Dose Espresso, 69 Long Lane

Dose Espresso is one of the main players in the artisanal coffee scene and their coffee truly lives up to its reputation.

The Barbican Espresso bar’s fine espresso is virtually flawless but their true speciality is the velvet milk froth for their lattes and cappuccinos, which some other reviewers even describe as the best microfoam in London. Their smooth and silky café latte is a revelation in terms of texture and strikes the perfect balance between the milk’s sweetness and the slight bitterness of the coffee. Lovers of syrupy Starbucks concotions might be in for a shock – it would be a crime to add sugar to this superior composition.

Owner and chief barista James Phillips looks back at 7 years of experience in the gourmet espresso trade in both Sydney and London and happily answers any questions you might have about coffee while pulling espresso shots. If you were to look up ‘ethical coffee shop’ in the dictionary, a photo of Dose Espresso would show up – they not only use recyclable and biodegradable packaging, but they also stock Fairtrade coffee.

On top of this, they also donate 1p per coffee to the charity Coffee Kids, which helps to improve the lives of coffee-farming families. The roast is from Square Mile Roasters, London’s best address for ethically sourced coffee of the highest quality. But it also serves ‘Guest Coffees’ from speciality roasters at home and abroad.

At the heart of the tiny coffee shop on the corner of Smithfield market is the beautiful Marzocco espresso machine with only two small tables and a bench grouped around the bar. It’s definitely too small to linger over your coffee and read the newspaper and don’t count on getting a table for a coffee break meeting.

The staff could be more friendly and welcoming (as is the case with most baristas) but we can overlook that for their proficiency.

OVERALL COFFEE CHASER SCORE

9.5/10