All aboard the Caffeine express

Taking time out from work is one of life’s little luxuries, and being situated in Torrington Place, I’m certainly spoiled for choice. About 5 excellent coffee shops within walking distance, excluding the usual riff-raff of weak coffee franchises. Now that research has shown coffee drinkers actually live longer (Read here) there is even more reason to get out there for your fix. Get your loyalty cards out, these are my selection of go to coffee destinations

Store Street Espresso 

40 Store Street @StoreStEspresso

Probably my most regular of all these fine establishments. Great coffee (Square Mile Red Brick), combined with nice ambience, lots of natural light coming through, friendly baristas make this a firm favourite that keeps me topping my my loyalty card on several occasions each week. I've even bought some of the beans to grind back at the office

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-         There is lots of space to sit, but it can get quite busy, is popular with the Macbook pro sit alones

Lantana

13 Charlotte Place 

Tucked away in Charlotte Place this is a very nice find. Lantana is delicately split (like this blog) between food out and in, which is a nice touch. I've only taken away but it does have a very smooth macchiato and excellent array of fancy salads to go

No.114/No.26

114 Tottenham Court Road/26 Rathbone Place @TappedandPacked

Every coffee shop must have it's own loyalty system to keep it's customer's coming back and Tapped and Packed's No.26 (Rathbone Place) and No.114 (Tottenham Court Road) are no different with their loyalty card only requiring 6 stamps

Specialises in different filter coffees and their breakfasts are excellent with their pots of jam laid out on each table to delve into

Fork Deli Patisserie 

85 Marchmont Street

This place has only recently opened, so far is never that much of a queue to get my coffee! It has great ambiance, serves Monmouth coffee(major bonus points!), and sells a variety of goods including tea pigs, pasta, jams. So well worth a visit if you are nearby Brunswick Centre (or the British Library). Their pastries are absolutely brilliant, pure indulgence.
There is 10% off for students, and has WiFi, so great to pass by a few hours of work somewhere other than the office.

Sacred Coffee 

Byng Place

Best for drinking in the sun on the fixed furniture of Byng Place. With the farmers market on every Thursday aswell, this is a dangerous combination with great food and good coffee.

Makes a change to have New Zealand blends, stands to reason complement this with an antipodean flat white. It used to have one of the best baristas, engaging, clear passion for his job, now he’s gone, it’s missing that spark and despite its close proximity, I don't go to it as much. What a difference one person can make!