Craft Coffee

Good coffee, bad service.
Im not one to complain about stuff, well not *really* complain but I was particularly in need of a buzz one morning not so long ago and while walking to the station realised that I hadnt sampled Craft Coffee yet.
Walked in, didnt notice that they have different espressos :-(and asked for a white americano as I wanted something a little bigger. Got no love from the lady serving, who handed me my cup with a lid on without mention of it being black and milk being behind me or around the corner etc. A little annoyed later when I was sitting on the train later bitterly with a cup of the black bitter stuff. I, as mentioned above, actually like espresso so it’s not like I was crying over my lack of spilt (into the cup) milk but just would have been a little more of a pleasant experience.
On the plus side, the aforementioned lady did have good ink so I’m gonna up this review to a 4* and also erm. because the coffee was good. But then, am I a «fan» as my 4-​star rating would suggest? Not at the moment.
OK, I’ll leave it at three, try it again and get back to you.
Watch this space.

Cute little place, coffee a tad expensive, but soooo tasty!!! I live just opposite it, so it’s my go-​to if I can’t be bothered making myself…

Oh wow. Craft Coffee was stop #3 on a coffee crawl and, in short, I like it so much that I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant. I’d previously been about a year ago for a filter coffee and proceeded to not write a review, but felt that it would be good to go back especially as they’ve ranked highly on the London Coffee app — if you can’t tell, I really liked it and it totally blew my expectations out of the water.
Craft is a dinky little shop, furnished in the International Coffee Shop Standard style (except this one has art for sale on the walls) with beans from Notes coffee. They typically offer three varieties of filter coffee and two of espresso. I initially went for a Colombian Cafesur espresso (with tasting notes of cherry jam and chocolate) accompanied with a sea salt caramel brownie. I love espresso, but it takes a lot for my eyes to light up and for me to exclaim «wow» out loud. Well, congratulations Craft. This was honestly one of the best espressos I’ve ever had — the extremely bold flavours and a really nice evolution from the acidity in the front end of the coffee to the darker flavours on the back end. The espresso was extremely well balanced and well rounded in flavour and with a little hint of saltiness which I particularly love. Just. Fantastic. The accompanying brownie was great — my friend thought it was a liiiittle dry, but the centre was nice and gooey and there was an excellent salt-​to-​caramel ratio (i.e. the saltiness actually came through unlike a lot of salted caramel out there) and it was the perfect complement to a perfect espresso.
I loved the coffee so much that I went for a second (the #2 from Burundi) — it was far more subtle than the first, but good in its own right. In a way it was a far more sophisticated counterpart to the smack-​in-​the-​face of the first and a little more floral and an espresso I’d be happy with anywhere.
To top it off — extremely friendly staff and a nice environment in general. I’m really looking forward to going back and I hope they do well — it’s the sort of place which would be really easy to walk past, but I’m glad they’re getting a bit more exposure. Cannot recommend enough :)

Wow. The espresso I had at Craft was an epiphany: that espresso doesn’t have to be a strong, bitter drink prompting a hurt recoil. Rather, with the right coffee it can be fruity, light and delicate. It’s the first espresso that I can say I actively enjoyed.
Fans of stronger espresso need fret not: they had a muscular Columbian espresso available too that was more to the taste of my friend. As such Craft deserve definite kudos for having a choice of espressos, which is rare. I had a brownie too which was pleasantly chewy if a little small.
The space itself is a classic combination of white walls, dark wood and clean lines, all to a hip-​hop soundtrack. Hip hop seems to be a favourite for specialist coffee places on both sides of the Atlantic (quite possibly in both hemispheres for all I know), and while I’m definitely a fan of it, I always find its frequent message of hardship slightly incongruous in havens of middle class privilege such as specialist coffee places. But c’est la vie.
Anyway, all the other aspects of Craft were as they should be: friendly service, free wifi, easy availability of tap water. Good stuff.

