SEARCHING for the best lockdown coffee in London? Kiss the Hippo, are likely to be on the list. The independent coffee roasters have become increasingly popular since opening their flagship Richmond café in 2018, attracting some of the finest barista talents in the UK.
For the past three years, a member of the Kiss the Hippo team has been crowned UK Barista of the Year. These awards speak for themselves and let customers know the high standards of coffee to expect.
Although both Kiss the Hippo cafés are temporally closed due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, customers can still get their coffee fix at home.
Award-winning barista coffee. Photo: Kiss the Hippo
Award-winning coffee delivered to your door
Open for business as usual is the Kiss the Hippo online store. Kiss the Hippo fans will be pleased to hear that there is new subscription service where customers can choose from three types of coffee to be delivered each week, fortnight, or month, straight through the door in handy, letterbox-friendly packages.
The most exciting coffee available in the subscription service is the organic house blend, George Street, which has chocolate, red berry, and caramel tasting notes. It works well in lattes and cappuccinos as the blend has a sweeter, less bitter taste, that does not overpower the milk. Also available is the Donna Blend with dark chocolate, pecan and caramel flavours or the Single Origin coffee option which changes seasonally.
Stay Home Pack. Photo: Kiss the Hippo
If you are feeling indecisive, Kiss the Hippo have recently introduced a new NHS support pack containing three types of their speciality coffee, and for each package purchased one meal will be donated to Meals for the NHS.
All the gear but no idea?
Fortunately, you do not need a coffee machine worth hundreds of pounds to make barista style coffee at home. Kiss the Hippo have a range of affordable equipment on their website for you to make the perfect brew in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Whether you are using a French Press (£30) to create the ultimate black coffee or a Cafflano Kompresso (£57) for vibrant expressos, at the click of your fingertips you can get expert-curated advice. On the Kiss the Hippo website there is a series of step by step brewing guides on how to correctly use the different pieces of coffee gear.
Coffee brewing guides on Kiss the Hippo website. Photo: Kiss the Hippo
Kiss the Hippo also have brewing tutorial videos on their Instagram. A tip that I am grateful to Joshua Tarlo, Head of Coffee, is using a French press to create frothy milk – something that has turned my morning flat whites during lockdown into a more professional affair.
A sustainable journey from bean to cup
Along with award-winning coffee, something that makes Kiss the Hippo stand out from the standard supermarket brands is their dedication to sustainability. From farm to cup they believe in being one hundred percent transparent in how their coffee ends up in the hands of customers.
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, yet how our morning brew is produced is rarely spoken about. As with other types of agriculture, coffee is at risk from climate change. Unpredictable weather, pests and disease are some of the factors impacting coffee yields and making production more expensive. However, these factors are not reflected in many farmers wages.
Kiss the Hippo Fitzrovia, a sustainable coffee house. Photo: Kiss the Hippo
Kiss the Hippo understand these issues and source their beans directly from farmers that they pay over fifty percent above the standard fair-trade price for. Additionally, for every kilo of coffee they buy they donate double the cost amount to World Coffee Research – an organisation doing valuable research to protect the future of the coffee industry and improve the livelihoods of families who depend on it.
Before delivery to customers and their cafes, all coffee beans purchased by Kiss the Hippo are roasted at their certified organic roastery which is the UK’s first carbon-neutral roastery that runs solely on renewable energy. When Kiss the Hippo’s cafés are open, they operate a zero-waste policy in which all unsold food is donated at the end of each day and their waste coffee granules are donated for biofuel. Impressive.
Whether it is through the letterbox or a post-lockdown café visit, this conscious coffee brand is not one to be missed.
Kiss the Hippo Fitzrovia. Photo: Kiss the Hippo
A post-lockdown coffee to look forward to at Kiss the Hippo Fitzrovia. Photo: Kiss the Hippo
by Sally Roulston
To browse Kiss the Hippo coffee visit here.
Kiss the Hippo Fitzrovia: 51 Margaret Street, Fitzrovia, W1W 8SG.
Kiss the Hippo Richmond: 50 George Street, Richmond, TW9 1HJ.