Coffee

Coffee around the world

Last Updated Date: 05/29/2023

There are a lot of coffee shops around the world, but most people who know us know we’re serious about our specialty / single-origin coffee. Here we’ll be maintaining a map and a list of our favorite coffee shops from the places we’ve been.

This won’t be a list of every place we’ve had coffee as that would be massive and frankly a waste of time. Instead, this will be a list of the coffee places we liked, would enjoy going back to, and would recommend to others.

If you notice some entries are no longer listed below it’s either because they’ve unfortunately closed or because their quality has dropped to the point they’re no longer worth including.

Also, if you’d like to see our coffee travel kit:

Below was our original travel kit:



If you'd like to have this list conveniently available in Google Maps, here's the link.

Coffee Around the World

Jump to region:

North America

Coava Coffee Roasters - San Diego, California (This location closed, but others can be found in Portland, Oregon)

Coava is where we discovered what excellent coffee was supposed to be. The excellent selection of coffeee, staff, and weekly coffee cupping (tasting) sessions made it a phenomenal starting point for us. Coava is definitely our benchmark, and one that is rarely replicated. It’s one of the things we miss most about San Diego (though it should be noted that Coava originates from Portland, Oregon and has a few locations there as well).

South America

ÖSS Kaffe - Buenos Aires, Argentina

ÖSS Kaffe feels like Cheers if Cheers were a coffee shop. The owner, Fernando, is always working the counter- which makes sense considering the shop is in his garage. He has about as short of a commute to work as anyone can have. He’s very enthusiastic about his coffee, and his selection is great. He also offers fantastic sourdough toast with olive oil and salt. However, as great as the coffee and toast is, the real reason to go is to hang out, relax, and chat with Fernando and the other clientelle.

JISU - Buenos Aires, Argentina

A neat little coffee shop in Puerto Madero (which is otherwise pretty sterile). They serve Cafe Puerto Blest coffee and was staffed by coffee nerds when we visited. The food here is also great.

Cafe Puerto Blest - Buenos Aires, Argentina

This is a roaster, not a coffee shop. However, if you go to their roastery and showroom, they’ll offer you coffee (pour over and espresso drinks) and sell you bags of their coffee. Cafe Puerto Blest is one of the few roasters still offering great specialty coffee despite the economic conditions in Argentina (which is why so many others have seen their quality drop).

Colonia Sandwich Coffee Shop - Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Colonia Sandwich Coffee Shop was an unexpected find. The owners, Ezequiel and Laura, are incredibly friendly, and Ezequiel was nice enough to leave one of their locations (a stall) to go make us a pour over at their other location (a small shop). They started the shop as a way to offer healthy sandwiches in a city that has next-to-nothing in the way of reasonably healthy food. They later began offering specialty coffee, which they developed a taste for while living in Australia and New Zealand. Ezequiel even made us some Colombian Geisha that wasn’t a retail product- just part of a special batch he’d been sent as a gift from one of his suppliers.

Café Black Mamba - Santiago, Chile

Café Black Mamba offers a rare combination of top-notch specialty coffee and excellent food. It’s far more typical to find places that do both just fine, or excel in one while suffering in the other. Black Mamba’s pour over was incredible, as was their Sandwich Mechada (pulled beef, avocado, and house ketchup). Their coffee is carefully sourced and selected, and each pour over comes with information about the varietal, region, elevation, tasting notes, etc.

Tallercafé Valpo - Valparaíso, Chile

Tallercafé was conveniently located across the street from our Airbnb. These guys are VERY serious about their coffee: they have an espresso machine repair service, they compete in barista competitions around the world, and offer coffee education. We spoke with the guys here for a long time, and they had plenty to recommend and offer as far as tasting went. In our opinion there are two reasons to go to Valparaíso: views of the city and Tallercafé.

Europe

Formative Coffee - London, UK (England)

You can tell how serious Formative is about coffee by this rant on their website. After flying red-eye from Argentina to London, it was where we attempted to make ourselves semi-functional. The staff was friendly and helpful, and their flat white was particularly good. We got a coffee flight as well which included a shot of espresso, a macchiato, and a cup of batch brew filtered coffee. Disappointingly batch brew was the only filtered coffee available, there weren’t any pour over options. However, the flat white is good enough that it’s worth stopping by if you’re near Victoria Station.

Mei Leaf Teahouse - London, UK (England)

So Mei Leaf doesn’t actually offer any coffee… BUT they’re a fantastic teahouse and well worth a visit. I’ve been following them (and buying tea and teaware from them) for years, and they’re very serious about quality and well sourced tea. Go there for some gong fu tea, you won’t regret it.

