Little Waitrose: Big Offer

The "Little Waitrose" in the City has tempting displays, fresh unrefrigerated baguettes ....

.... and free take-out coffee for Waitrose card holders.

Baristas Not Button Pushers

Guest Spot

Thanks to Roy Westwood, Creative Director for Levy Restaurants, for spotting this sign at Benugo

On-Site Roaster

Peyton & Byrne has an on-site roaster at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and makes sure it is well on view. Larger cafes will be considering the appeal and aroma of installing such units.

Coffee on Cannon Street

Harris & Hoole's flagship in Cannon Street is worth checking out.  You order at the counter but all coffees are made at four stations beyond the order point - impressive and they must be anticipating major volumes.

 We (and the staff) like the personalisation of the operation and it is part-owned by Tesco!

Ice Cream Plus

An obvious combo where you have an espresso machine, ice cream, strawberries and the current heat.  Bravo to Benugo for offering Affogato (espresso coffee with ice cream) from their mobile unit in the forecourt of the British Museum.

Free Toast

The morning coffee promotions vary from price to free (low cost) items such as toast.

Have Your Cake and Eat It

Leon's £3.50 any coffee and cake offer.

Food on the Move

 M&S's stand-alone cafe in Paddington Basin.

 A little over-enthusiastic with the condiments for one person - Plan A??

"All our plants are M&S plants" - a good room divider.

Sustainable Inspiration

If you want to know the practical ways you can make your cafe sustainable visit the Sustainable Cafe of the Year 2012 - Ode Cafe, Shaldon in Devon.

 Coffee grounds for your garden

 Vegware cutlery

Simple wooden chairs and tables

Touch of Class

Fortnum & Mason's cup of coffee comes with miniature cornetto in a special stand.

Square, embossed sugar lumps individually wrapped.

Roast Your Own

The London Coffee Festival at the old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane was buzzing.  This small and portable coffee bean roasting machine (cost circa £10k) caught the eye.

Will we see more cafes differentiate themselves by flooding the senses with freshly-roast coffee?

 If you fancy roasting your own beans at home this micro-roaster might be for you.

The 94p Latte

A short break in Rome wakes me up to the Italian tradition and price of their morning coffee on the move.  €1.10 (under a quid) for a cappuccino or latte.  Fair enough it is drunk standing up and it is served fast and furious.  Quite what Italians make of our £2.50 (€3) take-out coffees I do not know.  Even the Vatican Museum cafe offered excellent value.

What's Yours?

Price list visual at Taylor St Baristas in the City.

Third Floor Espresso

 Banana bread presentation plus upsell toasted and served with honey and cream cheese at 3FE, Dublin

 3FE in Dublin is serious about coffee - see why 3rd Floor Espresso is called what it is at http://www.3fe.com/about/our-story/ and how the owner Colin Harmon went from investment banker to one of the best Baristas in the world.

The slot in the table for the menu card was a neat, simple idea.

Coffee tasting menu 

Nuts & Coffee

 Athens-based Carpo has opened on Piccadilly with a huge variety of nuts amongst the coffee and chocolate

 Romanian Hippophaes caught our eye.  Apparently it is a superfood.

Plus the Chinese dried Goji berries

 They roast and salt (in the cement mixer looking kit) on the premises

Hotting Up

The coffee price war continues with Giraffe restaurants offering take-out lattes and cappuccinos at 50p until 10.30am Monday to Friday.

Happy Hours

POD's £1 latte, cappuccino and flat white promotion from 10-12 and after 3pm is different from the usual filter coffee promotions.

Coffee with Mastic

Kahve Dünyasi has cafes throughout Turkey and have opened up on Piccadilly.  Coffee with Mastic may suffer in the translation - mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree.

There are some interesting cakes and pastries - chocolate pizza and mozaic cake for example -  in addition to the UK staples. 

 The chocolate spoon is a fun touch.

Coffee as it should be

It's not just enough to have great coffee; you need a good machine to make it.  The trend to publicise both coffee supplier and machine manufacturer is seen at Gail's - already famous for their bread and pastries.