Milk Bar is a relatively new cafe that faces Soho Square—or rather, it nearly faces the mouth of an alleyway whose other end opens onto the entrance to Soho Square (close enough, right?). I don’t visit there all that often. It’s a nice enough spot, with attractive art on the walls …
There’s something especially poetic about the name Nude Espresso. In the context of a cup of coffee, milk and sugar can hide any number of sins. They can drag you back towards the mean, flavour-wise, rounding the corners off of a less-than-stellar bean. But in the preparation of espresso, there’s …
The Rocket Cup doesn’t work 24 hours a day—it also gets taken out for leisure purposes from time to time. In this case, we decided to seek out a plaque in Cornhill marking the location of London’s first coffee house, the Jamaica Wine House, dating back to 1652. The cup …
There’s no escaping it. The first and most important thing that must be said about Department of Coffee and Social Affairs is that it has the best name of any espresso bar in the city. The name, rendered above the door with pitch-perfect lettering and logo, was the reason that this …
The original two iterations of the Rocket Cup were both 3D printed in ceramic by Shapeways (the second iteration was a mild adjustment to the first, based on feedback from Shapeways). As far as I know, Shapeways contracted out its ceramic 3D printing to Figulo, a small company in Boston. Because …
Although I spend most of my work days in the centre of London, I certainly don’t live anywhere near there. I live well out in the southeast of the city, close to one of the main rail arteries. Out here the lands are wild and uncharted, at least by the …
Let’s just get the obvious pun out of the way immediately: Looking for great espresso in the heart of London? Urine for a treat! Ahhh, that’s a load off my mind. I’ve been carrying that around in my head for weeks. I can safely say that no tour of London’s …
The trains heading downtown from my home station come in two flavours. While they all eventually find their way to London Bridge, at that point they diverge. Some immediately cross the Thames and terminate at London Cannon Street in the financial district; the rest stop briefly at Waterloo East before …
With my submission to Bridges 2014 in the can, I have some time to proceed with the next stop in the Rocket Cup World Tour (of London). As I’ve spent more time commuting in London, I’ve gradually decreased my reliance on the Tube. I used to ride the Southeastern train …
As it turns out, this is an auspicious time to begin the Rocket Cup’s tour of London. Just a couple of days ago I received a quarterly sales report from the company that manufactures the cup (the parent company of Fred and Friends). I’m pleased to say that I’ve earned …