80 Stone Coffee

7a St George's Circus, London SE1 6HS - Elephant & Castle
It’s snowing in Elephant and Castle. It is snowing and I’m in Elephant and Castle. I can’t emphasise enough how much I don’t want to be in this situation on more than one account. 
That is perhaps a bit unfair on the area but since my uni days, I’ve only ever seen it as a place to go for legendary club ‘Ministry of Sound’ or for the shopping centre, and that ‘ain’t so great no more. That being said, I’ve always had an affection for the region, if only for the name. More places in London should be titled after exotic animals and ancient defensive military buildings, imagine rocking up to Panda Fortress or Pangolin Stronghold. Anyway, I digress.


I’m here for a training course and still have time to kill before it begins. I’m not convinced I’ll be able to get a decent coffee here since the last time I checked, the classiest thing off of the main road was the ‘Pret’. Fortunately, my convenient cafe finding app suggests otherwise and once I’ve got the obligatory photo of the elephant statue near the station (gotta’ be done) I head out looking for ’80 Stone’. This gets me wondering as to the name, is this the weight of a baby elephant? Apparently not as  a quick Google reveals that’s about 44 stone, but it is the weight of your average coffee roaster and so the name becomes a lot clearer now.


Snuggled off the curve of a busy roundabout, 80 Stone has something of a village cafe about it. The al fresco tables (completed deserted considering the frosty precipitation) and the hand painted sign. The fact that it’s an independent store and not part of a global conglomerate is quite impressive in this area but Elephant and Castle has always had a few businesses that you’re not quite sure how they survive on their own, but you’re kinda’ glad they do. 
Step inside and it’s a tiny oasis of calm (or it is once you wipe the condensation from your glasses). Only a smattering of tables and a tiny bar, it really is a small business but there’s a homely warmth to it, a cosiness that pervades through the scene. There’s suggestion of more space out back but I suspect this is more for storage than seating.


80 Stone is a roastery in itself with most of this being done at its flagship in Croydon so selling their own beans, I select an oat milk flat white. Sweet, almost tart, there is a round, creaminess to the drink that almost makes it a comfort coffee, something you turn to in times of stress. It is strangely familiar despite this being the first time I’ve tried it and I suspect that’s to do with the rich, creamy undertones. It is exactly what one might need on a snowy day in Elephant and Castle.


Small on size but big on quirk, the visual joke of a table and chairs on the ceiling is a sort of knowing nod to the fact it hasn’t got much room for seating and so you’ll have to enter the realms of Poppins-esque fantasy to find a spot on a busy day. Still, if you do manage to squeeze in between the glass cabinet of pastries and lunch foods, and the shelves full of home brew paraphernalia for sale, you may, just may, find somewhere worth visiting Elephant and Castle for.
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