Ulterior Motives
19 MayJune 2026 in London (… and the ulterior coffee motive)
London's June is a calendar of things that don't happen otherwise: a hundred locked gardens opened for one weekend at the start of the month, the King's…
Coffee Plant has roasted on Portobello Road for years; Hermanos, LIFT, Guillam, and two more all follow. Five on-site roasters in one market neighbourhood.
Destination coffee.
LIFT roasts under a numbered lot system, sources direct from named producers, and sells retail from the counter. The espresso is funky and fruity; the kind you describe by what's in the cup, not the postcode.
Hermanos roast their own Colombian beans, traceable to named farms, and serve filter alongside espresso at the bar. Ask the barista what's on today: they know the origin story and will tell it.
Properly excellent.
The owner roasts his own beans, tracks them to specific harvest lots, and pulls every shot from a kiosk inside Latimer Road station. Brazilian single-origin, rich and nutty, and he'll tell you which harvest you're drinking.
Climpson & Sons out of a Notting Hill hatch, in a stripped-back espresso setup. Retail beans on the counter if you want to take the roaster home.
A proper espresso bar doing more with coffee than the neighbourhood demands. On Ledbury Road when the rest of the block is on its third matcha.
One of the few spots in Notting Hill roasting on-site, with beans sold at the counter to prove it. Take the stairs.
26 Notting Hill Gate
Guillam roasts their own beans and writes tasting notes to match. The flat white is the order.
Pour-overs named by origin, staff who describe the cup in flavour terms rather than just strength. This is Notting Hill specialty coffee at the serious end.
31 St Petersburgh Pl
Guillam roasts its own beans and runs a cafe from the same address. Single-origin espresso, hand brew on the menu, and tasting notes that separate it from every flat-white-and-a-pastry option nearby.
The in-house roastery on Portobello Road has built a loyal following who come specifically to buy beans. The staff know what they're selling.
The everyday answer.
The Baklava Latte has become the neighbourhood's signature order for a reason. Owner-run, laptop-free, with retail beans on the counter for when one cup isn't enough.
Jashan and Ashley have your order before you reach the counter. Kuro Bakery pastries and a bookshop next door, for the kind of morning stop that becomes a habit.
OZON Roasters espresso in a tight Japanese-minimal room where the matcha latte gets the same care as the shot. Small, deliberate, and quietly good.
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Ulterior Motives
19 MayLondon's June is a calendar of things that don't happen otherwise: a hundred locked gardens opened for one weekend at the start of the month, the King's…
The One Coffee
19 AprShoreditch has a roastery on nearly every block. When that's the baseline, the useful question isn't who roasts their own beans; it's who's doing something…