[title]
Coffee really is an art form. There are so many components that can make or break a good cup of joe – the beans, the roast, the grind, the brew, the milk – but, lucky for us, London is blessed with hundreds of coffee shops that have all of those mastered. Now, 11 of the city’s coffee shops have been named among the best in the entire country.
The Best Coffee Shops UK has scoured the country for coffee joints that excel in nine different categories. Those categories include the quality of coffee (of course), barista expertise, customer service, ambience, quality of food, consistency and community. A jury of coffee connoisseurs chose their top spots, then those choices were combined with public votes to create the final list.
Of the 44 coffee shops across the UK on the list, a quarter are here in the capital. They include Holborn’s Scandi-style Catalyst as well as Prufrock Coffee, which is just around the corner and has its own barista training centre.
Carbon Kopi, which moved from New Zealand to Hammersmith in 2019 also made the cut alongside Hackney’s Specialty Cafetiere, which has a special water filtration system to ensure it serves the best brews possible. There’s also Curators in the City of London which is run by Send Coffee, a social enterprise providing coffee training to people with special needs and disabilities.
Every place that made it onto the list are now in the running for a spot on the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026. We’ll find out which of the cafes have made it into the top 100 globally on February 16.
Full list of the London coffee shops named the best in the UK in 2026
- Prufrock, Holborn
- Calico, Pimlico
- Moonstruck, Stockwell
- Catalyst, Holborn
- Curators, City of London
- Carbon Kopi, Hammersmith
- Specialty Cafetiere, Hackney
- Nostos, St James’s Park
- Zero to One, City of London
- Saint Nine Coffee, Southwark
- Scenery, Southwark
See Time Out’s list of the places serving up London’s best espressos, cappuccinos and lattes.
And check out our ultimate guide to London’s high-street flat whites.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.