The Little Bird Coffee House - Inverness, UK (Scotland)

Unfortunately the week we happened to visit Little Bird was also the last week it would be open 😭. The owner, Jason, told us that he would be forced to move to a new location if he wanted to stay open, but ultimately decided to shut down for now. He’s very enthusiastic about quality coffee (somewhat of a rarity in Scotland), and made us some truly excellent pour over. We’re glad we got to visit when we did, as it was a fantastic experience. Also, Jason was the one who recommended our next pick, Habitat Cafe…

Habitat Cafe - Aberfeldy, UK (Scotland)

Aberfeldy is a town with a population of ~1800 residents, I did not expect to find great coffee here. However, Habitat Cafe defied expectations. The coffee was excellent and the sandwiches were really good. The ambiance was nice and relaxed, and Mike, the owner, was very friendly. He stopped to chat with us about coffee and despite having discontinued pour over at the cafe due to staffing issues he took the time to make us some anyways. Hanging out with Mike as well as some of the clients at Habitat ended up being one of our highlights in Scotland. (One of the clients told us about how she motorcycled solo through Africa seven years ago- it was a crazy story!)

Café Tacuba - Lucerne, Switzerland

Switzerland has been a bit of a desert in terms of good coffee. The coffee culture in Switzerland is unfortunately still very second-wave Italian in terms of options and tastes. This means that coffee tends to be overroasted, stale, and bitter. Manolo at Café Tacuba is looking to change that. He moved to Switzerland from El Salvador and opened Café Tacuba three years ago. He sources all his coffee directly from El Salvador (much from his own family’s coffee farm), and his offerings are fantastic (and highly affordable). We had a great Natural-Process Bourbon variety on V60, and proceeded to buy 500g of a Honey-Process Bourbon variety to take with us as we continue on our journey.

Caffè River - Arezzo, Italy

So technically Caffe River isn’t a coffee shop at all- they’re a coffee roaster. We reached out because we were staying in Arezzo and were hoping to find recommendations for coffee shops where we might find specialty coffee and pour over. Marco responded explaining that pour over culture in Italy is mostly non-existent, but that they’d be happy to invite us to their facility for a tour of the roastery as well as the opportunity to roast some of our own. We’d never seen a roastery before, and we’ve certainly not had the chance to roast our own coffee, so of course we accepted! Everyone (shoutouts to Marco, Elisabetta, and Daniele!) at Caffe River was friendly, knowledgable, and loved coffee. The tour was great, and incredibly interesting to us as enthusiasts. Also, they were nice enough to roast three of their coffees with us in their Ikawa Pro Roaster for us to take with us. We had a phenomenal time and visiting Caffe River was easily one of the highlights of our experiences in Italy. We’ll be writing about our experience at Caffe River more in a separate blog post that will be linked to here when completed.

Faro - Luminari del Caffè - Rome, Italy

As mentioned before, Italy is somewhat of a dead zone for third wave specialty coffee. However, there’s a burgeoning movement in some of Italy’s largest cities. Faro (which means lighthouse in Italian) was one we’d found online when searching for specialy coffee in Rome. We were pleasantly surprised to find a shop that roasted their own coffee and offered it as a pour over (with a few options for brewing method). We tried a Natural-Process Ethiopian and a Washed-Process Kenyan on V60, both of which were quite tasty. We also enjoyed a great flat white (which as far as we could tell, wasn’t listed on their menu). Our barista chatted with us a bit and mentioned a couple other coffee shops in Rome worth checking out, which brings us to…

Pergamino Caffè - Rome, Italy

Pergamino was recommended to us by the barista at Faro. Pergamino is a small, trendy coffee shop near the Vatican. Our barista, Julia (Giulia?), was very friendly and helpful. We spoke a bit about the tiny but growing third wave movement in Italy. She made us a great V60 pour over using a Washed-Process Kenyan, as well as a flat white. Pergamino doesn’t roast their own coffee as far as we can tell, but stocks specialty coffees from the other quality roasters in Italy as well as from a couple others in Europe (such as Nomad Roasters in Barcelona). Julia explained that most of their Italian customers come in for a simple espresso, and it’s mostly tourists ordering pour over, though a few curious Italians have on occasion ordered one. It was a welcome refreshment after fighting our way through the nearby Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel.

Tazze Pazze Caffetteria Gourmet - Genoa, Italy

Tazze Pazze was tucked away in the historic part of Genoa. They do they their own roasting (presumably at a different location) and offer quite a nice selection of single origin coffees. The shop itself is quite small and was packed to the brim with customers. We weren’t quite sure we would even be able to get inside, much less purchase coffee. However, as is typical in Italy, there is some order to the chaos and eventually we got our turn. We ordered filtered coffee and were served a Honduran Natural-Process coffee brewed using a Phoenix70 over a Chemex, a method that was new to us. Unfortunately we didn’t get to talk to the staff much aside from putting in our order, as they seemed to be dealing with crowds of customers expecting quick service. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in Genoa, it’s worth overcoming the intimidation factor for great coffee at Tazze Pazze (which means “Crazy Cups” in Italian 😂). However, be aware that the difference in cost for a cappuccino and a flat white is substantial (the flat white costs over 2x as much!) despite the drinks being very similar in nature within the context of enthusiast/third wave coffee. We believe this is likely just a way to take advantage of Australians who are more likely to order a flat white by default. Our suggestion: order a filtered coffee, but if you want an espresso-based milk drink, order a cappuccino.

