Early Bees Coffee Old Street

You're walking down City Road towards Old Street and you catch that smell—proper coffee, the kind that makes you stop. Early Bees has built a fierce reputation doing the basics brilliantly: their espresso is consistently brilliant, smooth without being boring, and their milk drinks are properly executed. The space itself is deliberately unfussy—you're not paying for Instagram scenery here, just coffee that's genuinely better than anywhere else nearby. They've clearly worked out their supply chain and their technique, and it shows in every cup. Fair warning: it gets rammed during morning rush, so either arrive before 8am or expect to queue.