Cutting-edge caffeine
Trends London’s coffee connoisseurs are taking lattes to the next level with boozed-up brews and hi-tech milk, says Susannah Butter
IF YOU need proof that London takes coffee seriously, go to the Old Truman Brewery this weekend. More than 250 producers from all over the world will descend on Brick Lane for the four-day London Coffee Festival. There will be tastings, workshops and competitions to find the best barista (they’ll have to turn around a 10-drinks order in nine minutes). Here’s what to look out for.
Hard coffee
If your coffee needs pepping up, there are plenty of alternatives here. VIP tickets come with a free cold-brew gin and tonic, made with Sandows Cold Brew. There will be coffee and whisky pairing sessions starting on the nose of midday. The coffee and hair of the dog should blast any hangovers away.
Square Mile and Workshop Coffee have both recently released beers, in collaboration with Pressure Drop and Brewed by Numbers respectively, that have complex tastes — you’ll want to try more to understand the flavours.
There’s no limit to coffee pimping
Coffee is just a base for all manner of taste experimentation. Stir serves a Burundi single-origin flat white with cardamom and vanilla milk infusion (best served with vanilla fika), while Daily Goods makes affogato with a dollop of cinnamon curd.
Tate Britain roasts its own beans and has produced a zeitgeist drink inspired by David Hockney. The Hockney Hawthorn mixes single-origin espresso with a sweet, fruity mousse of 75 per cent single-origin Tanzanian chocolate and hawthorn berry juice. It’s garnished with wild flowers for a final flourish.
Milk matters
High-end coffee beans deserve proper milk. That’s why Estate Dairy has produced milk designed to go with coffee. It was developed with a man called Morten Münchow, who spent two years researching cappuccino foam in a study funded by the Danish government. So far it’s only been available in cafés and restaurants but it’s launching a one-litre bottle for home consumption at the festival. Go tomorrow and on Saturday when it will be giving out free Nonna’s gelato and Blu Top ice cream.
It’s all in the name
Creativity doesn’t end with the drink recipes — they also sound poetic. Daily