LONDON COFFEE WORTH VISITING

The signal of a serious cafe is whether the staff can answer a basic question about the bean origin without checking. The good ones can. Everyone else is selling theatre.

What I look for: a single named bean for the espresso (rotating origin is fine, vague "house blend" is not), staff who can describe the roast profile in one sentence, milk that is not over-steamed, a cup at espresso strength rather than the diluted American long-black version most chains serve.

My most-frequent visit. Hermanos at 23 Queensway is the quiet best-kept-secret of West London coffee. The lighter roasts they serve are some of the most precisely brewed in the city, the staff genuinely know the beans, and the cafe itself is small enough to feel personal without being precious.

Best for: serious flat white, take-away on the walk to Hyde Park, or a slow filter on a quiet morning.

The benchmark for filter brewing in central London. Workshop has been roasting their own since 2011 and the quality has stayed consistent across that span. The Wigmore Street location is the easiest one to get to from the West End.

Best for: an excellent V60 or chemex, a reliable espresso when you are between meetings in Marylebone, a pound of beans to take home.

Origin runs multiple London locations but the Charlotte Road site in Shoreditch is the one I rate highest. Cornwall-roasted beans, particularly strong on washed Ethiopians and naturals, served with the precision you expect from a cafe whose roastery is the brand.

Best for: a destination coffee in East London, beans you cannot easily find elsewhere, the roaster who is genuinely shaping UK coffee culture.

Climpson is the East London end of the serious-coffee map. The Broadway Market cafe is busy on weekends but worth the journey for the consistency of the brewing. The roastery is across the road if you want to see how it is done.

Best for: a Saturday morning in East London, beans for home, a cafe that has stayed great for over a decade.

High-street chains: Starbucks, Costa, Pret. Coffee that calls itself a "third wave experience" without naming the bean. Cafes where the espresso is served with whipped cream as default. Anywhere with a queue more than ten minutes long, regardless of how good Instagram says they are. Life is short.