How to Order Coffee Like a Regular: A Plain-English Guide to the Espresso Menu
Espresso, cortado, flat white or latte? Our bar lead explains the real ratios, cup sizes and milk choices so you can order at any counter with confidence.
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ConnectionCafe.com · Shoreditch, London Freshly roasted coffee, an all-day kitchen and eight rooms upstairs
Welcome to ConnectionCafe.com — a specialty coffee bar that roasts its own beans in the basement, cooks everything but the bread on site, and keeps eight quiet rooms above the shop for anyone who would rather not leave. One address, from the first espresso at seven to the last cup before close.
- Roasting since
- 2016
- Rooms upstairs
- 8
- Guest rating
- 4.9
- Roasted weekly
- 12kg
Top categories
What we pour at the ConnectionCafe.com espresso bar
Four drinks account for most of what leaves our counter. All of them are built on Kiln Street No. 4, the house blend we roast downstairs, and all of them come with whole or oat milk at no extra charge.
The full list — including filter, cold brew and everything the kitchen sends out — lives on the ConnectionCafe.com menu.
Our roastery
Roasted downstairs, every Tuesday morning
There is a 5kg drum roaster in our basement and a roasting log going back to 2016. Every bean served upstairs passes through it, which means we can tell you the farm, the process and the exact date your coffee was roasted — and why nothing on the bar is older than twelve days.
We buy through importers who publish what they pay growers, and we cup every delivery before it goes on the menu. Our team trains to Specialty Coffee Association standards, so the extraction you get on a Monday morning is the one you get on a Saturday afternoon.
- Kiln Street No. 4 — 70% washed Brazil, 30% Ethiopia, our everyday house blend
- Two rotating single origins on filter, changed every fortnight
- Retail bags ground to order, with the roast date printed on every one
The cold bar
Signature shakes, spun by hand
Made with Jersey milk gelato from a dairy in Kent and thick enough to hold a spoon upright — a standard we test daily and take more seriously than we probably should.
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Most ordered this week
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House favourite
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New this season
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Salted, not sweet
All-day kitchen
Food cooked here, not assembled
One small kitchen, one short menu, everything made on the premises — with a single exception. The bread comes from a bakery four streets away that has been proving sourdough since before we opened, because they do it better than we would.
Breakfast runs until 11:30 and plates go out until an hour before close. Around half the menu is vegetarian with clearly marked vegan options, and oat milk is stocked as standard at no extra charge. Tell the team about any allergy when you order and they will walk you through what is safe.
Read the kitchen menuStay with us
Stay at ConnectionCafe.com: eight rooms above the coffee bar
ConnectionCafe.com is also a small guest house. Eight rooms sit on the two floors above the shop, each with its own street-door access, a bag of the current house roast and breakfast at the bar included in the rate.
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The Kiln Double
£139 per night, breakfast included
Four of these sit at the back of the building, away from the street. Handmade beds, blackout linen curtains and a grinder with a weekly bag of house coffee on the side table.
Room details -
The Loft Suite
£215 per night, breakfast included
The whole top floor: a double-height window, a reading chair that people genuinely do not leave, and a sofa bed for a third guest. The best light in the building, from about seven in the morning.
Room details -
The Roastery Room
£165 per night, breakfast included
Directly above the roastery, which means on Tuesday mornings the whole room smells like the best possible alarm clock. Tiled bathroom, deep tub, thick towels.
Room details
Why people come back
What makes ConnectionCafe.com worth the walk
We are not the only coffee bar in Shoreditch and we do not pretend to be. These are the four things regulars tell us keep them coming back.
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Roasted here, on Tuesdays
A 5kg drum roaster in the basement handles every bean we serve. Nothing is older than twelve days by the time it hits your cup, and the roast date is printed on every retail bag.
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Baristas who stay
Our shortest-serving barista has been here two years. They are paid above the real Living Wage and trained to SCA standards, which is why your flat white tastes the same in March and September.
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Food cooked, not assembled
One kitchen, one small menu, everything made on the premises except the bread — which comes from a bakery four streets away, because they do it better than we would.
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Somewhere to actually sit
Sixty-two seats, power at two-thirds of them, and no time limit on any table. If you need three hours and a corner, we would rather you spent them here.
