The best specialty coffee shops in London

London has one of the most developed specialty coffee scenes in Europe. It’s the mix of old and new for me. Long-established coffee companies still doing their thing alongside newer cafés.

The London Coffee Festival launched in 2011 and now takes place annually at The Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. It brings together those old and new coffee roasters, equipment manufacturers, and cafés from across the UK and beyond for tastings, demonstrations, competitions, and education sessions.

These are the coffee shops to visit while you’re in London for the show.

Prufrock Coffee

_{About 20 to 25 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Prufrock Coffee opened in 2011 on Leather Lane. It was founded by 2009 World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies, alongside Jeremy Challender and Klaus Kuhnke. 

Square Mile Coffee Roasters owns Prufrock today. Yes, that Square Mile, the love child of 2007 World Barista Champion and Youtube juggernaut, James Hoffmann, and Anette Moldvaer. But the space isn’t some kind of shrine to James. In fact, he proactively doesn’t associate his personal brand with the place.

Prufrock stands on its own two feet as one of the best specialty coffee shops in London.

Rosslyn Coffee

_{About 10 to 15 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

James Hennebry and Mat Russell founded Rosslyn Coffee in 2018 and brought together two hospitality traditions: James from Ireland and Mat from Australia. The name comes from Rosslyn Street in West Melbourne, where James first learned to make coffee and near where Mat grew up. Rosslyn describes itself as combining the detail and standards of an Australian café with the warmth of an Irish pub.

The company has built its reputation on doing what most can’t: during peak rush periods, when drinks move quickly, service still remains warm, and the experience still feels considered rather than transactional.

Imagine that.

Workshop Coffee

_{About 10 to 15 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Workshop Coffee opened in London in 2011 and built its reputation around sourcing, roasting, and serving specialty coffee.

It’s the company’s flagship space you want to visit. It’s located on Eccleston Street in Belgravia, a short walk from Victoria Station. It combines an all day café with the Workshop Academy, a dedicated training space that hosts coffee workshops, tastings, SCA courses, and professional barista training.

Monmouth Coffee Company

_{About 15 to 20 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Monmouth Coffee Company opened in Covent Garden in 1978 to become one of London’s longest-running specialty coffee businesses. I visited Monmouth first when I explored London specialty coffee for the first time, and the café still stands out most clearly when I think back to those couple of days in the city.

The company built its reputation around sourcing coffee directly from producers and cooperatives before roasting the coffee itself in London. Today, Monmouth operates several cafés across the city, but the Borough Market location remains a favorite.

Nagare Coffee

_{About 5 to 10 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Nagare Coffee operates several cafés across London, including locations in Spitalfields, Soho, and Bankside. The company focuses heavily on filter coffee and regularly features guest roasters from across the specialty coffee industry.

Alongside espresso drinks, the menu includes batch brew and hand brewed filter coffee, with multiple coffees often available across different brewing methods. 

Qima Coffee

_{About 20 to 30 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Qima Cafe is part of Qima Coffee, a specialty coffee company that launched in 2016. The company sources coffee directly from producers, focusing particularly on Yemen while also operating across producing regions including Colombia and Ecuador.

Expect menus with detailed information about coffee producers, origin, and processing methods.

Formative Coffee

_{About 20 to 25 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Ian Kissick founded Formative Coffee after winning the 2023 UK Barista Championship and the 2024 World Espresso Championship. He also represented Ireland at the 2024 World Barista Championship in Busan, South Korea, where he placed sixth.

What makes Formative interesting is how closely the café reflects Ian’s philosophy around hospitality and competition coffee. Despite the competition pedigree, the café avoids technical theatre and coffee jargon. Ian wants customers to enjoy great coffee without feeling overwhelmed by what he calls “the nerdery of coffee.” He also wants the café to encourage natural conversation rather than intimidation.

Imagine that.

Special Guests Coffee

_{About 25 to 35 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

Two time UK Barista Champion Paul Ross founded Special Guests Coffee as a boutique roasting project focused on rare and competition level coffees. The company later opened its flagship café in London’s Marylebone neighbourhood.

Special Guests focuses on showcasing “hidden gems, small lots and the unusual,” with Paul Ross selecting coffees that reflect current specialty coffee trends and exceptional producers. The café rotates its menu regularly and serves rare Panama Geshas, experimentally processed coffees, archive coffees preserved through freezing, and limited lots sourced directly from producing countries including Colombia, Ethiopia, and Panama.

Colonna

_{About 20 to 25 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery}

If you’re into specialty, you already know Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood. If you’re not, all you need to know he’s a big deal.

Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood founded Colonna after building a reputation as a multi time UK Barista Champion and co author of Water for Coffee. The company first launched in Bath as Colonna & Smalls before opening its London café in 2023 with a rotating coffee menu.

Same same but different

What makes the city interesting is the range. You can walk into a tiny standing espresso bar serving classic Italian-style coffee, then travel twenty minutes across the city and find a café building its menu around frozen archive Geshas, experimental processing methods, and rotating brew recipes.

But the best cafés in London still tend to share the same core qualities. Strong hospitality. Consistency. Clarity. Operators who know exactly what kind of experience they want to create. The coffee matters, but so does the feeling of the room, the pace of service, the music, the confidence of the baristas, and whether the space makes you want to stay for another cup.

That is also why London remains one of the most important specialty coffee cities in the world.

FAQ

What are the best specialty coffee shops in London?

Some of the most respected specialty coffee shops in London include Rosslyn, Prufrock Coffee, Workshop Coffee, Monmouth Coffee Company, Formative Coffee, Special Guests Coffee, Qima Cafe, Nagare Coffee, and Colonna. Each approaches coffee differently, from high-volume espresso service to rare hand brewed coffees and competition-focused brewing.

Which London coffee shops are best for filter coffee?

Nagare Coffee, Formative Coffee, Special Guests Coffee, and Colonna have built strong reputations for filter coffee. These cafés rotate coffees regularly and often serve several hand brewed options at the same time.

Where do coffee professionals go in London?

Coffee professionals in London regularly visit cafés like Prufrock Coffee, Rosslyn, Formative Coffee, Special Guests Coffee, and Workshop Coffee. These businesses often combine competition coffee, roasting, training, and wholesale work under the same brand.

What is the oldest specialty coffee shop in London?

Monmouth Coffee Company ranks among London’s earliest and most influential specialty coffee businesses. Anita Le Roy opened the company in Covent Garden in 1978, and Monmouth later helped popularise direct trade sourcing and lighter roasted coffee in the UK.

Which London coffee shops are close to The Truman Brewery?

Rosslyn, Nagare Coffee, Workshop Coffee, and Monmouth Coffee Company are all reachable within roughly 10 to 20 minutes by taxi from The Truman Brewery, depending on traffic and time of day.

Is London good for specialty coffee?

London ranks among the world’s leading specialty coffee cities. The city supports a dense network of cafés, roasters, barista champions, and coffee educators, ranging from traditional espresso bars to highly technical multi-roaster cafés.

Which London cafés serve rare or competition coffees?

Special Guests Coffee, Qima Cafe, Formative Coffee, and Colonna regularly serve rare and limited coffees, including Geshas, competition coffees, experimentally processed lots, and coffees sourced from small producers.