Pound for pound some of the best espresso in the city, featuring roasts by Dark Arts on a Victoria Arduino machine. Look for Geshas and other rare varieties available via batch brew.

Zain Kara-Bernou and Katherine Miskulin are stalwarts of the London coffee scene. Their first shop together, a glass-fronted unit at London Fields’ hypey Netil Market, draws on all of that experience, with a rotating cast of outstanding roasters from the U.K. and Europe. Look for multiple options available by filter, as well as signature lattes.

Yared Markos is the visionary behind this double-fronted cafe on Dalston’s Gillett Square, serving coffee grown in Ethiopia's revered Kaffa Zone, which he roasts weekly. Phrases like “community cafe” can be overused, but this feels like a genuine and meaningful public space, with Kaffa and other small food businesses surrounding the square.

Tomoko Furikado’s beautiful cafe on Kingsland Road is inconspicuous, both in design and in hype, but the coffee and food offerings are outstanding. Coffee comes from Vagabond, a slightly under-heralded roaster in north London, and there’s a sprightly range of Japanese pan, cakes, and savory dishes like a pork katsu sandwich or udon noodle salad.

Cheeky legends with a dark streak and coffees to match. The quality of the brews, whether espresso or filter, is still enough to make heaven shake, and the brand's merch and social media presence is reason enough to visit. Get something black, obviously.

The upstart-takes-London narrative is a touch tired, but this cafe (originally from Cornwall) can now claim to be an East London institution. Look for a pair of espressos and at least three filter options on batch and by-the-cup, showcasing sourcing by Freda Yuan, a decorated coffee competitions champion who helps steer the brand.

There's no espresso available here! The menu is V60 pour-over, batch, or cold brew, with a rotating cast of three or four roasters providing the beans, including a decaf filter. There's plenty to like about this small, charming space, with a smart selection of pastries some of the city's best filter coffee.

A venerable spot on the Regent’s Canal run by Lori de Mori and Laura Jackson, is one of the absolute best places to eat in London, whether snow-white goat’s curd topped with a head of smooshy beige confit garlic, or the bright red of Italian tomatoes blanketed in the darker beige of a tonnato sauce.

This Victoria Park cafe run by Hasan Yildiz and Fulya Naim positions itself elegantly between neighborhood standby and journey-worthy, thanks to a considered approach to coffee selection and, admittedly, a prime location next to one of east London’s loveliest parks. Mainstay coffee comes from London veteran Caravan to make milky drinks rich and sweet, while a guest espresso, and a filter or two, could come from any of Europe’s current top roasters.

This is a Square Mile Roasters cafe through and through, changing its offering explicitly through a rotating selection of filter coffees brewed on batch, and implicitly as its Red Brick blend shifts with the seasons. There’s a real suntrap of an outdoor space to enjoy it all, and an impeccably made phyllo pie with rotating fillings is, it turns out, the ideal partner to an expertly made drink.