Kaffeine has been on my radar since I moved back to London. I have been sampling various coffee shops and had pleasant experiences at Monmouth coffee and Timberyard. I don't drink cows milk, so usually opt for a soya cappuccino, flat white, espresso or a long black. I read rave reviews about the homemade almond milk at Kaffeine so it sounded promising.
The coffee shop enjoys a central position near Oxford street and Soho. There is a nice bench outside from which you can watch the world go by. The interior is minimalist in design, the cakes look appertising and water is available in jugs, complete with mint, lemon, ice and cucumber. So far, I'm a convert. It seems like an unpretentious place which focuses on good coffee. I am torn between the bonsoy and almond milk. I am given a sample of the almond milk which tastes great but I am unsure as to whether I would like it in coffee so opt for the far more familiar bonsoy which usually guarantees a great cup of coffee. It costs 50p to add soya milk, which is a bit annoying, but I let it pass.
The coffee arrives and I notice the coffee art is a little messy. Some baristas know how to make pretty coffee art with soya milk, others don't. No biggy. The taste is what is important. I start drinking and quickly notice that the soya milk has curdled. This rarely happens when baristas use alpro for professionals or bonsoy, and when it does, it means the barista has heated the soya milk too much. The coffee is undrinkable so I go to the barista to politely point out that the soya milk has curdled and that perhaps he heated it up too much. I am really used to this happening in places where people don't often use soya milk or drink it in coffee themselves, but I think it is better to point it out rather than allowing the same mistakes to repeat themselves. Especially when the coffee is as expensive as it is here. This is when I notice how poor the service is at Kaffeine. "You have to drink it fast. This is fresh unpasteurised soya milk this always happens when you add it to coffee." I pointed out that I and many other baristas use bon soy and even much cheaper soya milk brands in coffee and manage to avoid the curdling by keeping the temperature lower. He simply won't have it and is adament that it is my fault for not downing my coffee immediately. I eventually got a refund but found his attitude pretty rude considering I just didn't want to drink a cup of curdled soya milk, which he seemed to think was perfectly normal. Mistakes are normal, but not accepting customer's valid complaints and replying with such obstinance is not okay.
So, the coffee here is probably good with normal milk. The almond milk is nice, as is the space, but I cannot return to a place where the service is so poor. read more