One Darnley Road.

There’s this little design studio in Hackney. It’s called One Darnley Road.

Today they installed and fired up their very own La Marzocco GS/3 Titanium – a loaner from Stephen Morrissey. I was fortunate enough to be asked to be on-hand to give them a bit of an initial run-through on espresso, cleaning, etc.

I gave the guys a brief overview on what they should be looking for, essentially replicating the basis of the training I received at Intelligentsia’s Los Angeles Roast Works. We pulled some shots of too-fresh Square Mile Winter Espresso, which were nice enough, but still a little bitey and needing rest.

Everyone in the studio had a go at pulling espresso, and they were keen and attentive trainees. We ran out of Winter, and switched to Square Mile’s Progresso Single Origin Espresso from Huila. And funnily enough, on his first attempt, John pulled me easily one of the best shots of espresso I’ve had since living in Los Angeles.

Impeccably clean, caramelly-sweet, deep and round. We were brewing slightly cooler than Square Mile advise, around 91.5c, but the result was spectacular. Slightly updosed, cut off at 28s and approximately 1.25oz, it was lovely.

Every workplace should have their setup.

(N.B. — Chris Morrissey drank so much freakin’ espresso in the 2-hours I was there, I’m sure he ran laps of the office all afternoon.)

Quality Control.

Today I was served a terribly disappointing cup of coffee.

I’ve been served bad coffee before, and I’m sure I will again. We, as Londoners, are surrounded by the stuff. Cheap greasy spoons with industrial-sized tins of instant, Costa Coffee and Caffe Nero mimicking the rituals and techniques of espresso production, but handing over poorly and carelessly constructed abominations — this I understand, and as you also should, discount completely.

Their coffee is not relevant. They’re not in it for the same reasons we are, right? Right.

So with this in mind, I’m left to wonder, what kind of steps ought roasters and retailers be taking to ensure that public perception of them is separated from the dross? Obviously, combined function roaster/retailers are in the driving seat. They import their greens, roast them to their own specs, then serve the resulting drinks in the manner that they deem best. What an ideal position to be in as a retailer — totally in control of as many post-harvest elements as possible, and serving to customers their best possible offerings.

So how then, does one end up with as disappointing a cup of coffee as I was served today? On the staff’s recommendation, I ordered a particular coffee, and was truly surprised by the cup I received. I need not get into too finer a description of things, but suffice to say that the cup was beyond flat and lifeless, to flannel dryness (imagine sucking on the corner of a flannel shirt or sweater), and prolific notes of bagginess and dusty age.

Despite potentially papery dryness being resultant of an unrinsed filter, this was not a defect of brewing. There were no scathing, searing notes of either sourness or bitterness, the results of poor temperature control. I have no doubt that this coffee was simply too old.

Somewhere along the line, this coffee had been roasted, tasted and OK’ed for shop, sale and service, and I’m baffled as to how? Overstocked on last year’s crop, perhaps? Dedicated to keeping a Costa Rica on at all times? I’m not sure.

Then one other possibility occurred to me. Perhaps the people of London like it? Could it be that this coffee that I found nothing short of objectionable, and a very poor representation of what I understand to be clarity, sweetness and character, is in fact a representation of the desires of our consumer’s palate?

Quite possible, but I hope not. If so, we have a long road ahead of us, educating consumers on the simplest concepts of flavour, and revealing to them the potential that carefully handled, respectfully roasted, and duly considered coffee actually holds.

Worst case scenario, however, is that as coffee professionals in London, a very great many of us are as in-the-dark as the consumers theorised about above. The very real possibility exists that, the representatives of our industry, the everyday baristas and servers behind countless bars across London have only a marginally-better understanding of their product than those they are advising.

And that, I fear, is an even longer road for us to walk.

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POSTSCRIPT: Doug Zell has posted a challenge to roasters on this topic here.

A Lengthy Hiatus.

So. It’s been quite a while, no?

But now there’s a new layout, a new city, and a lot of spare time. So for better or for worse, expect some content.