Full of Beans
Andronicas
Mon - Thurs:
7.00am - 9.00pm
Fri - Sat:
7.00am - 11.00pm
Sun:
8.00am-8.00pm
(Subject to weather conditions)
27b, The Market Building
Covent Garden, London
WC2E 8RB
GEO:51.5119,-0.122759
Phone: 020 749 4794
Andronicas Coffee’s Andrew Knight has made it his mission to get Covent Garden visitors sampling some of the finest coffee beans from speciality estates all over the world. With its perfect people-watching placement on the corner of the Piazza and a menu that comprises over 50 gourmet coffees, it’s little wonder that Andronicas Coffee has already become extremely popular.
How did the company get started?
We have to go back to 1979, way before the coffee revolution, when I was a salesman for Rombouts coffee. I sold primarily to the trade but was asked by the company to set up a small concession in Kensington’s Barkers department store selling coffee to the public. It did really well but Rombouts decided that it was a distraction from their main business and wanted to close it down.
Well, the store liked it so much that I decided to quit Rombouts and reopen the coffee stall under my own name. At first we sold freshly roasted coffee beans, and then we built a small coffee bar where we’d give away cups of coffee to promote the beans. It didn’t take a mastermind to work out that we might be better off charging for them, and almost instantly we had a buzzing coffee bar!
At the time, then, this was really cutting edge stuff?
Absolutely. We even imported espresso machines from Italy – small ones – and sold these to the public for home use. Hardly anyone had a coffee machine in their home at the time.
Why did you choose Covent Garden as a home for Andronicas?
The area has a high footfall and a great international profile. Globally, nine out of ten people drink ‘real’ coffee, as opposed to instant. In Britain, that figure is more like one in ten. With so many foreign visitors to Covent Garden, we hope that many of those who enjoy our coffee will also go on to buy some from our mail order website.
Why do you think that Britain, traditionally a nation of tea drinkers, has become so keen on good coffee?
You have to give places like Starbucks and Costa some credit here. They have introduced the notion of drinking good coffee to Britain. It’s a similar situation to the rise in quality of British restaurants – we won’t put up with poor quality any more. The difference with us, though, is that we still want to sell people the beans, roasted to their preference, to enjoy at home. There are five different roasts, ranging from light to ‘burnt’ that we can roast on the premises for you within 15 minutes.
Can you tell us a little more about your coffee types?
We buy the green beans from individual countries and only roast them on request. This keeps the flavour and aroma super fresh. This is why we can stock over 50 types of beans, from the very rare Jamaican Blue Mountain to the easy-drinking Brazil Yellow Bourbon ‘Rainha’. For us, freshness isn’t an issue because the beans are kept ‘green’ until you ask for them to be roasted, which is a free service by the way.
Do you have a favourite coffee?
Mine is our signature house blend, which is a mix of four different beans, combined for a clean taste and a rich body.
How do you source your beans?
Growers send us samples and if we like them, then we’ll put them on the menu. There’s no secret to buying great coffee – if you pay top prices then you’ll get the world’s best coffee.
What is the cornerstone of the Andronicas experience?
It’s about decades of coffee knowledge, an attention to detail and, crucially, that the customer is king.
If I want to recreate a perfect cup of coffee at home, how do I do it?
It’s simple. Use a cafetiere. Allow a tablespoon full of coffee, not a teaspoon, for every cup and make sure it’s freshly roasted and ground. Cover the grounds with water, stir, and then top up with water. Do not stir it again. Leave it for a few minutes before pressing the plunger. You should now have a great cup of coffee.
And finally, what’s the first thing people say to you when you tell them what you do for a living?
Ha, good question. Like you, they generally ask me how to make a good cup of coffee. They also quiz me on the best coffee machine to use. I recommend The Ascaso Dream, because they’re easy to use and make no mess.
Thanks Andrew, good chatting to you.
Thank you – pop in for a coffee any time!
