Tuesday 12 May 2015
You seemingly can’t swing a bag of beans without hitting an independent coffee shop in London these days, which is certainly a great thing considering the watery brown sludge the major high street chains serve. The hardest part now is choosing exactly where to get your caffeine fix from and the choice then comes down to proximity, though I would certainly go out of my way to grab a coffee from the second oldest working Gaggia in London.
Located in a small railway arch on Voltaire Road, immediately to the right of the Clapham High Street Overground entrance, Doctor Espresso - Mama V’s serves up delicious hot (or if you ask nicely, iced) cups of java. Beginning life as an espresso machine servicing workshop in 1987, owner Russel Kerr opened the first Doctor Espresso caffe in Putney with it's second outpost being today’s stop - Mama V’s.
It doesn’t take much detective work to figure out that the aesthetic of a place is just as important to me as anything else and upon entering I wasn’t disappointed! Entering under the beaming neon logo we were greeted by a gorgeous bar of wood and glass bricks flanked by two leafy green plants, and the aforementioned Gaggia shining proudly on the counter in the afternoon sunshine. A recessed chrome frame sofa full of curves sits in the corner not occupied by the bar and a row of seating faces out of the glass windows looking onto the street, however being that it was a sunny day once we’d placed our orders (one soy latte and one iced black americano) we decided to retire to the outside seating area.
After a short wait grabbing some Vitamin D from the Easter sunlight, soundtracked by the growl of a blender, I was in proud possession of the best iced americano I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. A thick crema coated the top, whilst the drink itself had a lovely rich flavour with none of the biting acidity that’s so often the case with many iced espresso drinks. I have it on firm authority that the Soy Latte was also absolutely delicious. There was also a nice selection of pastries on offer, however they looked pretty resplendent in their dairy content so we didn’t partake, but if that’s your jam I think you’d be pretty satisfied.
Work out your route to Dr Espresso Mama V’s via the power of Google Maps here.
