I ordered this book from Amazon as an 'I love you' present for my parents/ out of intrigue for myself. Because this book is so cute I thought I must share a few of it's pages on this blog. The book is essentially a compilation of some of London's independent coffee houses. As a huge coffee obsessive this book is a little gem.
I am ashamed to say that I am a bit of a coffee snob. After getting used to drinking gorgeous strong black coffee's in the independent cafe's in South Africa (namely Melissa's coffee) or the Illy or Segafredo coffee's in Valencia, I am now accustomed to the decadent rich bitter taste. The chain shops of Starbucks, Costa and Eat now taste like old washing up water (they use only one shot of espresso). If all was lost I would chose Nero or Pret as their standard coffee is two shots. However, the independent cafe's pride themselves on good coffee. Aside from helping a new independent business, you are almost guaranteed a fantastic full flavoured coffee.
As well as the cute cafes recommendations in London, the book also informs you of coffee terms like 'crema' and 'tamp' as well as a little history lesson about coffee. I learnt that the term 'Americano' (my favourite coffee) derives from the American soldiers adding hot water to the typical European shot of espresso during the world war.
Please excuse my alien hands creeping in the photos- it is a compact sturdy little book, so holding its pages open with one hand is quite tricky.
