London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

A London coffee shop is charging $64 for its premium brew -- here's what it tastes like

A London coffee shop is charging $64 for its premium brew -- here's what it tastes like

Coffee connoisseurs have been invited to sample one of the finest brews in the world at the Queens of Mayfair coffee shop-- providing they can travel to London and pay £50 ($64) a serving.

If you can get to London and have a spare $65, you may be able to sample one of the finest brews in the world.

Ground and brewed "tableside" by your own personal barista, the "Ethiopian Cup of Excellence Queens Coffee" is served in a crystal wine glass and is a generous portion that might even stretch to two.

With only 15 servings on offer, this isn't your average latte or flat white, so don't even think about asking for milk, sugar or a sprinkling of chocolate on top.


The newly opened coffee shop aims to be the finest in London.


Based in a very upscale district of Central London, the Queens of Mayfair coffee shop has already sold more than half of its available stock, which can only be drunk on the premises as part of an exclusive experience.

Victoria Sheppard, who founded Queens of Mayfair with her sister, Grace Sheppard, told CNN that one customer, who described themselves as a "coffee fanatic" is traveling from several hours away to sample the drink.

"We have coffee connoisseurs coming to us from all over the place," she said, describing their latest acquisition as a "very rare commodity".

This particular lot of Ethiopian coffee beans won first place in the Cup of Excellence, a prestigious annual competition for high-quality coffees.

It was bought back in June and roasted last month by Difference Coffee, the roaster that supplies Queens of Mayfair and one of only eight firms worldwide that was invited to bid on the beans.

The coffee was graded 91.08/95 by the competition's international panel of judges and coffee experts following rigorous tasting and testing, according to Queens.

The beans retail for up to £2,000 per kilogram (around $2,600) and are truly fair trade as the Cup of Excellence program is designed to reward farmers for excellence, which means they receive most of the auction price -- 155 times the normal commodity price.

It's one of many rare premium coffees the sisters intend to showcase at their cafe, which opened just last month.

Aside from this flagship flair, however, the rest of the menu is considerably more accessible. A regular espresso goes for just over two pounds and you can pick up British classics like a sausage roll for £4.50 or cheese and toast for £6.

The cafe, which also serves reasonably priced wine and cocktails, opens late to catch the evening crossover crowd.


Head bartender Massimo Golfetto prepared the coffee for CNN Travel.


CNN Travel headed down to Mayfair, where head bartender Massimo Golfetto weighs out the portion to the gram, grinds it by hand at our table and expertly brews it in a glass V60 filter, which has a 60-degree angle, allowing the coffee to drip at an optimal flow rate.

"It's lighter, almost see-through," he explains, as he pours the brew into the curved glass with its elegant stem. "It looks more like a tea than a coffee."

As an Italian used to punchy espressos, he says, "When I had the coffee for the first time, it was a completely different experience."

Raising the glass and taking a sip, the aroma is floral and the flavor delicate and light. It may be one of the few experiences of 2020 not to leave a bitter taste in the mouth. When it comes to coffee, this creation proves that might isn't always right.

The curved glass "catches all the flavors, to get a better experience on the nose," explains Golfetto.

The flavor evolves as the coffee cools, its character unfolding like petals.

"It's like a fine bottle of wine," says Sheppard. "It's not about the strength or the most pungent coffee. It's about the flavor complexity and interesting tasting notes."


There is already great interest in the exclusive coffee experience.


The process involves a three-minute "blooming phase," which is when the flavor really develops and intensifies, she explained.

In all, 250 grams of water is added to 15 grams of coffee. The liquid passes through the glass filter into a carafe, before being served in a crystal glass.

Purists will be pleased to hear that the coffee is served black and straight up.

Adding milk would be "like getting a fine wine and topping it up with soda water," says Sheppard. "It's very much about the raw taste in something organic and unmodified."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×