Monmouth Coffee the Legendary Coffee Roasters
Covent Garden © Michelle Cardwell
Monmouth Coffee. Say its name to anyone who loves coffee and knows London, and a gentle smile will appear on their lips; a knowing glow in their eyes. For many of us, the earliest memories are the most vivid. For me, it was the cool afternoons wandering through Covent Garden, when suddenly the air would thicken with the unmistakable aroma of freshly roasted coffee, and then you would be drawn along by the nose until you found the source and stepped inside Monmouth Coffee!
The original shop at 27 Monmouth Street opened in 1978, back when coffee culture in London was still finding its feet. In those early days, beans were roasted in the basement, which explains why the aroma seemed to spill directly onto the street and down the block. Upstairs, a handful of tight wooden booths lined the mezzanine. You’d squeeze in alongside fellow caffeine seekers, all of you tasting coffees from places that felt wonderfully far away: Yirgacheffe from Ethiopia, rich beans from Colombia’s Zona Cafetera, even organic coffee from Hawaii. It was travel, education, and comfort rolled into a single mug, often enjoyed with a croissant or a piece of chocolate.
As Monmouth’s reputation grew, so did its footprint. In 2001, a second, larger space opened beside Borough Market. This one introduced the long communal table, a now-famous feature where strangers naturally became companions over baguettes, farmhouse butter, jam, and even Marmite. It felt less like a café and more like a shared ritual, unpretentious and quietly sociable.
By 2007, roasting had outgrown Covent Garden entirely and moved to a dedicated facility in Bermondsey. From there, the team continues to supply both cafés, maintaining the same careful approach to sourcing, roasting, and serving that established Monmouth’s reputation in the first place. On busy market days, the Borough location can be heaving, but even here, thoughtfulness prevails. Two separate counters keep things flowing smoothly; one for coffee, another solely for beans, recognising that many visitors arrive with very specific intentions.
Decades on, that first pull of aroma, Monmouth still works its magic.
Monmouth Coffee
+44 0207 232 3010
Covent Garden – 27 Monmouth Street, London WC2H 9EU
Borough Market – 2 Park Street, London SE1 9AB
www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk
