[snowwolf]

You can't have looked very hard. So called "Third Wave" artisanal coffee shops hit London around 13 years ago, mostly started by Australian immigrants bringing with them the "Flat White". The flat white become such a hipster go to drink that by 2010 they were added to the Starbucks menu in London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_white

[vilmosi]

That's a bit harsh. I moved to London in 2013 and I remember I had to order flat white off-menu most of the time back then. Most places knew how to make it but just charged capuchino on the bill. Today it's everywhere.

I was not a Starbucks customer though.

[snowwolf]

http://www.flatwhitesoho.co.uk/

“Flat White opened its doors in 2005 because it was nigh impossible to get a flat white; the strong, delicious creamy coffee of our namesake. London lacked a strong independent café/coffee culture so we set out to be beacon & inspiration for other people who loved coffee, independent spirit and good old-fashioned hospitality. Flash forward and over ten years on London is thriving with many varied and different coffee offerings- a vibrant and exciting scene of excellence and commitment to excellence.”

And to add some more context. A New Zealander I know wrote a London coffee map app around 2010 to teach himself iOS app development. He curated the list of coffee shops he added to the map (they had to serve a proper flat white) and at time of release he’d added over 150 coffee shops.

In 2007 and then again in 2009 the world barista champions hailed from London.

All this should give you an idea of how quickly the London artisan coffee scene exploded in the late “noughties”.

So if you’re claiming to be a coffee nerd who couldn’t find a flat white in London in 2014, I’m going to say you didn’t look very hard.

Note: Not one chain ever featured on that app. I only mentioned Starbucks above to illustrate how ubiquitous the Flat White was at that time (2010) that Starbucks felt they had to add it to their menu to stay relevant/competitive.

[vilmosi]

Sorry, I should have mentioned I'm not OP you replied to.

I moved to London in early 2013, and it definitely wasn't that popular. I had my own group of coffee buddies but I was the only one drinking it. Even today only 1 in 10 coffee drinkers have it [0].

Note that I did drink flat white all the time back then, it just didn't always appear on the menu. You just had to ask nicely and most people would make you one (or try anyway).

Note that Starbucks and Costa do not make flat white IMO, even if they sell a drink called that.

That said, today is way different and flat whites are everywhere.

[0] https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/flat-white-coffee-c...

[mikekchar]

OP here. Yeah, I arrived in 2012 and left in 2014. I also roast my own coffee, so I don't drink in cafes very often. When I wanted good espresso (no way I can afford a decent set up), there were a couple of good shops near where I worked, but they were very small and they served black espresso only :-) I am surprised, but then I should have realised that I was never hooked into mainstream coffee culture in London (which is not nearly as nerdy as I am).