Bad Coffee

Bad Coffee roasts in small batches from a railway arch on Prince Edward Road, in Hackney Wick's warehouse district. The operation buys microlots directly from smallholder farms rather than blending for volume, and turns beans over fast enough that regulars can taste the difference between origins. The name plays against the self-seriousness common to specialty coffee, with a tagline promising something straightforward rather than precious, aimed at drinkers who want a well-made flat white without a lecture on extraction times. Cups are served alongside retail bags to brew at home, and the roastery supplies a handful of other East London cafes. It sits a short walk from the canal towpath and the Olympic Park, in a pocket of Hackney Wick now dense with small coffee operators.