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Please note, The New Black has now closed. Time Out Food editors, MARCH 2020.
With an array of lab-style equipment, glass and burnished steel interiors, squelchy future-pop on the stereo and a giant bean flavour chart on the wall, The New Black is an imposing place for serious caffeine junkies. Unassuming tourists be warned: it might be located on a side street near the Monument but this is not a place to grab a tepid cappuccino-on-the-go.
Roasters and beans are perused on a till-side iPad. They’re varied and global – North Carolina’s Counter Culture, Small Batch Roasters from Melbourne and Norway’s Tim Wendleboe are featured on my visit. Staff are genial and skilled. A long Americano made using beans from Cape Town’s Truth Coffee Roasting was light and sweet, with an astringent first taste that quickly mellowed – a perfect foil to a slice of foresty, vegan Green Power Tart. All this comes at a price, and a punchy one at that: espresso is nearly three quid, the excellent pastries are Lilliputian, and even the takeaway lids look expensive. But in a city already lousy with excellent artisanal coffee shops, The New Black provides a warm welcome from a cool, clinical future.