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Some Changes to the Coffee Map Explained

Some of you may have noted a few changes to the site's coffee map. Hopefully these changes will make it easier to use and more useful moving forward.

The first major change is that Google has finally made it that custom maps can be viewed on mobile devices. If you have Google Maps for Android installed, check out the map using this link

The second major change is that I've finally gotten round to updating the map. On Friday, I verified that all the coffee shops (all 330) that were on the map were still trading. Around 20 weren't, which is a lot less than I initially expected and might reflect that the London coffee scene is only set to expand further. I then added around 50 new coffee spots to the map bringing the total to around 350 - 360.

The third major change is that I've added opening hours. The map already featured addresses and websites for all the coffee shops on it, but I thought this would be extra helpful given that weekend hours can be unpredictable (and in fact, some coffee shops are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).

The last change, and perhaps the most controversial, is that I've added a new symbol on the map to discern some coffee shops. I'll write more about why I've made these changes in the future, but the gist of it is: with so many coffee shops on the map, I felt there needed to be something to separate those coffee shops that simply served a single-type of espresso and those that really focused on coffee and provided additional brewing methods and had a wider selection of coffee available.