Bean there...

Nürnberg is proving to be quite a treat when it comes to decent coffee, actually. I will no doubt list a couple of places over the next little while. To get things started in this part of the world, there’s a nice place I went to the other day. It’s a rösterei, and has some nice couches, plus lots of nice looking old espresso machines sitting around. It’s called Kaffee, Espresso & Barista and is found at Beckschlagergasse 6, Nürnberg

For the first post, it’s London…

It’s somewhat of an irony that having created this blog because of a lack of good coffee in London in particular, that London should boast the current World Champion Barista (actually it’s not so surprising why you realise he was trained in NZ). Gwilym Davies runs a coffee cart in Whitecross St near the Barbican just east of the City of London. It’s a great street market, and generally tourist free, though popular with city workers as well as the students from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. The long lines for the food (baritos, manwiches, scotch eggs.. so much scrumpsious food) is worth it. But I digress. Go there for Gwilym’s coffee!

I’m no coffee expert, though I do have a cafe named after me, rather, I’m a coffee snob. This blog is not so concerned with the subtleties of fruits and flavours, but with basics like, ‘is the milk not burnt?’ or ‘is it a foamy mess?’ and important questions like ‘is the coffee fresh?’.

I’m an Australian living in Europe. In Australia, you generally have to go out of your way to get a bad coffee. Sadly, two years in London and a short time in my new home in Germany has taught me that over here, that’s not generally the case. Over the last few years I’ve discovered some oases (I’m guessing that’s the plural of oasis?) of good espresso, and this blog is here to share this. So the concept is simple - where do I find good coffee in Europe? Obviously, my own knowledge is still quite limited, but it will grow. I’m always keen for suggestions as well. So here’s to good coffee!