Alex Coffee

1 Hanson Street, London, W1W 6TA

How small can a coffee shop be before it is no longer a coffee shop? This question has plagued café philosophers since the dawn of time with decaf Descartes’ and V60 Voltaires pontificating on what makes a coffeehouse just that?
Alex Coffee takes this thought experiment and places it firmly into real life with its single-site, owner operated shop being amongst the smallest in London, crammed onto the end of a Fitzrovia row. If it weren’t for its bold blue colouring you might miss it altogether. 

And I say shop because it’s certainly more than a kiosk, with its room to fit two, perhaps three, customers who can sip on the signature espresso drinks or divine whatever’s needed from the filter options provided by Red Bank Coffee Roasters, others cluster around outside come rain or shine because of the acumen it has achieved. The joy of somewhere so intimate as this is that Alex, the owner, knows each and every one of his customers very well indeed with a memory that spans an eerie amount of time as I walk in for only the second time in nearly two years to be acknowledged with a “You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”
Perhaps I just have a distinctive face.

But there’s an obsession for perfection here and the small scale means that everything can be done to a timeframe it deserves and meticulously placed and parcelled and portioned, and that doesn’t mean it’s lacking either. I ask for my standard oat-milk latte because of my dairy free diet and this is no problem at all. Fine teas, hot chocolate, Chai and matcha are all available too, and again to a high degree that suggests they’re not just an afterthought. Alex clearly loves what he is doing and is met with adoration from his customer base, so if you’re ever in the region for a cosy coffee experience, then this is the place to be.