Sacred Cafe is what every other gourmet coffee cafe aspires to be. It is the haven where the posh elite of London's artsy Soho district gather to chat, mingle, and people watch. This high-quality caffeinery attracts individuals in love with cafe culture and boutique beans. Perfectly situated just off the pedestrianized Carnaby Street, Sacred is the ideal spot to either pop in for a take away flat white or to sit for hours in a window seat with friends or a good book. Just the right amount of duskiness settles on the room of the main floor where lovely front windows let light softly filter in; but if you prefer more privacy the downstairs nook is a bit more cozy.
Sacred's roasts are mellow and velvety smooth and hint at rugged, rich artistry, just like the clientele. Every latte is painted by the hand of a feisty barista to resemble a lacy fern leaf. They present the creations to patrons who wait leisurely on leather stools and couches, in no rush, with no need to hurry through the day. Everyone seated is unashamedly young, effortlessly cool, and addicted to caffeine. Coffee is the religion here. This is a place for serious coffee drinkers whose expectations are high, who appreciate the craftsmanship of capable baristas and can only barely tolerate Starbucks – and only on a need-to-feed basis. Real coffee lovers gather here.
Have you ever had coffee that looked too good, too beautifully artistic to drink? Well, there's a secret to making a drink look that fabulous...and taste even better. 5 Steps (that I stole, mind you) but they were worded so flawlessly I had to share them:
Freshly ground coffee is the foundation of a quality espresso. And when we say “freshly ground”, we mean “the first thing you hear when you place your order is the sound of the coffee grinder being switched on”.
“All the lively flavours that a coffee has to offer are still trapped within its volatile grounds soon after grinding. Every second after grinding, though, the coffee is reacting with oxygen, and before long – sometimes after a mere 30 seconds – you’ll find yourself with ground coffee that only produces dull and stale-tasting espresso.
Step 2 - Watch the Dose & Tamp This is where the barista fills the filter basket with freshly ground coffee (“the dose”) and then firmly tamps it down (“the tamp”). Sounds simple – but it ain’t.
Firstly, the filter basket needs to be spotlessly clean and free of any residual grinds from the last espresso (as these leftover grinds have nothing left to offer us, except burnt and bitter flavours).
Secondly, the correct amount of coffee has to be dosed and evenly distributed around the basket (in order to ensure all the coffee flavours are evenly extracted). Thirdly, the coffee in the basket needs to be level and firmly tamped. If the barista applies too little pressure, then you’ll get a watery espresso with a weak golden-topped crema.
Step 3 - Time the Extraction
The “extraction” is the amount of time it takes for the espresso to dribble out of the basket. Generally speaking, if it takes less than 18 seconds, then you’re not going to get all the flavour that the espresso has to offer – whereas if it takes more than 25 seconds, you’re going to get a burnt coffee.
Lattes, Cappuccinos and Flat Whites are only as good as the milk that’s poured over the espresso.
Well-steamed milk sounds like a whisper: the gentle wheeze of the steamwand blowing a mist of micro-bubbles, creating luxuriously-textured milk with a luscious, creamy gleam. Run a mile from milk that’s been relentlessly “stretched”: where the milk is made to scream and hiss and spit like a cornered cat.
This is the culmination of all the above steps. It means a freshly ground coffee has been properly dosed and evenly tamped and sufficiently extracted to give a rich, hazelnut, speckled crema. It means that the milk has been steamed to a silky smooth consistency with a creamy thick foam. And it means, most importantly, that your barista knows precisely what he’s doing and has likely poured thousands of hours of experience into your very cup.”
Isn't that delightful? I thought so....but that's just because I'm one of those addicts. Everyone who knows me knows this. And hello, I've only been talking about my coffee/cafe stops on almost every blog entry! But Sacred was worth delving in to (a whole blog dedicated to them), even more so than the others.
Sacred was established by two New Zealanders who wanted to show the Brits a thing or two about making coffee. The New Zealanders (or Kiwis as I noticed the Brits call them....is that offensive?) are the best of the best when it comes the Coffee Scene. In London, Kiwi-run cafes outranked everyone else. All 6 top spots were dominated by Antipodean know-how. New Zealand-owned coffee bars out-ranked the rest of the 32 coffee bars in the running. Sacred claimed one of the Top 5 Best Coffee Bars in London by Time Out magazine a couple years in a row, partly due to their organic approach. They came at the perfect time, too. London already has a sophisticated food and wine appreciation and the locals are ready to expand their cultivated tastes to find the world's best coffees.
They are also the official coffee supplier for the Porsche Carrera Cup, just FYI.
And for those of you (nearly) as addicted to coffee as I am, enjoy this:
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