We may be a nation of tea drinkers, but that doesn’t mean that coffee isn’t catching up fast – in fact, every day, Brits consume 70 million cups of the dark stuff.
But where can you find the best coffee for your caffeine fix? We’ve put together a list of some of the best UK coffee producers and cafés out there. You won’t find any instant coffee purveyors or faceless corporations here – just honest coffee aficionados wanting to serve you an excellent cup of java.
COFFEE PRODUCERS
Square Mile Coffee Roasters source, buy, import and roast only the highest quality coffee beans to produce award-winning blends. Its seasonal Red Brick blend is particularly worth a try – at the moment, it contains hints of treacle, bergamot, butter and almond. You can order Square Mile coffee online – if you’re really a fan, you can even sign up for a regular subscription. Image by Christian Kadluba
Carvetii Coffee
Carvetii Coffee is one of the Lake District’s leading coffee roasters. Its range of espresso blends, single origin and decaf coffees are served up in cafés across Cumbria and the UK, and can also be ordered online. It roasts its coffee in small batches every Monday and Tuesday, dispatching them the next day for guaranteed freshness. Image from @CarvetiiCoffee
Sandows London
For high-quality cold brewed coffee, it has to be Sandows London – this superbly smooth beverage is brewed in modified beer tanks, available on draught or served up in hip flasks, and makes a killer cocktail ingredient. You can find it in cafés and retailers in London and Canterbury. Photography by @luluashphoto
Ozone
Based in the London, Ozone is one of the best UK coffee roasters around. You can buy its range of blends and single origins online, at stockists across the UK and Europe, not to mention at its on-site café in Shoreditch. We recommend giving its West Coast Cocoa chai and hot chocolates a try too – they’re divine. Image from @OZONECOFFEEUK
Caravan
Every day, in the basement of a busy London restaurant and bar, Caravan’s coffee experts roast small batches of the world’s finest seasonal coffee beans in order to supply customers across the UK. Online ordering is expected to be made available later this year. In the meantime, why not pay a visit to its bustling Exmouth Market and Kings Cross locations? Image from @CaravanRoastery
Monmouth sources all of its coffee sustainably and fairly from growers spanning Africa, Asia Pacific, Central America and South America. Whole bean or ground coffees can be ordered by email or phone, or bought in any of Monmouth’s London shops. Espresso lovers will particularly love its ‘For Espresso’ range. They are also suppliers to many coffee bars over the UK including Yield N16 in London, who specialise in Charcuterie which is the perfect combination for any business meeting, date or a casual catch-up with your mates. Image from @YieldN16
Small Batch Coffee champions high quality at every turn – from sourcing only the finest specialty green beans to roasting its coffee in small batches daily to ensure maximum freshness. The result? One of the best UK coffee ranges about. Its range of single origin, espresso, filter and decaf coffees can be ordered online or purchased at locations across Brighton and Hove. Image by Adam Tinworth.
Workhouse Coffee is built around two central principles: to experiment with coffee and to involve customers in the coffee roasting process. Take a trip to one of its Reading stores to see this ethos in action. If Reading’s a little too far for you, you can also order its range of award-winning coffees online, which includes single origins and unique signature blends. Image from Workhouse Coffee Company
Heart and Graft
Housed inside a former lightbulb factory and sporting a shopfront of reclaimed wood and glass, Heart and Graft is at the centre of Manchester’s burgeoning coffee culture scene – indeed, the roastery often doubles up as a venue for cupping events, barista throw-downs and more. Its full collection of espresso, single origin and decaf coffees are all available to order online. Follow them on Twitter: @HeartandGraft
Modern Standard Coffee
This Essex-based specialty coffee roaster changes its range of espresso blends and single origins coffees seasonally, cupping each coffee before it leaves the roastery to ensure every batch is of the highest quality. You can order coffees online, or subscribe to receive a new coffee every month. Follow them on Twitter: @MSCroasters
Point Blank Cold Brew
It’s cold coffee – but not as you know it. Each Point Blank Cold Brew Coffee is brewed in cold water for up to 20 hours before being filtered not once, but six times. The result? A smooth, sweet beverage that’s 30-40% less acidic than it hot counterpart. Order online, or pick up a bottle in selected venues across the North East, London and Edinburgh. Image from @PointBlankCB
Coffee Factory
This family-run business produces award-winning artisan coffee, which it roasts and cups weekly in its Devon micro-roastery. All of its coffees are made using 100% arabica, specialty-grade beans, bought seasonally from farmers across the world. We particularly recommend its flagship Black Bear Espresso, which, along with all its other coffees, can be ordered online and shipped nationwide. Image from @Coffee_Factory
COFFEE BARS
Prufrock is a fitting name for this Clerkenwell-based coffee house – it’s named after the subject of T. S. Eliot’s poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, who famously declares “I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”. Excitingly, the venue doubles up as the London Barista Resource & Training Centre, ensuring that it’s always bustling with coffee tastings, training courses and special events. Image by Alper Çuğun.