Our baristas are paid above the real Living Wage — one reason the same faces are still behind the bar years later. More about that on our about page.
In their words
What our regulars and guests say
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I have worked from every cafe within a mile of this street and this is the only one where the coffee is as good at four in the afternoon as it is at eight in the morning. The batch filter refill before ten is a small act of public service.
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We booked the Loft Suite for two nights and ended up extending to four. Waking up to the roaster running downstairs is not something a chain hotel can sell you.
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They let me sit with a cortado and a notebook for three hours and nobody once hovered. The cardamom buns are dangerous. I have told far too many people about this place.
Latest from the journal
Coffee notes from the ConnectionCafe.com journal
Brewing guides, origin write-ups and the occasional opinion from behind the bar — written by the people who pull the shots.
Cold Brew vs Iced Coffee: What Actually Changes in the Glass
Cold brew and iced coffee are not the same drink. Our head roaster explains what 18 hours of cold steeping changes, the caffeine truth, and a home recipe.
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What "Single Origin" Really Means - And When a Blend Is the Better Cup
Single origin is not automatically better coffee. Our head roaster on what the label actually covers, why a blend wins in milk, and how to read a bag properly.
Read moreFind us
Visit ConnectionCafe.com in Shoreditch
We are on the corner of Kiln Street, six minutes on foot from Shoreditch High Street station and ten from Liverpool Street. Walk-ins are always welcome at the coffee bar.
Opening hours
- Monday – Thursday 7:00 – 19:00
- Friday 7:00 – 22:00
- Saturday 8:00 – 22:00
- Sunday 8:00 – 17:00
Kitchen serves until one hour before close. Hotel reception is staffed 24 hours for guests.
Book a tableBefore you visit
ConnectionCafe.com: your questions, answered
The things people email us about most. If your question is not here, the contact page reaches a real person.
What is ConnectionCafe.com?
ConnectionCafe.com is a specialty coffee bar, all-day kitchen and eight-room guest house at 42 Kiln Street in Shoreditch, London. This site is where you can read the current menu, check room rates and availability, and find our opening hours before you travel.
Do I need to book a table at ConnectionCafe.com?
Not for the coffee bar — walk-ins are always welcome and roughly half the room is kept unreserved. Tables of six or more, and anyone wanting a guaranteed spot for weekend brunch between 10:00 and 13:00, should book ahead through our contact page or by phone.
Can I stay overnight at the cafe?
Yes. There are eight rooms on the two floors above the coffee bar, ranging from a compact rear double at £139 per night to the top-floor Loft Suite at £215. Every rate includes breakfast at the bar, a bag of the current house roast, and 24-hour access through your own street door.
What coffee do you serve?
Our house blend, Kiln Street No. 4, is 70% washed Brazilian and 30% Ethiopian, roasted in the basement every Tuesday on a 5kg drum roaster. Alongside it we run two rotating single origins on filter and an 18-hour cold brew poured from a keg. All of it is available to buy as whole bean or ground.
Do you cater for vegan and gluten-free diets?
Oat milk is stocked as standard at no extra charge and around half the kitchen menu is vegetarian, with clearly marked vegan options. We can adapt several dishes to be gluten-free, but the kitchen is small and handles wheat flour daily, so we cannot promise a coeliac-safe environment. Please tell the team about any allergy when you order.
Is ConnectionCafe.com good for working or studying?
It is built for it. There are sixty-two seats, power sockets at roughly two-thirds of them, 500 Mbps Wi-Fi throughout the building and no time limit on any table. Mornings before 9:30 and afternoons after 14:30 are the quietest windows if you need to concentrate.
Where exactly are you and how do I get there?
We are at 42 Kiln Street, Shoreditch, London E1 6QL — about six minutes on foot from Shoreditch High Street station and ten from Liverpool Street. The street door is next to the cafe window; guest check-in is at the bar until 19:00 and by key code after that.
Do you sell the coffee to take home?
We do. Retail bags of the house blend and both rotating single origins are on the shelf behind the bar, ground to order for whatever brewer you use. Guests staying upstairs get their first 250g bag included with the room.
Come and sit down
Come for the coffee, stay for the room upstairs
Whether it is a flat white on the way to work or two nights in the Loft Suite, ConnectionCafe.com is where to check hours, menus and availability before you set off.