Dose Espresso, Barbican, London

Heard good things about Dose which may be true for those who drink cow’s milk, but my £3.30 soy cappuccino was curdled. Dose, please learn how to make non-dariy coffee, at that price my coffee should not be lumpy!

Refreshing independent coffee house just up the road from Smithfield Market. A great place to stop in if you’re on your way to visit the Barbican. Amazing italian style coffees with a friendly staff.

I live just around the corner from Dose and pop in most Saturday mornings. I keep coming back because all their coffee beans are fairtrade and their milk is organically farmed.

The only downside to Dose is that everyone loves it so much that often times it’s difficult to find a place to sit. The good part? Around the corner you’ll find the oldest church in England and can sip your coffee freely in it’s beautiful garden!

A really great coffee shop.

In my day off, I took the tube to Barbican only to try the coffee here. I feel it's completely my duty as a coffee lover, to have a go at least once, to all the coffee shops featured in London coffee guides. I asked for the soya flat white, to compare with the other Kiwi/Aussie coffee shops I've tried so far, and I wasn't disappointed at all, it was delicious. I wasn't expecting less, actually, after reading so many great reviews. Also, at £2.60 to stay in, I find it reasonable.

What I really liked of the place was the staff. There was a girl there, extremely nice and knowledgeable, a truly coffee geek! A guy came in to leave his CV, although they weren't looking for new baristas at that moment. But she advised him where to look and I could overhear their conversation about different well-known coffee places in London, the blends they used, their espresso machines, their award-winning baristas... It's awesome when the staff really love what they do.

UPDATE: - Good news, it's now bigger! They've moved just next door and the new premises makes a big difference if you want to use Dose as a hangout as well as a venue for top coffee. What's more, they have invested in such a complex, new fresh water system that I am bound to get it wrong. Here goes: as my slightly bedraggled memory recalls, it's a reserve osmosis filter system and will provide you with the cleanest glass of water you're ever likely to taste in this city. For free!

So, in a nutshell, everything that was great about the other Dose, except bigger. And only 5 seconds further away (or closer, depending on your route).

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Don't go head to head with this fella on the history of hot beverages, he knows his onions. Or more accurately, beans and leaves. He also knows how to brew some thoroughly celestial coffee and is another example of our southern hemisphere brethren giving London's café world a long overdue shake-up.

Though the end result is like rocket fuel to me, the principle behind it ain't rocket science: using top of the range ingredients (whilst paying close attention to both their quality and the ethical nature of their sourcing) then taking time, effort and passion to produce something sharp and memorable. Sadly, I've been served cappuccini in our fair city that I wouldn't use to wash my dog's nether regions, for fear of causing the poor mutt offence.

I'm not advocating coming here as some hollow gesture of supporting the little man, I am implying that you come and at least once in your St@rb*cked life, try some proper bleedin' coffee!

UPDATE: After last night's stompin' Qype event here, I am even more convinced that this is the finest spot of its kind in London. And I will fight to the death anyone who disagrees; unless they are bigger than me of course.

If you've never previously considered travelling to buy a cup of joe, now's the time to start!

Love Dose. Only wish it was bigger!

The best coffee in London!
I'm still high on my caffeine rush, as I couldn't stop after my first coffee! Liked the cakes, too.

Then I found out that they run a mobile loyalty scheme with Stampfeet, a new kind of loyalty card for the iPhone.

So now I can get a FREE dose of dose coffee after 10 visits!

Downloaded the app straight away (http://bit.ly/cwYF4H) and will check out which other places they work with later! (not that I am in the market for a new coffee place in EC1 after finding dose, but maybe it can help me to find more places like this in other areas of London...)

to drink nice coffe here is the best place

Worth the 25 minute walk. Go there and then try Farm nearby. There is a difference between just having a good looking site and actually making good coffee.

Very possibly the best coffee in the area

loved the drinks

Best espresso in london.

Damn good coffee generally, nice food, nice service but cramped space, though suited well enough to its day to day, local workers, purpose.
Just not so good for a not local cafe lover to lounge in.

