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(belated) hello from South London

561 views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  LMartin 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well I've done this all the wrong way round, been on the forum around 6 months but never actually did an intro. So here goes...

I'm Laurie, live in South London where my fav local cafes include Volcano in West Norwood, Four Boroughs in Crystal Palace, and Browns in Brokley. Have been into speciality coffee for about 10 years but only previously had the budget, and inclination, for aeropress / chemex / porlex hand grinder. Thanks to CFUK I've now entered the wonderful world of home espresso, currently using a Gaggia Classic PID (second hand from a forum member) with Niche Zero. Really enjoying the process and the output, and WFH means I'm getting tonnes of practice...

Other interests include beer (liking cloudy New England style pales at the mo), wine (southern Rhone whites are little known and massively underrated IMHO), literature (avid reader and [very bad] short story writer), walking and rugby. Oh and I have a little'un so I don't always have loads of time for any of them...!

Look forward to chatting with you all and learning from the wisdom on these pages. 👋

Laurie
 
#4 ·
Sad isn't it. Gone are the days of drum n bass all weekend and playing World of Warcraft every day. Then it was investment banking and antique coins, now speciality coffee. I'll be loudly complaining about the scarcity of duck eggs and avocados in Waitrose next.
 
#8 ·
Well I've done this all the wrong way round, been on the forum around 6 months but never actually did an intro. So here goes...

I'm Laurie, live in South London where my fav local cafes include Volcano in West Norwood, Four Boroughs in Crystal Palace, and Browns in Brokley. Have been into speciality coffee for about 10 years but only previously had the budget, and inclination, for aeropress / chemex / porlex hand grinder. Thanks to CFUK I've now entered the wonderful world of home espresso, currently using a Gaggia Classic PID (second hand from a forum member) with Niche Zero. Really enjoying the process and the output, and WFH means I'm getting tonnes of practice...

Other interests include beer (liking cloudy New England style pales at the mo), wine (southern Rhone whites are little known and massively underrated IMHO), literature (avid reader and [very bad] short story writer), walking and rugby. Oh and I have a little'un so I don't always have loads of time for any of them...!

Look forward to chatting with you all and learning from the wisdom on these pages. 👋

Laurie
Interesting Intro, when I was younger (21-24) I used to live at the end of Kings road (place called Worlds end), incredibly interesting and a real buzz. I have not driven into London for quite a few years now, but last time I was there, everything had changed. Very fast moving place.

As for the wisdom on here...we all have plenty to impart....how much is useful, one doesn't know. The great thing is theres always an upgrade to treat yourself to, or some coffee related item to buy. This means friends are never short of something to buy you for Christmas or birthdays. On another note, how many of your local cafes do you think will survive what we have all been through this last 12 months (it seems like forever...)?
 
#9 ·
Interesting Intro, when I was younger (21-24) I used to live at the end of Kings road (place called Worlds end), incredibly interesting and a real buzz. I have not driven into London for quite a few years now, but last time I was there, everything had changed. Very fast moving place.

As for the wisdom on here...we all have plenty to impart....how much is useful, one doesn't know. The great thing is theres always an upgrade to treat yourself to, or some coffee related item to buy. This means friends are never short of something to buy you for Christmas or birthdays. On another note, how many of your local cafes do you think will survive what we have all been through this last 12 months (it seems like forever...)?
@DavecUKTotally. Think London reached peak speciality coffee a few years ago and actually I'd been noticing more closing or swapping hands or inferior imitations growing over recent years, all serving "flat whites" but losing something in translation (great latte art, bad espresso, if you know what I mean)

The core, high quality speciality cafes, however, I suspect have been very resilient. In a funny way covid actually seems to have been good for them, (anecdotally). I remember at the start of the pandemic slightly coyly asking the places I go to how it was going, when I would visit for a takeaway, only to be told "actually really well". I wonder if that's the combination of more working from home so commuting to local cafes + popping out for a takeaway becoming the highlight of our otherwise dull lockdown days. Who knows if that'll survive easing of restrictions - I'd guess yes?
 
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