Just back from whiling away a perfectly good sunny saturday afternoon inside the welcoming new coffee bar, Tapped & Packed at 26 Rathbone Place, which runs off the north side of Oxford Street, at the Tottenham Court Road end. Does that name have homo-erotic undertones to anyone else, or are we simply revealing just how puerile we are?
Notwithstanding, we enjoyed our time there with a diverse range of coffee offerings from Union, Square Mile, Climpson (NB: a very good house espresso blend IOHO, with an exceptional lingering aftertaste).
I would highly recommend the espresso, and also the vacuum coffee which is a very rare offering in a commercial environment as they are so labour intensive to prepare & clean up afterwards. I chose the Rwandan coffee from a list of 4 as a vacuum coffee, and while it was carefully prepared I chose poorly & I would suggest you opt for a coffee from the list with a little more brightness in the cup to get the most from the vacuum process. It really is a wonderful way to enjoy coffee.
Tapped & Packed also offer a small, but adequate selection of high quality cakes & croissant to pair with your coffee if you wish. I enjoyed my cheese & ham croissant and a cupcake with coconut icing.
If you are in the area it is certainly worth stopping by if you either appreciate fine coffee, or conversely you require a benchmark to understand what ‘good coffee’ really means. If you think the pinnacle of coffee is Illy your senses are going to be overwhelmed by an orgy of olfactory delight at Tapped & Packed. You have been warned.
Footnote: It is a credit to Tapped & Packed that they are competent in their discipline whilst remaining friendly; none of the slightly distasteful barista arrogance that is creeping into some high end establishments. If you have no prior experience of gourmet coffee, simply walk in the door & ask; they will ably introduce you without intimidation