140 Shoreditch High Street, London, E1 6JE - 020 7033 0500
Type of Beans – Square Mile
Type of Machine – Beautiful old fully manual lever machine
I'm not worthy enough to judge the 2009 World Barista Champion, Gwilym Davies, and his fellow baristas. How can I judge? These guys obviously know a lot more about coffee than I ever will. But what would a review be if it wasn't opinionated? I will write but I won't score.
Espresso – Served in a nice hot cup, beautiful dark crema, big flavour. Everything looked and smelt perfect, I have to admit though that I didn’t enjoy the taste. I have no doubt that it tasted exactly as they had intended it to, but to me it was sour. I think this sourness comes from having very finely ground beans. I’m sure this is all deliberate and the aficionados strive for this taste, but I prefer a more balanced, smoother taste on the tongue. My boss always told me coffee should taste how it smells, I agree.
Latte – I’m saving this for my next visit. Gwilym was doing the milk and it looked like pure velvet.
Atmosphere and service – Perfect. A beautiful set up at the front of an Italian clothes store. Only a tiny bit of seating out the front but you can still have your coffee in a ceramic cup if you like. Gwilym and the other barista were very welcoming and love to talk shop. They know just about everything there is to know about coffee in London, just ask.
Overall - It goes without saying that this place is recommended. If you are only going to have one coffee in London it should be here. As proof of Gwylym’s passion for his profession he has introduced a disloyalty card at Prufrock, advertising 8 nearby cafes. It states, “complete this tour of East London’s emerging coffee scene to claim a free coffee from the World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies @ Prufrock”. Can't wait to go back.
No comments:
Post a Comment