Coffee Me Up - Don't leave us George

I was up at 5am this morning with Baby Spiller, so when I took him for a walk at a more civilised hour (about 9), I felt I'd earned a good coffee, and I had my mind set on just one place. Coffee Me Up is the business name but George is the man.

Photo of George from his website

I'm not a regular visitor to George, normally when I'm out for a coffee I'm also after some cake and a sit down, maybe read the paper. But I do know from friends and from the couple of coffees I'd had from him that George is special and so is his coffee.

Let's start with the coffee. George uses a hand pulled lever machine (not sure what the tecnhical term is), if you are having trouble imagining what this is it's a bit like one of these. I'm not sure about the details of these machines, does it make a better shot? I'm not sure but it adds so much to the experience, which does make a difference to me.

 George seems to genuinely care about the coffee he makes. I'd ordered a flat white and you can see he is really making sure the espresso shot is good. Then he moves on to the milk, he is like a craftsman who takes great pride in his work. Creating smooth velvety milk which he carefully pours over the shot.

And the result - delicious. In all honesty I do prefer a slightly sharper tasting coffee but this was still one of the best you could get. The flavour was strong, the texture velvety all the way to the end. And what I love about a good coffee is even once you've finished drinking it you can still hold the flavour in your mouth and relive the taste with every breath you take... almost makes me want to break into song...

So the coffee was brilliant.

George is a gentleman too, so comfortable making conversation as he goes about his business. He's clearly got style but isn't too cool for school. I asked him if it is true that he's leaving and yes, he is moving home to Brazil in a couple of months and is looking forward to being back with his family and friends in Brazil. Balham will really miss George. He is a real character, a bit of a celeb really. Whenever I see him in town I always say to Mrs Spiller, "oooh I saw George today at Sainsbury's" or whatever, as if I'd seen some big name celeb.

Anyway, I better tone it down or I'll find myself with a restraining order!

Right, the scores:
Coffee
Hot: 10/13
Aroma: 10/13
Flavour: 11/13  (espresso good, cap average)
Texture: 12/13
Presentation: 9/13

General
Service: 12/13
Food: n/a/13
Atmosphere: 12/13 (it might be on a busy intersection but I felt special being there, you kind of want to show off that you're there getting an amazing coffee from George)

Overall 12/13.

It will be a shame when George leaves. I'm not sure if we might get someone new? Big shoes to fill but I hope someone gives it a go. I will be making sure I go back and see George a couple of times before he leaves.