London Coffee Festival 2014 (a photodiary)

Coffee is such a pleasurable olfactory stimulant that brings so many good memories and a general feeling of calm. I don’t think I can live without it.

London Coffee Festival

I was super excited to get a press pass for the London Coffee Festival at The Old Truman Brewery this year c/o Nuffnang UK because I’ve been wanting to go for years! The place was packed and I was pretty happy to explore the rooms with IrisEmmaMariaAlexShrimAmrita and Sarah.

London Coffee FestivalLondon Coffee Festival

It was great to see, smell and taste freshly brewed coffee by independent suppliers from all over the world.
The Saigon Coffee Company had some pretty decent brew served on ice with condensed milk. Took me back my childhood days in Asia where everyone seemed to enjoy sweet coffee (my mother takes hers with two sugars!).

Mission Coffee Works, ethical artisan coffee roasters, officially launched at the festival. Their mission? Simply “to source outstanding coffee and roast it to heavenly perfection.”

Doña Botero offered really good coffee and I was rather quite fond of them as they were so lovely to the people who visited their stalls. It’s a family business that’s been running through generations so you can really see how passionate they are about their products. 

There was a showcase of various coffee preparation from the relatively old…
…to the brand-spanking new. This Sanremo Opera beast is a beautiful and revolutionary espresso machine created by world-class award-winning baristas and coffee makers.

There’s “adult” coffee for the slightly naughty kids. Espresso martinis were all over the place!
There were treats for the non-coffee drinkers, too. Loads of stalls for tea lovers from award-winning big guns like Novus and independent (and equally outstanding) shops like Tea People.

There were other beverages too. All Good serves organic and ethical drinks like ginger beer, cola and lemonade and they have to cutest packaging ever. I also tried a piece of raw cola - it was bitter as! One Water‘s juiced water blew my mind and I’m particularly amazed by the company because 100% of the profits go to The One Foundation, which funds sustainable development projects in the world’s harshest regions. Amazing.

Karma Cola at the London Coffee FestivalOne Water at the London Coffee Festival

The lounge area was a cool place to stay and watch musicians serenade you for a bit. There was a Colombian band playing and it reminded me so much of the Putumayo CDs I collected in college.

London Coffee Festival

What’s a festival without food? There was a lot! There were stalls offering savouries for the hungry. Glad to see The Breakfast Club there!

Breakfast Club at the London Coffee Festival

I adored the independent cake shops like Fresh Eric’s Cakes who had the most photogenic display of cakes and pies.

Fresh Eric's Cakes at the London Coffee Festival

I mean seriously, we were ooh-ing and ahh-ing from the cakes. I wish they had proper takeaway boxes so we could have taken some home though. Their award-winning carrot cake is my favourite.

London Coffee FestivalLondon Coffee Festival

Cakesmiths displayed their award winning traybakes and flapjacks. The salted caramel bubbles is a winner!

Cakesmiths at the London Coffee Festival

Ganache Macarons had very pretty stall which was exactly how I think macaron shops should look like. It was light and bright and dainty. Their macarons looked so delicious and perfectly made!

Ganache Macaron at the London Coffee Festival

There were pretty awesome discoveries like Propercorn‘s Sweet Coconut & Vanilla flavoured popcorn.

Propercorn at the London Coffee Festival

Nut Shot, peanut butter which is 100% made peanuts (no added anything!) and Biscuit Butter which is the only cookie butter you should have in your life.

Nut Shot at the London Coffee FestivalBiscuit Butter at the London Coffee Festival

Nata Pura just took a full batch of freshly baked pasteis de nata when we arrived at their stall. I almost drowned in my own drool. Man, they smelled and looked amazing!

Pastel de Nata at the London Coffee Festival

Natural Balance Foods full selection of Nakd and Trek healthy snack bars - idn’t know there were loads!

Trek at the London Coffee FestivalNakd at the London Coffee Festival

We hung out for a bit at the Julius Meinl Poetry Cafe which was indeed, inspiring - write a short poem and you get free coffee! =). Took me back to college days when I’d go to a cafe and write for hours.

A gentle reminder for those who are feeling a bit drab. (A little too beauty pageant, if I say so myself!)

We headed to the basement to check out more cool stuff…. and I fell off the stairs after taking this shot! HAHAHA!!! Was it an indication that I haven’t had enough coffee?

My bruised knees ached so badly but some coconut gelato from Gelupo helped ease the pain.

I wanted to take this motorcycle home because it was so badass… but I can’t ride a bike so I just took a snap of it.

More adult beverages!

Last hit of the day was a frangelico-vodka-coffee concoction offered by the charming Italian chaps from Caffe Cagliari. They were too charming to resist (the test tubes I mean!) *hic*

Day almost done, we had some photo ops outside the Old Truman Brewery.
Gotta love the Nuffnang Community!
Photo credit: Nuffnang UK

So pleased to have attended the event with blogger buddies (old and new). Coffee, after all, is best shared with mates.

2 Comments

  1. Lewis N. Clark
    8th May 2014 / 7:17 am

    Doña Botero offered really good coffee and I was rather quite fond of them as they were so lovely to the people who visited their stalls. It's a family business that's been running through generations so you can really see how passionate they are about their products. Keurig K45

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