One of the best UK coffee houses around, this Newcastle café serves up award-winning coffee in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. Tucked away in a basement beneath an ethnic emporium, it feels far removed from the busy streets up above. Be sure to try its signature cold coffee, which is brewed overnight in-house and comes served in an apothecary bottle. Follow owner @FlatCapJoe on Twitter.
While this artisan coffee roaster ships worldwide and has several venues in Edinburgh and Glasgow, we recommend a visit to its flagship café on Broughton Street, Edinburgh. It was the first speciality coffee shop of its kind in Scotland, and since opening its doors in 2007, has racked up an impressive number of awards, regularly being voted one of the best coffee shops in the country. Image from Artisan Roast
As a roaster dedicated to producing coffee that is “clean, sweet and fresh”, you can’t go wrong with Workshop Coffee. While its produce is available online, a visit to one of its beautiful London coffee bars is always a treat – we particularly recommend the Clerkenwell café. Real coffee geeks can also use the opportunity to sign up for a masterclass in home brewing or espresso techniques. Image from Workshop Coffee
Taylor St Baristas
Wherever you are in London, you’re likely not far from a Taylor St Baristas café, ideal for grabbing a cup of coffee on-the-go or savouring a specialty coffee amidst bespoke, hand-crafted surroundings. Taylor St Baristas has enough origins, brew methods and flavours to satisfy every taste (not to mention a great range of loose leaf teas to keep your friend who doesn’t like coffee happy). Image from @Taylor_St
Priding themselves on roasting up and serving simple, straight-up “really, really good coffee”, Boscanova and South Coast Roast are two independent artisan coffee houses just a stone’s throw from the sunny beaches of Bournemouth. Coffee nerds might be interested in signing up for one of South Coast Roast’s masterclasses, which include coffee cupping, latte art and more. Image from South Coast Roast
Alchemy Coffee
Alchemy Coffee can be found in cafés as far afield as Budapest and Berlin – but a visit to its flagship London coffee house, the Alchemy Café, really can’t be beaten. There you can find a continuously changing collection of coffees from around the world, which includes espressos, hand-brewed filters and cold brews, as well as a selection of cakes and light lunches. Image from @alchemy_coffee
Brew Lab
Another treat for Scottish coffee lovers, Brew Lab is a specialty coffee house in the heart of Edinburgh. Using only the finest specialty-grade beans from renowned roasters, it serves up a range of single origin filter, espresso and are responsible for a wicked cold brew coffee, complemented with food from some of the finest artisan delis and bakeries in the city. Don’t forget to check out the in-house coffee training lab too. Follow them on Twitter: @BrewLabCoffee
So there you have it: some of the best UK coffee producers and cafés out there. Think we’ve missed out a deserving roastery or coffee house? We’d love to hear your recommendations below or tweet @WoodhouseTweets.
Want to enjoy a freshly roasted coffee in style? Pop into the Woodhouse Notting Hill store after grabbing a coffee – Workshop Coffee in Marylebone is nearby. Or browse our menswear range online to find more styles.