Sunday morning started with a coffee masterclass organized by my lovely blogger mate TikiChris in partnership with Yelp at Bar Termini presented by Marco Arrigo.
I first met Marco Arrigo over a year ago at the lly’s University of Coffee, training barista school headed by Marco, who has trained a large number of baristas, restauranteurs and coffee enthusiasts to prepare, master and serve perfect world-class drinks.
Bar Termini is the brainchild of Marco and another two partners. It’s located at the quieter end of Old Compton Street in London, Soho. This petite and well-formed bar and coffee place is not serving your run-of-the-mill coffee; they are offering coffee lovers a special caffeine and cocktails experience.
Their menu is concise serving espresso al bar @ £1/each, great for a quick fix at a very reasonable price; Espresso Al Tavolo a triple strength espresso – a lovely caffeine shock to the system; the Bianco, Latte, Bicerin, Cioccolato, affogato served with almond ice cream, Cornetti and Pomelo. Prices range from £1 to £4. No skinny lattes, cappuccinos or coffee art!
Food menu consists of small plates of carpaccio, Pomodoro Tartare, Ravanello, Cheeses and Salumi (cold meats) priced from £6 to £8 and a mini panini at just £1 to go with the espresso al bar (£1). Perfect!
At the masterclass Marco spoke about the ‘nerdy’ process they use at Bart Termini, where the metal part of the machinery doesn’t touch the liquid. Coffee loves hard water and oxygen. Marco believes that coffee-art ruins a good cup of coffee.
We had a demo on roasting coffee beans with a simple popcorn machine, which is dusty, messy process and great fun! At Bar Termini the beans are roasted by themselves, they leave it out overnight and place it in a pressured tin for 21 days to season.
Tasting Bar Termini coffee
So we finally got a small taste some of the coffee on offer at Bar Termini
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| Espresso Al Tavolo – triple strength espresso |
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| Espresso Al Bar (£1) |
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| The Bianco: shot of espresso topped with a double milk froth and served with side of Savoiardi, Italian sponge fingers |
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| Latte : it’s DIY affair at Bar Termini |
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| Bar Termini Latte, make your own latte at the table |
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| The Bicherin: espresso and drinking chocolate made from Venezuelan criollo topped with a nice crema |
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| Affogatto: espresso with almond ice cream |
That was the end of the tasting and coffee masterclass. However, a friend joined me afterwards and we decided to stay for more coffee and cocktails….
Bar Termini cocktails
The cocktail menu is small and limited like the coffee menu. Prices varies from £6.50 to £8/cocktail and Birra at £3/each. Bar Termini also create their own spirits, cordials and syrups, which are made in their lab in East London.
More coffee and we had Terroir : made of distilled flint, clay and lichen with a base of vodka. Very nice digestive!
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| Marsala Martini |
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| Terroir and Marsala Martini : Beefeater Gin, Marsala dolce, dry Vermouth, almond bitters went down very smoothly |
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| Spritz Termini: Beefeater gin, rhubarb cordial, aperol and Prosecco – tasty and very refreshing! |
Bar termini is a little gem in Soho, great place to have a quick drink or lounging around sipping their delectable cocktails and nibbles with friends.
7 Old Compton Street
London W1D 5JE
Disclosure: I was a guest of the coffee tasting and masterclass only. The cocktails were paid for by me and friends. All views are my own.
Bravo Roberta and Luca, and thanks for a lovely coffee, Mike
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