Saint Espresso

3.5 out of 5

Located just next to Angel Station on Pentonville road, this small coffee shop grabbed my eye as I walked to work a few weeks ago and has become a semi-regular place to dip into. Why not a regular place you ask? We will get to that later (nice, build some intrigue, draw in the reader, my old English teacher would be so proud).

Saint's Coffee is that very standard 'Good' coffee that has sprung up all across the capital like caffeinated mushrooms. just a few years ago it would have been a real gem to find to but there is feeling of slightly corporate cookie-cutter hipsterness... (yeah I don't see that phrase catching on) as if a group of executives in their mid to late 30's listened to the Spotify indie playlist for an hour and then said " yep, we're down with the alternative crowd, let's make a coffee shop'.

This isn't to say it's bad, the beans are well roasted, they use nice organic whole milk and get a good thick layer on my Flat White and they serve some nice looking pastries on slates, another 'kind of alternative but not really touches'. But the staff are all identically dressed, with nary a nose piercing or sleeve-tats between them, the decor is all perfectly matched and it all feels just a little sterile, as if you could peel the skin back from the baristas faces to reveal a terminator skull with glowing red eyes and processors powered by money.

As one Google review (yes I had to Google the street it was on) whined 'It doesn't have any Wi-Fi and won't be getting any', a massive faux pas in alternative coffee shops as no pretentious bloggers can be expected to stay for long if they can't get online (yeah glass houses but I'm making a point). Clearly a focus group realised that Wi-Fi isn't cost effective for getting more people in and out of the shop, thus reducing revenue and going against BAR15STA core programming.

All in all, a decent cup of coffee with no warmth or character to the shop, be a faceless giant or a hipster hangout Saint's because being trying to be both only increases the chance your staff will go haywire and attack commuters with milk frothers, (which incidentally sounds like the plot of a Simon Pegg film)

notes

4 out of 5

My first review choice was an easy one, notes (yes spelt lower-case) is located 20m from my office and is my most frequented shop of late, partly due to proximity, partly because the rest of my team all smoke and it gives me an excuse to get away from my desk with them and partly because notes does a pretty good coffee.

My poison of choice is Ricin  a Flat White, which I will always order in a new place as it combines the strength of the beans with the body of the velvety milk to give a deep smooth flavour. It is also a good choice for coffee on the go as unlike a cappuccino (or other foamy coffee) the 'sippy cup' hole doesn't get in the way. The notes Flat White very almost ticks both of those boxes; the milk is creamy and rich, with a pleasing body to it and the coffee is well roasted and tasty. Where the drink could improve is in the beans themselves, they are just a little too mild for my personal taste which robs notes of a perfect score.

But the appeal of notes isn't just the coffee, for the jittery mess who has already pounded their 9th espresso the options of beer and wine are also available. I initially thought this sounded like a great option but then realised that I had never sampled a notes beer and stumbled across the problem: people don't go for a coffee run and end up with a beer (not unless it has been a particularity awful mornings work) and people craving a beer after work never say "actually do you have a Latte instead". The former are drowning their sorrows while the latter deserve to be water boarded for upsetting the natural order of beer o'clock on a Friday.

What I do like about notes is the feel of the place, it's all varnished wood, rustic counter tops and soft music, it feels almost like a book shop instead of a coffee bar. A little quiet space in a bustling city. Also, there is not a single syrup bottle, whipped cream can or frappé blender in sight, marvellous.