About London Best Coffee
Edited by Dylan Cormack · Last updated June 2026
London Best Coffee is an editor-curated guide to independent specialty coffee shops in London. Every shop in the guide has been visited in person before it's added. We currently feature 78 cafés across East, West, North, North West, South East, South West and the City of London.
The editor
The guide is written and edited by Dylan Cormack, a London-based writer and product builder. Dylan visits every shop, takes notes on the coffee programme, brewing methods, room and food, and writes the review himself.
Methodology
Shops are evaluated on a small number of criteria that matter for specialty coffee:
- Coffee quality. Bean sourcing, roast level, freshness, extraction. We taste at minimum a flat white and a filter brew on each visit.
- Brewing technique. Consistency of espresso, accuracy of milk steaming, attention to grind and dose.
- Room and service. How the space feels, how it treats regulars, how it handles peak times.
- Food and pastry. Where served, whether it's made on site or sourced from quality suppliers.
- Distinctiveness. What this shop does that the next one over doesn't.
Update cadence
New shop reviews are added regularly. Existing reviews are refreshed when a shop changes location, ownership, opening hours, or coffee programme. The date at the top of every shop's page reflects its most recent review.
Editorial independence
Shops cannot pay to be included. There's no advertising, sponsored placement, or affiliate revenue from individual shop pages. The guide exists because Dylan drinks a lot of coffee in London and wanted somewhere to write it down.
Contact
If a shop's details are out of date, or there's an independent café we've missed, get in touch via the social links in the footer.