London Coffee Festival
From Jamie’s Blog
Java Republic were in attendance at the opening day of the 5th annual London Coffee Festival (LCF), observed by more than 20,000 coffee aficionados over the first weekend in May. The festival is the premier event for coffee in the UK allowing consumers, professionals and general coffee nerds to connect with one another with hundreds of artisan coffee and food stalls at the derelict space of The Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, East London.
Coffee Community
LCF is the showcase for industry leaders like La Marzocco and Mahlkonig, alongside some of the more established independent third wave coffee roasters in the UK. As coffee lovers we are all on different journeys, nonetheless we very much have the same mission. This mission is to raise the standards across the coffee scene and educate the rapidly growing number of people who are joining the coffee community.
Talented Baristas – Preparing the Perfect Coffee
So what did we see? Heading for the festival, we approached the happening area of Brick Lane, wary of a tight time scale, eager to start sampling espresso we were compelled to stop by at the cool open cafe and roastery of Nude Espresso, typical of the trendy and vibrant part of London. We sampled the espresso blend along with a Colombian V60 and a Kenyan Aeropress. What was most notable and somewhat refreshing was how patient the Londoner’s were to receive a delicious brew, allowing time for knowledgeable baristas to take all the relevant steps in preparing the perfect drink. This is pretty much the trend across all the contemporary coffee bars. Visiting a few independent coffee shops was on our agenda for late in the afternoon but not before we immersed ourselves in the festival itself.
Around the corner was the entrance to the festival, a bustling crowd lined up and there was a sense of excitement in the air. Thursday was an industry day so it gave us a chance to meet new energetic businesses as well as socialising with old friends. When we entered, we grabbed our complimentary LCF bags, primarily for stashing all the goodies we could possibly get our hands on, they were pretty chic too. Inside the building the layout of the stalls didn’t seem very functional but the quirky industrial set up was the ideal setting for a trendy, hip show. The main stage at the festival where some of London’s fresh up and coming music talent performed alongside top DJ’s was a happening area. People gathered here to chill out and sip on espresso martinis or grab a flat white from Climpson and Son’s neat little stall. With so much to do and see, we split up and continued our journey of discovery.
Cool, minimalist, artisan roasters were plentiful. The folk at Union Hand-Roasted coffee had many people gathered around their stand; ongoing discussions and cupping sessions created a fun element and encouraged coffee lovers to get involved. It was great to stop by and get a lesson from our friends at DR Wakefield, their ‘Catalysing Coffee’ theme was extremely informative, giving a break-down of the journey from farmer to café.
The La Marzocco Strada Machine
It was difficult not to be drawn to The True Artisan Café by La Marzocco. The iconic brands stall was surrounded by a variety of charming one-group Linea minis. A theatre of coffee, the entertaining and energetic baristas made awesome signature drinks on The La Marzocco Strada machine.
Many of the most influential individuals of the Coffee World were in attendance, none more notable than James Hoffman who signed books for coffee fans at The Square Mile stand. Their clean matt black space was enhanced by the slickest Victoria Arduino Black Eagle Espresso machine around, if Batman had a coffee machine, this would be it. Additionally, the built in weighing scales lured more and more coffee geeks to see this thing of beauty for real.
The Lab programme had some really exciting line ups throughout the entire weekend. It was a great chance get some tips and ideas, gather more information about the history of coffee, and expand your coffee knowledge with guys like Matt Perger. We managed to catch an insightful talk by Jeffrey Young of Allegra Strategies on industry trends and the future of the marketplace.
New Wave Coffee Culture
Coffee is rapidly becoming a vehicle for creatives, particularly in major cities like London. Roasters and Independent Cafes have created their own unique space, whether it is minimalist Scandinavian or a converted warehouse, the smooth latte art, or even the cool coffee table made from old suitcases seen at The Timber Yard in Shoreditch. It is often the ultimate reason as to why we visit certain places. Take-away cups are another popular tool that defines the character of a certain coffee destination, and at this year’s festival, artists and designers were given a chance to showcase their talents by crafting this year’s festival cup based on a theme. Geometric prints are becoming more fashionable again and the winner David David designed a cup with warm colours and a contemporary yet old-fashioned striking geometric design. Needless to say a few were slipped into the bag with the rest of the giveaways. The Coffee Art Project area next to the new unassuming House of Coffee emphasised another exciting dimension as to how the new wave coffee culture is being endorsed.
Independent Coffee Bars
After meeting up to grab lunch at Spitalfields Market, we came across ‘The Department Of Coffee And Social Affairs’. It is a slick and simple casual hangout with a friendly atmosphere that added to their list of shops across London and motivated us to see more of these ever-growing independent coffee bars. Workshop Coffee Co, Taylor St Baristas, Kaffeine and Ozone Coffee Roasters are a number of the unwavering coffee shops in London that we wanted to visit but with time so valuable we didn’t get around them all. We ventured as far as Association Coffee were they offered Workshop and Square Mile. The place itself in Creechurch Lane only recently opened but the high standards set and care taken over delivering a quality brew was worthy of the fine architectural building in which it is set. Running out of time we managed to visit the all-white, nonchalant open space of Ozone where some fine washed Columbian single origin was picked up.
The Dublin Coffee and Tea Festival
The exhilarating pace which the coffee scene in London is moving at can only be described as stimulating for all coffee professionals and enthusiasts. It is becoming more and more evident that this is the case in Dublin now too as people are caring more and more about what is in their cup. The Dublin Coffee and Tea Festival is scheduled again here in September and with the SCAE World of Coffee coming in June 2016, Dublin’s coffee story is about to take a whole new meaning and we are working diligently to make sure Java Republic is at the forefront of the movement.
All the best,
Jamie.
Jamie is a member of the Java Republic Coffee Quality Team. He is passionate about all things coffee & loves nothing more than finding out the next big thing in the coffee scene. He is also a successful footballer and plays for both Crossmaglen Rangers and Armagh.