London brews: Adam from Nagare shares his favorite coffees & cocktails 🇬🇧
I had never heard of Nagare Coffee until Rosslyn’s Chris Sheppard and Batch Baby’s Tom Sixsmith both praised it highly in their Filter guides. Nestled behind Spitalfields Market, Nagare Coffee is the new kid on London’s coffee block. Adam, head of coffee, gives his favorite spots for coffee & cocktails in London.
Filter: What do you like to do for fun around London?
GIG, GIG, and more GIG! I am a big fan of indie music such as Shoegaze and Post rock, and I have never watched so many gigs in my life since I moved to London, it rarely happened in my country. London has one of the greatest music cultures in the world, especially when the band is touring, London was the important stop in the EU tour. Slowdive and Explosions In The Sky definitely were the best show I saw in 2023!
Filter: If a good friend came to visit, where would you be sure to take them?
As a food lover also working in hospitality, it's not surprising to recommend somewhere related to food innit?
It might sound silly, but the thing I would make sure to take them to try it definitely is [a] full English!
It's such an iconic food and straight up in my head. I had two spots which I really liked and often visited.
The first spot is called Regency Cafe located in Regency St—the atmosphere was like back to the 90s, and the food was authentic and classic, they haven't changed since the day I visited, definitely representing the culture of English breakfast. Full breakfast with extra hash browns, always.
And the second spot I do really like in terms of branding and food, it's called Norman's Cafe located in Junction road, Archway. You can enjoy the specialty coffee roasted by Dark Arts Coffee and baked bean on toast at the same time, Brand new old school. What a dream combination? And I appreciate it as branding—how they promote their food on Instagram and collaborate with other fashion brands as well. I had to take my friend who came from overseas to visit.
Filter: What do you like to do to escape the city?
Simple but does work every time which is walking in the park. I used to live in a city full of modern buildings, you have no way to get out of it, it made me so sick. So from now on, I am really treasured when I am able to enjoy the walk in a park like Hyde Park or Clapham. I appreciate every moment of freedom and reflect on myself after a tough day.
Filter: What touristy things in London are worth the hype?
Bar hopping (especially hotel bars).
London has one of the greatest cocktail cultures in the world, and you would often find at least 3-4 cocktails bars from London on The World's 50 Best Bars ranking for the last couple years. London is a good city to explore multiple styles of cocktails and hospitality experience. Here is my recommendation for bar hopping—it's easy to manage with your mate to have some fun and spend a night in this city:
- Bar Termini (classic cocktail, Negroni is their special)
- Dukes Bar (dry martini)
- Satan's Whiskers (The World's 50 Best in 2023. All kind of classic cocktails, hit the spot)
Drink like a boss (or James Bond), cheers!
Filter: Where are your favorite quiet corners there?
National Theatre (their bench next by the River Thames) when I like to enjoy peace and quiet. I would just sit on the beach by the river, enjoying my pint of craft beers that I bought from the Theatre Pub. I could do it all day.
Filter: What's another coffee shop around there that you really admire, and what about them stands out to you?
The cafe owned by Tate Modern is called Corner. When I first heard the Tate Modern actually source green beans and roasted by themself I was so impressed. They had supplied their coffee for two Tate museums and the local cafe as well. Corner located in Tate Modern ground floor and they have the best view in terms of London cafe.
While I was sitting there, I could forget all my professional skills and just be a normal person to enjoy coffee itself.
Just a coffee—no slurp, no tasting notes, no extraction.
As professionals we often forget how to be chill (either be normal) to enjoying the product we made.
In these days our setup is getting very fancy. It's good to escape a little bit and keep it sample, just a moment of peace and quiet with the decent long black. Nuff said.
Filter: What makes London feel like home to you?
I had traveled a lot and lived in different countries when I was young, and I had found it's always about people who you connected with. Never about the place/city/country. Once you find someone who you truly care about and connected with you, it's called home.
Filter: How did you end up in the London coffee scene?
I am originally from Hong Kong and have been working in this industry for 10 years.
Surprisingly, I started my coffee journey in Taiwan and moved to Melbourne to sharpen my skills.
I had given myself a different goal to achieve since I was young. These two countries had the biggest coffee culture in the world, it was a good dojo for me to explore and improve myself. When I finish the Melbourne chapter, I feel like I wanna explore the Euro next. So I ended up staying in London until now. In these days I still have so much to learn from the outside world.
Filter: Can you share about your role at Nagare?
I am the head of coffee of Nagare.
I had a dream that one day I wanted to collaborate with all the brands or roasters I met before, but back in the day I had no power to collaborate with.
In terms of rewarding, I am able to feature different coffee roasters from around the world, even artists like pottery makers. This is the bigger reward for me and I am really treasured about it.
We have been collaborating with Kaneko San from WEEKENDERS Coffee, Kyoto and Stanley from Coffee Stopover, Taiwan. Big shout out to them, They've all my respect.
Filter: If you could move to any place in the world just for the coffee scene, where would you move, and what shop would be the biggest reason?
Japan, Kyoto. WEEKENDERS Coffee would be my biggest reason.
They've been featured with NOMA, Denmark. WEEKENDERS definitely deserve the spotlight on the world stage.
Beside that, I am keen to learn their aesthetic philosophy, how Japanese culture (such as Wabi Sabi) and history affect their aesthetic design and beauty sense.
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Nagare Coffee operates one cafe near Spitalfields Market, in London.
Food & Beverage
Bar Termini (classic cocktail, Negroni is their special)
Dukes Bar (dry martini)
Parks
Theater
Museums