LOVE this place! Their coffee is amazing and the staff really friendly.

Excellent proper coffee. It's like a Parisian espresso bar i.e drink standing at the bar. Has a nice social feel and a type of place you can go to by yourself (which if your girlfriend doesn't like coffee, is a good thing).

It's very small inside but the beauty of proper espresso coffee served in glass with a glass of cold water is essential to a short authentic coffee experience.

If you are passing, it's an essential stop off rather than destination. However, the cakes and sandwiches are worth sampling too...

If you like coffee banter also check out their tweets: @dose_espresso An example of a real local mini business extending themselves by 'getting' social media.

If your a Londoner who likes your coffee though, make the pilgrimage to Dose.

Dose Café - Pics @ The London Foodie
(http://www.thelondonfoodie.co.uk)

I was recently invited with other Qypers and fellow food bloggers to visit this delightful independent Coffee House on Long Lane, EC1. Dose is a small café, simply but stylishly decorated, and set in a great central location by Smithfields Market.

Run by owner James, his passion and enthusiasm for real coffee are contagious. We were given the low-down on how the perfect cup of coffee should be sourced, roasted, prepared, and drunk.

Dose’s coffee is fairtrade and biodynamic (a concept I had only previously known in wine production) and sourced from Square Mile Roasters; their milk is organically farmed and most packaging used is recycled or biodegradable.

The food on offer was tempting, and their blueberry muffin, which I personally tried, was quite good. Dose’s prices are also reasonable considering the affluent and trendy location.

We had cup after cup of wonderful cappuccini as James patiently taught us how to draw patterns from the hot milk froth. I had always wondered how baristas could do that. A competition for the best heart shape was organised; it was a fun evening despite my best attempts at a heart looking more like an ill-formed kidney! Meeting some of the faces behind my favourite blogs was an added bonus, like Neil Davey from The Lambshank Redemption.

Most importantly, the experience has made me rethink my ideas about what makes a perfect cup of coffee – the quality and origin of the beans, the water which should not boil, the quality of the organic milk to name just a few of the concepts not fully appreciated at many coffee chains.

A big “Thank You” goes to Eammon, from the Qype team, for organising this wonderful event, and another to James for his generosity on the evening and for serving possibly the BEST cup of coffee in the Capital.

The secret of the coffee is the barista i love having tea there

Heartily endorse all the other positive reviews. Simply great coffee.

i loved dose.
slightly small for the amount of fans they have!
i had a delicous flat white which was £2.40 for a large and some toast and vegemite which was £1 and really nice.

its in a great location between barbican and st pauls tube (barbican loads nearer), has great coffee and nice atmosphere.

you must visit!

Yet another example of the Southern hemisphere teaching the Northern how to do things properly... You give us cricket, we give you Bradman; you give us rugby, we give you Lomu; you give us hot-beverage-drinking, we give you world class baristas who can teach you what coffee is meant to taste like.

If you're still drinking chain-house coffee, get to Dose and get an education. It should not be boiling hot, the steamed milk should not be full of bubbles, and the final product should taste like a moment of sinful paradise.

I'm considering changing careers just so I can get a job in the city and make this my daily caffeine stop.

In short: "YUUUUMMMMMMM!!!"

James, the barista, is one obsessed man! Happily for us, his passion of choice is coffee. And boy does he know it well! Beans, grinds, temperature, preparation, timings, milk type, milk frothing, pouring, latte art, the works! We're talking a very serious barista who loves what he's doing, and makes the science and art of coffee seem an effortless pleasure.

To my great joy, the prices do not reflect this, and you can really enjoy the best coffee in London for less than in the big bad chains. Truly, you can't go wrong. I dare you to try it and not come back for more!

You don't get better than this, even in Italy! (trust me, I've been there)

Dose espresso is a small place definitely worth the detour. Oh, and if you bring your own cup, you get 10p off and a smile from James who seems quite keen on helping with environmental issues wherever possible.

It's worth pointing out that the pastries on display are fresh from the same day (Nero, Starbucks, take note!!) and are thrown out at the end of each day. I had a croissant, and it was divine!!