and also a hint of spice and a pinch of pepper could be teased out. 

On brewing the aroma retained that lovely rich fruitiness. The taste was interesting and took some unpicking, the fruit was very much concentrated on the front of the pallet and that also gave it a little tartness that was barely perceptible. 

It was quite dry with an instant but slight metallic aftertaste. Then it developed into a sweeter flavour; conjuring up candied fruits, that hint of coco from before and even a little toffee. 

As things wrapped up the spicy, pepperyness just returned on the roof of the mouth adding a nice twist to the proceedings.

In general it was very light and clean throughout and managed to be refreshing and lifting in what it offered. The finish was both smooth and sweet

Specification

• Region:           Harrar
• Farm, CoOp: Oromia Coffee Farmers Co-operative Union
• Variety:         Heirloom Ethiopian
• Process:          Methos: Natural / Dry Process
• Elevation:      1500ft
• Cert:                Fair trade & Organic
• Roast:              Medium

A great fresh and fruity bean with a wonderfull rich sweetness and lightness of touch without being bland. A perfect easy drinking coffee with plenty to savour.

How do we taste it? Go here. 

Supplier: Ozone Coffee Roasters

www.ozonecoffee.co.uk

@OzoneCoffee

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info@ozonecoffee.co.uk


How do we taste it? Go here.

Zabu Coffee Competition

It has been some time since Damn Fine Joe ran a competition and we have so much to celebrate. London Coffee Week is starting on the 23^rd and culminating in the excellent London Coffee Festival ending on the 29^th April.  

Coffee fans unite.

To celebrate Damn Fine Joe is teaming up with our friends at Zabu Coffee & giving away 3 bags of their wonderful House Blend .

All people need to do is follow Damn Fine Joe on Twitter and Retweet one of Joe’s competition tweets. As easy as plunging an Aeropress.

Here are a few rules:

• All followers no matter how old who RETWEET will be included in the prize draw
• To take part you must FOLLOW and RETWEET
• People will only be counted in the prize draw once, no matter how many times they Retweet (feel free to do it lots)
• The competition will end on the first second of the 30^th April 2012
• Prize draw for all RETWEETERS will take place on the 30^th April 2012
• The lucky winners will be contacted and can choose whole bean or any grind they like and will have the coffee send to their door.

Read the DFJ review on Zabu’s House Blend

Read last years Review on the London Coffee Festival

Links:

http://www.zabucoffee.co.uk/

http://www.ukcoffeeweek.com/

http://www.londoncoffeefestival.com/

Show your love of Coffee and LIKE  DFJ on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/damnfinejoe

Flat Whites, Soho, Central London, UK

A well known London coffee bar, Flat White has been around since 2005 serving the good people of Soho. It is a tiny strip style bar with the counter on one side and narrow seating alone the other. Quite darkly lit and well styled with plenty of black, red and cool bespoke light bulbs it was pleasant to sit in although a little cramped.

They have their blend made by Square Mile for sale along with a couple of other beans and some nice equipment indicating this is a place for serious coffee people.

The London’s Best Coffee app states that they are “renowned for their questionable service and incredible coffee” and I can see why. The guy who took my order was a massive tool but please don't let that put you off, the coffee is brilliant.

However another barista, an antipodean who made and served the drinks, was most gracious, fun and approachable. Not only did he serve the drinks with a little quip; when we started to talk about coffee, we had a good old chin wag, & he was helpful and informative. So things are looking up from a service point of view.

  

The Long black had a smooth, rich and sweet aroma. The first mouthful was like having a sock full of cherries forced into your mouth and then explode, suffice to say it had a tart tang and you could immediately taste the Guatemalan in the blend. 

It filled the mouth with flavour and the acidity was well balanced against the more medium rounded flavours, providing a sexily smooth and not at all bitter taste.

Nearing the end the coffee sweetened and left a pleasent lightly creamy after taste in the mouth. This finish was a little messy, slightly marred with a touchy of ashy bitterness.

That Guatemalan flavour was so strong I enquired about the blend, on asking I was told that it was 60%. The current blend was 20% El Diamante (Guatemalan), 40% Finea De Dios (Guatemalan) 40% Sierra Nevada (El Salvador) but was going to be changed soon. 

They seasonally update their espresso blend which is good to see and gives you something to come back for. They also had a handy break down showing beans types, variety, process and altitude if you are into that kind of thing.

My friends enjoyed a Flat White and a Cappuccino respectively and enjoyed them very much. stating they were indeed amongst the best they had ever drunk.

• Long Black, drink in.
• £2.90 ( need to check this as I wrote 3.90 which must be wrong)
• Medium strength
• Tart cherries, sweet and smooth.
• Light Crema
• Medium size
• Beans: Square Mile – Flat White Blend.
• Machine: Synesso
• Grinder: Mazzer

A great coffee overall with a well balanced flavour of fruity tartness and a medium body. With their changing blends it will be a cafe I will come back to sample again.

Map

http://www.flatwhitecafe.com/

flatwhitecafe@gmail.com

Indian Plantation A Mysore, Zabu

We now reach the end of this round of Zabu Coffee reviews with this Indian Plantation A Mysore. 


This coffee comes from one of the 3 badra estates in the Karnatak region of South West India and is grown at a height of 1-1.4 thousand meters above sea level. The "Plantation A" refers to it being the highest grade of wet-processed India coffee. The grading being based on the bean size and the visual quality of the beans.

The Zabu coffee notes inform us that the estate uses the Central Cofee Research Station to analyse their soil every year to make sure it is up to standard. The fruits go through a rigorous process; picked when ripe, fermented for 36 hours, then a process called aqua washing and finally once drained and dried they are bagged and rested for 40 days.

The beans have an appealing light brown colour to them and the aroma was rich but still had a fragrant lightness to it.


On brewing the aroma softened a little. The flavour had a subtle zestyness to it, the light acidity giving it a little zing. 


As I continued to savour the cup there was a pinch of spice to catch the tongue and a gentle perfumed floweriness could be perceived. It was tangy but smooth and a tiny bit sweet with perhaps a hint on vanilla. The finish was clean.

Enjoy through the day when looking for something  that won't come on too strong but still has some flavours to explore.

Supplier: Zabu Coffee

Web: www.zabucoffee.com

Contact: mailto:CustomerService@ZabuCoffee.co.uk

Twitter: @zabucoffee

Zabu on Facebook

How do we taste it? Go here.