What we learnt at London Coffee Festival 2025
read time: 3 minutes
date published: May 16, 2025
last updated: May 16, 2025
The drop gang had a whirlwind day at the London Coffee Festival 2025: tasting delicious brews, meeting some of our brilliant roasters and learning a thing or two about what's going on in the coffee industry. Fresh from our post-festival train debrief, here’s a few standout coffee trends that we think defined this year's event.
Matcha
Matcha took centre stage at this year's festival, reflecting the soaring popularity we’ve seen firsthand. We’re interested in the reasons behind this wave and what this means for coffee. Matcha’s appeal is surely part of the broader shift towards wellness-focused beverages, with the supposed antioxidant qualities and ability to provide energy without jitters frequently touted in marketing by leading matcha brands. We’ll be looking out for how specialty coffee can navigate this wellness angle (coffee contains antioxidants too you know!)
The matcha sector is also boosted by the rise of indulgent treat drinks that offer more than traditional drinks using syrups, flavoured foams, chocolate and more for a social-media worthy product that is more experience than beverage. What can specialty coffee do to enter this trend cycle, and does the price of specialty coffee look more favourable next to these drinks?
Sail-Shipped Coffee
Sustainability is always a hot topic at the London Coffee Festival as the coffee industry is so dramatically and directly affected by climate change.
We’d already heard about Yallah’s sail-shipped coffee but it was exciting to speak to other roasters who are importing coffee using sailing vessels as part of their efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and hopefully see this becoming a more common practice in the future.
Automatic Milk Steamers
From the innovative Ubermilk to La Marzocco’s Wally Milk, these auto milk-frothing devices simplify the process of achieving barista-quality steamed milk. Auto milk steamers have caught our attention this year in many busy coffee shops, and they were a common sight around the festival, with roasters able to quickly churn out cups of coffee to the crowds and baristas taking part in auto milk steaming latte art competitions. They’re certainly impressive; speeding up and simplifying the process of achieving perfectly textured milk for espresso based drinks in high volume coffee shops, but are they taking the joy and craft out of specialty coffee? We’re still undecided!
Home Machines
The continued rise of home brewing was clear, and not just because Craig’s in the market for a fancy machine for his new gaff. There was a wide range of coffee machines catering to various preferences and budgets. Outside the beginner friendly kit from Sage and De’Longhi, there was an exciting preview of Fellow’s first espresso machine (the Espresso Series 1) and the home offerings of La Marzocco, SLAYER, ECM, Rocket and more for those looking to splurge on high-end features. These machines reflect the same desire we’ve seen since the pandemic to replicate café-quality coffee at home.