Quite possibly one of the best coffee experiences I have ever had. And that’s saying something coming from me! Why? Because this poor wee sensitive soul is a decaf drinker. My fragile system gets over stimulated by the stuff. I’ve had acquaintances who have found it both funny and frightening when they’ve witnessed the effects of the stuff on me.
Anyway, I digress. The décor in this place is very on trend, white walls, brickwork, exposed copper pipes, little arty flourishes of colour here and there. Downstairs seating, a little kind of conservatory type area at the back. Yes, I guess you could call it that. A Lean-​to with a transparent corrugated roof, astro-​turf for carpet and I guess a pixie inspired mural on the wall of blue and green mushrooms and thistles.
Now here’s the real winner for this place — the coffee! I know, I know, I know you’ll be incredulous. But seriously, even for a light-​weight decaf drinker like myself, it’s amazing. Deep, rich, buttery and aromatic. Even in the days when I drank the hard stuff I never tasted anything so good. Now do you see my point. If the decaf is this good, what must the real stuff be like!!!
Sampled the Salted Caramel Brownie, a sweet, salty, moist, sinful delight!
The vibe was relaxed and hip. The staff were welcoming, friendly and accommodating.
Now, tell me, just how much are you thinking of going here for a coffee right now?

As someone who doesn’t like coffee (I know!!) it is unusual for me to review a coffee shop, but for craft coffee I will make an exception. The hot chocolate was delicious, just right not too sweet and with a lovely leaf design on top. The selection of cakes was enough that there was something for everyone but not so much that it was overwhelming– and they all looked like they were made at home, with love. And from what I tasted this is very possible. The staff were all very friendly and helpful and the décor was very individual and colourful which I loved. But it was the overall feel of the place that pushed it into the 5 stars, it is exactly the sort of place I could imagine spending hours in on a Sunday morning which is the vibe I look for in an independent coffee shop (and good coffee alternatives but that’s just for me!!) — top notch

I do love a stairway of imagination. I also love good coffee. This place has both. Win!
Myself, Issy F and Hazel N stumbled across this place on a Sunday lunchtime when we were filming a documentary. I know, doesn’t that sound super exciting and dramatic! Well it was actually, a friend of mine was shooting a short piece about Unilocal,blogging in London and the support it brings to independent businesses. So we were doing one of those shots where the three of us walk down a bustling street and pretend to be really engrossed in the market stalls — I think it shows independent trading at its peak. Basically we all decided we were dying for coffee, so went into the first place we saw… Craft Coffee!
I had a latte here and was hooked after the first sip. Smooth, creamy and not too strong, you could still taste the coffee without the drink burning your mouth. For £2.60, what a bargain! A bit more expensive than some of the popular chains that you can go to, but this is Shoreditch and this is a documentary about independent businesses! My friend had a hot chocolate, rich and warming but without being overly sweet — she was particularly happy because you could taste the quality of the chocolate that they had used.
Our comparisons with these drinks were to Monmouth Coffee and Hotel Chocolat — not bad comparisons to be honest, these two are the top of their game in the coffee and chocolate drinks markets!
Also really impressive was the decaf coffee that Hazel N sampled, where it actually tasted pretty much the same as a regular coffee. No mean feat considering the vital coffee ingredient that we all crave was missing.
Oh and one more thing… SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE BROWNIE! £2.50 to sample heaven on a plate. Homemade (and you could taste that too, very rustic) and squishy in the middle with a generous helping of caramel so you don’t feel like you’re being cheated, I could practically feel the calories as I enjoyed this little morsel and I didn’t care!
Décor was very Shoreditch, white washed walls with minimal trendy touches — some art painted freehand on one wall in blues and blacks — a bit like a china pattern on a set of crockery but very impressive. They also have a little back room with a stepladder in the corner, plants in paint cans at one end and astroturf on the floor. Well why not?!
Of course you can check out the documentary we’re all starring in to get a little video preview of the business, it will probably première in Leicester Square soon and be a number one film of the year so it won’t be too tricky to find!

Not quite sure what to make of Craft Coffee’s bricks and mortar location (there is also a cart on Maltby Street on Saturdays). It has all the latest kit including a neat water purification system which results in good quality brews. There are also a number of different beans to choose from, so regulars and irregulars shouldn’t get bored.
On the cake front there is lots to pick from as well. I think I even spied a Duffin if that is your kind of thing. So far so good.
The problem for me was that it did not feel like a good place to relax. Everything was very utilitarian which is fine to a point but it didn’t feel like somewhere I wanted to linger. I think that I might not be alone in this feeling as a bigger coffee house round the corner was super busy. I suspect it is just finding it’s feet so I will give it the benefit of the doubt and round up a 3.5 to a 4 for now!