This London coffee shop has just been named as one of the best in the world
Spilling the beans
Coffee is essential to Londoners, if the queues outside Pret are anything to go by. Things you can rely on are: delays on at least one tube route, stressed commuters tutting about said transport, and at least 5000 people casually sipping from a takeaway coffee cup at any given moment. As a result, there are plenty of lovely coffee spots and takeaway hatches serving up a wide range of caffeinated goods to help you make it through your boring board meetings.
One London spot has been crowned the best of the best, not just in the capital, not just in the UK, but in the whole world. Rosslyn, an independent coffee shop in London’s Square Mile, has been named as the best in London and among the best in Europe by Europe’s 100 Best Coffee Shops.
Rosslyn was ranked 12th in Europe and number one in England, beating more than 5,300 other coffee shops and judged by a panel of 250 professionals. It was one of only four UK cafes to reach the continental top 20.
The list brings together the most highly regarded cafes across the continent, judging them on their performance across four different categories. The categories are: quality, consistency, hospitality, and contribution to the wider coffee community. Rosslyn just missed the top 10, landing in 12th place, but this made it the highest-ranking London spot. Glasgow’s Ottoman Coffee House was the only UK spot that made it into the top 10, landing in 6th spot.
Rosslyn was set up in 2018 with nine stores all set up within London’s Square Mile: Queen Victoria Street (the original), London Wall, Tower 42, Cannon Street, Royal Exchange, Leadenhall Market, Fenchurch St Station, Ludgate Circus, and Liverpool St Station. It’s a veritable Monopoly-esque set-up. One of its founders said they’re “not chasing scale for its own sake” but instead “want to make its corner of London a little bit better”.
Given Londoners' reliance on love for coffee, it’s not surprising that a couple of other London roasteries made the top 100. Moonstruck Cafe in Nine Elms was ranked 18th, and Oma Coffee Roaster in central London also (just) made the list at 94th place.
Other UK entries that made the list included Birch Coffee in the Isle of Skye which came in 15th place, Falmouth’s Dark Pony (39th place), Lean to Coffee, a small coffee shop also on Isle of Skye which came in 73rd place, Aberdeen’s Figment Coffee (85th), Kapow Coffee in Leeds (89th), and Saints of Mokha in Leicester was the final UK entry in 98th place, which celebrates coffee’s origins in Yeman.
Being named within the top 100 in Europe means Rosslyn now qualifies for and can enter The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, which get listed in March 2027. For everyday Londoners, that just means they might have another reason to feel smug about the city that they live in. And feel a tiny bit better about shelling out £5 for a flat white.
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