Nude Espresso, London

Coffee is about just one more cuppa.

It’s my last day in London, and my friends have invited me out for a Michelin-starred meal. After our lunch, I look at my watch and see that I still have some time before I have to catch my plane.

Dr. Mouse suggested that we adjourn to a café nearby so that we could have afternoon tea. (This is England, after all.) He should have known better though; it’s not tea I’m after. (This blog is called “Coffee for Beginners”, after all.)

I flip through the pages of café research that Kenny gave me and discover a café called Nude Espresso not too far from the restaurant. It is just brisk stroll away. Hurrah!

The café is as “naked” as its name suggests; the décor is unpretentious, with only a few simple Christmas ornaments as a nod to the season. However, the place is popular, swarming with folks sipping on their coffees.

I order an Aeropress-brewed Kenya while my two friends order themselves a mocha and a cappuccino. My brew arrives on a tray, complete with cup and timer. The timer is set for five minutes, after which I’m to pour the coffee, or so my barista informs me.

Hmm. Wouldn’t five minutes be too long to let it brew? Would the cup not be too bold and bitter? I’d prefer to stop at three and a half minutes but in London do as the English baristas do. I listen to him and am glad I did; the resultant coffee is aromatic and the right level of acidity that I love. What a beautiful cup, what a surprise!

My friends are very happy with their coffees too, and we order another round. A little googling reveals that Nude Espresso had won the Independent Café of the Year UK in 2010 and 2013 as awarded by the Café Society.

No wonder the coffee is so good. Before we left, I purchase two bags of beans to bring to Kuala Lumpur, one as a gift and one, naturally, for Kenny and me, to brew at home and for us to share, sipping slowly.

在倫敦的最後一天，友人請我去吃了一頓星星大餐。
用完餐后看看手錶，距離我上機的時間還早，
老鼠醫生就問我附近有沒有咖啡館，可以去喝下午茶。
翻了翻馬少給我的資料，
在距離餐館不遠處還真的有一家叫Nude Espresso咖啡館，
只需步行就可抵達。

咖啡館的裝潢樸實無華，只有一些簡單的聖誕裝飾，
不過來喝咖啡的人卻非常的多。
我點了一份Aeropress肯亞，兩位友人則分別點了摩卡和卡布。
肯亞是用托盤連著咖啡壺和杯子一起來的，
而托盤上設有計時器，已經預設了五分鐘的時間。
咖啡師說等時間倒數完畢，就可以把咖啡到出來享用了。
我心想五分鐘會不會太久啊，都最後該不會又苦又濃吧？
要不要三分半鐘時就把咖啡倒出來？
最後決定聽咖啡師的，耐心的等五分鐘。
這個決定是對的，那咖啡一倒出來，香氣四溢，
喝一口，是我喜歡的那種酸，酸的好過癮啊！
朋友也對他們點的咖啡非常滿意，
喝完了我們都分別點了第二杯。
在等咖啡時，友人上網查了這家咖啡館的資料，
才發現原來Nude Espresso曾於2010和2013年獲得了由Café Society頒發的Winner of Independent Café of the Year UK
難怪咖啡那麼好了，是我有眼不識泰山了。
臨走前我還買了兩包豆子回去，一包送人一包留著慢慢喝。