Spring Valley Coffee - London

The counter at this London café runs on Kenyan coffee roasted at origin, with Spring Valley Coffee using its first international branch to bring that programme to Camden Passage.

Kenyan coffee kept close to the farm

The point of the programme is not a guest-roaster shelf or a long list of interchangeable bags. Spring Valley Coffee traces its line back to the Spring Valley estate outside Nairobi, established in 1905, and the company itself has been roasting since 2009. The London bar carries that Kenyan centre of gravity plainly: coffee roasted at origin, value kept closer to growers, and a retail counter that makes the sourcing argument through the cup rather than through a wall of slogans. The shop range includes names such as Halisi, Roasters’ Select #6 Nili, Masara and a decaf, so the language here is about lots and roasts rather than an anonymous house blend. On the bar, a La Marzocco Strada and a Swan grinder have been part of the working setup, which tells you the espresso side is built for repeatable pulls and quick adjustment when the roast changes.

A working room, not a showroom

This is a counter-service café with the feel of a working neighbourhood room. The branch opened in June 2025 as Spring Valley’s first international café, and it has become one of those London counters people visit for a specific coffee story rather than for a convenient cup. Camden Passage gives it steady foot traffic, and the shop has enough physical presence to feel like a proper outpost rather than a token brand landing. What changes between visits is which roast is in the hopper, since the choice narrows as bags run down, so the useful move is to ask what is open before ordering rather than assuming the whole range is available.

Order the cappuccino first, then ask about the hopper

Start with the cappuccino if you want the clearest read on what Spring Valley is doing in London. It is a named order here, and a dark roast gives milk enough structure without hiding the reason to come, which is Kenyan coffee handled by a company roasting at origin. If you usually drink shorter, ask for the flat white, also named by the house, and let the bar decide which roast is best placed for it. Decaf exists in the wider range, so it is worth looking at the retail shelf if you are buying beans for home, but the daily roast choice is the real conversation. The quiet pointer is the cupping side of the business: when open tastings run, they are the cleanest way to understand the difference between the bags and the espresso in front of you.