Sometimes a coffee shop/company becomes inalienably associated with one individual; for example Newcastle’s Flat Caps Coffee is always, in my head, associated with founder, Joe Meagher. So it is with Terrone & Co and the irrepressible Edy Piro. Although Edy wears many hats (DJ, web-designer and ex-architect rub shoulders with roaster/distributor and barista), if you say “Terrone”, I’ll immediately think of Edy.

This Saturday Supplement was going to be about Terrone’s stall in The Village Green Market. Sadly, since my visit last month, Edy’s decided to rationalise the number of pop-ups that Terrone runs and the stall at The Village Green Market is no more… The Village Green and the Market, however, are still going strong, well worth a visit in their own right.

Instead, this is going to be a little feature on Edy and Terrone, plus a short tour of the Market, which you’ll find on the opposite side of the railway line from Hackney Downs in north east London. Don’t worry though; if you want some fine Terrone coffee, Edy will happily sell you some and there’s still Terrone’s Saturday stall at Netil Market, plus the exciting new café coming to Kingly Court in early August.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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First, the Village Green Market. Set in a sheltered concrete yard at the end of Amhurst Terrace, it’s a delightful place. There are a number of permanent businesses in the Hackney Downs Studio buildings on the left and, on Sundays, these are joined by market stalls, mostly offering food and drink. Just not, alas, Terrone. Scattered in the centre of the yard, between the two rows of stalls, are some tables if you want to take the weight off your feet.

So, onto to Terrone & Co. Edy’s journey to speciality coffee is an interesting one. Born in Salerno, Italy, Edy moved to London in 2002 but didn’t start drinking coffee (he found Italian coffee too bitter) until he discovered filter coffee in Portland in 2005.

Fascinated, he wanted to learn more, and the opportunity came when he met an Italian coffee roaster from Rimini at a food festival in London. This fired Edy into action and he spent a year preparing and researching, starting with the Terrone & Co brand. He used this time to work with the roaster to finalise his blend with the help of barista Callum Hale-Thomson. It’s roasted in Italy in a refurbished 1950s Vittoria machine and imported by Terrone.

Edy launched Terrone in December 2012 at the Netil Market in east London, where Terrone is still serving fine coffee from its container-café every Saturday (which I’ve now, finally, visited!). With his infectious and irrepressible personality, Edy was an immediate hit. I followed his progress on social media, first meeting Edy at the London Coffee Festival in 2013.

Since then Edy’s steadily grown Terrone, both as a coffee retailer and through pop-ups such as the (sadly short-lived) one in The Village Green Market, which opened at the end of April. While Terrone was there, Edy operated a two-group La Marzocco, serving espresso, tea and a small selection of delicious cakes. I’ve tried various incarnations of Terrone’s Ciclista blend over the last year so I asked Edy to make me something special. Since it was a hot day, Edy got out his cocktail shaker and, a few minutes later, I was presented with a wonderful-looking Shakerato, a drink I’d only previously had at New York’s I Am Coffee (coincidentally run by another irrepressible Italian).

I’m not a huge fan of iced coffee, but the Shakerato takes it to a whole new level. Consisting of ice, espresso, milk and (I believe) sugar, these are combined by a short, vigorous shake. Edy’s creation was not quite as foamy as the one I’d had at I Am Coffee (I suspect the amount of shaking determines the amount of foam), but damn, it tasted just as good. There was a darkness from the coffee, which combined with the sweetness of the milk/sugar to make an amazing smooth, refreshing drink.

I combined this with one of the excellent almond mini-cakes. These look quite small, but they pack so much in, you really wouldn’t want any more. An incredibly rich pastry base holds a wonderful filling, nutty, but not too sweet. The perfect accompaniment to your coffee.

If you want to catch Terrone, then head to Netil Market on a Saturday, or, if you wait until the start of August, you can visit Terrone’s exciting new espresso bar, Sottoscala, next to Pizza Pilgrims in Carnaby Street’s Kingly Court.

Just to avoid (cause?) confusion, I’ve given the address/location of The Village Green Market, along with its opening hours, in the table, but the website and phone number are for Terrone. Please remember that the Terrone pop-up no longer operates at The Village Green Market.

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