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you went out for other reasons in central London, big chance
that you would end up with a cup of surprisingly good coffee.
The density of places serving high quality coffee during
daytime in central London is catching up with that of places
serving great booze at night. Caffeine and alcohol, day and
night, savoured rather than gobbled by 8.6 million Londoners
together with over 30 million tourists annually; have grown
into a unique culture which nurtured this flourishing city
shining in endless crazy colours.
The London coffee industry has been growing wildly
in recent years, and it is still booming. The birth and expan-
sion of LCF could be one way to demonstrate it. However,
given all the positive development and feedbacks, there are
issues underlying yet to be thought about.
London’s, even the UK’s coffee industry, seems to face
a decreased diversity in many ways. The style of food served
in London’s independent cafes, the way to roast beans, and
the recipe used to extract espresso shots, are getting highly
The growing accessibility of specialty coffee alike from one to another. Though a more competitive mar-
ket environment will naturally filter out the problematic
The other trend that could be picked up on the LCF businesses, a lack of innovation and diversity is by no means
was the growing accessibility of specialty coffee. healthy for the development of the industry. THE BARISTA CHOICE WITH THE STELLA DI CAFFÈ DCL
Once upon a time, for someone who dedicatedly As a commodity trade, coffee industry has been Multi-boilers machine with dual command on the same machine, lever for the skilled barista who
looked for a cup of specialty coffee, very likely it meant a around for hundreds of years. The so called specialty cof- wants to further control its shots and electronic volumetric control for the beginner barista to
bit of travelling unless the destination was lucky enough fee movement, or the third wave, should be seen more as
to be in the neighbourhood. A decade has gone by, the the progress of a specific branch of the whole industry deliver consistant cups during rush hours.
situation now has changed drastically. Not only there are rather than something new born from the old. From this
333 cafes recorded by London’s Best Coffee and 245 by angle, maybe LCF could think twice of how it promotes
The London Coffee Guide, but also has it made Central itself as the celebration of the love for coffee. It is not the
London one of the best locations in the world for coffee love for caffeine; it is the love for high quality, expensive,
lovers to visit, to cruise, and even better to reside. and luxury specialty coffee. A big part of the coffee market,
Alongside the expansion of independent cafes and the other end of the spectrum, with price conscious cus-
micro chains, the explosion of the coffee culture in London tomers and poor quality cheap coffee served in many more
has also started to find its way into other lifestyle aspects. places across the country, was nowhere to be seen on LCF.
The one-Michelin-starred restaurant, Lyle’s, has included It is true that specialty coffee has successfully trans-
extremely high quality coffee from the very beginning of formed itself into a new wave of culture in London, influenc-
its business; Ace Hotel, keeping its way of coffee appre- ing millions of people, and changing their daily habits.
ciation in the US, introduced the lobby cafe Bulldog Edition Nonetheless, no matter how exclusive and special this
with the renowned Square Mile team behind to manage; newly grown branch is, it will not survive without taking its
as the national library and the second largest library in root, the whole coffee industry into account when thinking China - Hong Kong - Macau
the world, British Library brought Origin, specialty coffee of the future. And hopefully, with the effort made by every- Taïwan - Singapore
roaster and cafe, into its main entrance; and for art galler- body involved in the industry, the future for both coffee and
ies, they seem to take a step further, with both the Tate specialty coffee is a bright one. Franzen LEUNG
Britain, who was on LCF this year, and South London +86 152 1943 7598
Gallery, starting to roast their own beans. +852 9686 3525
The same development could also be seen in the
ready-to-drink market. There is a rapid growth of bottled EXPORT
and canned cold brew coffee in the UK, their choice of
stockist has also widened from only independent shops Sebastien CONSTANT
and high end department stores to quality supermarkets. +33 687 737 047 Stella di Caffè DCL customized painted bodywork, front strip and colored leather handles
The cold brew gang on LCF conveyed a shared goal for
their industry, which is to make this affordable luxury
more accessible to public.Those developments have all
made London THE place to enjoy coffee. If you went out
with the purpose of tasting a really good cup of coffee,
then you’d be spoilt by choices of which cafe to go to; if
www.unic.fr
info@unic.fr UNIC espresso machines
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