The Coffee Stop London Awards, like my blog, are a new entry to the London coffee scene – a scene that has been growing rapidly over the past few years. And while there have been awards for ‘Best Cafe’ and ‘Best Coffee’ from elsewhere, never has their been an awards ceremony that covered pretty much every aspect of cafe culture – from baked goods to cafes for cyclists.

People grabbing their free espressos and beers – like this bunch needed them

The event, held at Ozone Coffee Roaster in Old Street, was packed and it was a great chance for us anonymous bloggers to meet the people we’ve been reviewing and also our fellow bloggers. It kind of felt a bit like a superhero AGM, as I only knew the bloggers through their blog names, some of which, like Liquid Jolt, have a superhero-esque quality to them. Here, I was now finding out their secret identity – and a great bunch they were.

The awards were done through a pubic vote, so I’d just like to come out and say a big thank you to all my friends, followers and regular readers who voted. Out of the five finalist, I was by far the newest on the block and have a very small (but growing) Twitter following compared to the others. The fact that I came third amazes me – I am truly humbled. But like the awards, which are looking into going national, I too hope to grow. Brian, Daniel (if they are your real names), keep a look out over your shoulder as I’m coming for you. Also, we should do coffee some time.

Here are some photos from the night and a list of all the winners:

Cafe owners watch out – these men will review your coffee (L-R Brian of Brian’s Coffee Spot, Best Blog winner Daniel of Cups of London Coffee, and me, Jonathan Brown of London Cafe Review)

– London’s Best Coffee Shop: White Mulberries

– London’s Best New Coffee Shop: The Wren

– London’s Coolest Baristas: Black Box

More after picture…

Ozone’s espressos get a taste test

ITN presenter, Alastair Stewart with Coffee Stop’s Chris Ward

Alastair Stewart, Liquid Jolt and co tweet from the event