Buna Specialty Coffee Shop - Lisbon, Portugal

Buna was one of our favorite stops in Lisbon. Ana, originally from Russia, has lived all over the world (including Portland) and developed a serious love of coffee which comes through at Buna. The shop is cozy but very pretty, and the coffee selection was great. Buna’s coffee is all from Nomad Roasters in Spain, and for good reason, it’s excellent. Ana made us a V60 pour over using Nomad’s Competition Colombia Villa Rosita – Lychee which tasted exactly like passion fruit. We had a great time chatting with Ana at length about coffee and travel, it was refreshing to talk to someone running a coffee shop who is so passionate about specialty coffee. She also provided us with a recommendation to go visit a shop being started by some friends of hers who had a soft opening that day…

Bloom Coffee Room - Lisbon, Portugal

Our timing couldn’t have been better at Bloom, as it was their opening week. It’s a beautiful, brand new shop started by serious coffee enthusiasts Nick (from Russia) and Paulo (from Portugal), with a desire to provide a seriously high level of quality coffee. They’ve gone as far as installing a reverse osmosis water filtration system with the ability to individually tweak the levels of the various minerals in the water, with different outputs for espresso and filter coffee preparation. They stock coffee from Coffee Collective (in the UK) and Olisipo (in Portugal), which they offer as batch brew, on pour over, and as espresso. We spent a ton of time there just talking coffee, and had some great coffee as well. Their level of enthusiasm in offering absolute top quality coffee was definitely appreciated! Also, they were able to give us plenty of recommendations for places to check out in Porto- our next destination.

Notable mentions in Lisbon, Portugal

SO Coffee Roasters Torrefação - Porto, Portugal

SO was one of many recommendations we received (in Lisbon) for coffee shops to check out in Porto; it ended up being our favorite. The shop itself is tucked away on the second floor of a clothing store, overlooking a small plaza. At the moment, they only roast coffee for espresso (and the flat white was great), but they offer pour over coffee from various roasters, with the selection frequently changing. We had some excellent Washed-Process Kenyan and Natural-Process Ethiopian on V60. We spoke at length with Lisa, who was incredibly nice, knowledgeable, and brewed fantastic coffee. Originally from Italy, she eventually moved to Berlin to explore the world of specialty coffee there, and now lives in Porto where she helped start SO Coffee Roasters. We also met Pedro, a Porto native equally interested in excellent coffee. Hanging out in the comfy and chill shop and talking coffee with Lisa and Pedro was a highlight of our time in Porto.

Notable mentions in Porto, Portugal

Dulcimena Coffee & Go - Granada, Spain

Dulcimena was a welcome surprise in Granada. We found it completely by chance and were pleasantly surprised. The barista behind the counter was very enthusiastic about his coffee and was able to make recommendations based on roast date, region, and method. We opted to try their Ethiopian on Kalita Wave, as well as a fantastic flat white.

Virgin Coffee - Seville, Spain

Virgin Coffee is a tiny shop tucked away right by the Plaza de la Encarnación in Seville. The owner, Pedro was incredibly helpful and made us some great pour over as well as an excellent flat white. They have a rotating selection of coffees available for pour over, and we opted to buy a bag to take with us as well.

Notable mentions in Seville, Spain

Nomad Coffee - Barcelona, Spain

It’s impossible to talk about coffee in Spain without mentioning Nomad Coffee. Their coffee is truly excellent and while expensive, wholly justifies the cost. We opted to try some pour over- specifically their Competition Columbia - Lime, which is an Anaerobic-Process coffee. We also decided to try a drink on their menu called “A Taste of Competition”, which was a shot of espresso (using their Competition Columbia - Lychee) as well as a flat white made using the same coffee, but rather than using regular microfoamed milk, they use “bled milk” (milk which has been frozen, allowed to partially defrost to remove excess water, then fully defrosted) which is microfoamed and added to the espresso. It was quite honestly probably the best coffee drink we’ve ever had. Of course we opted to buy a bag of the Competition Columbia - Lychee to take with us.

Notable mentions in Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona is not lacking in fantastic options for great coffee, so it would be a fool’s errand to attempt to create entries for all of them. However, here we’ve listed some of the places we’d been to and have thoroughly enjoyed- each of which would qualify for their own entries in almost any other city we’ve been in. Barcelona really is just that competitive in the specialty coffee space.

There are a great deal more coffee shops worth checking out that we simply didn’t have the time/opportunity to try out during our short visit to Barcelona… Next time!

Hola Coffee - Madrid, Spain

Hola Coffee has the benefit of offering both great food and great coffee. We ended up going multiple times for breakfast, and enjoyed a variety of different pour overs. In one instance they even opted to break out a coffee they weren’t planning on offering that day in order to enable us to try it before buying a bag. We enjoyed a variety of their coffees on V60 and made sure to make one final stop at Hola before leaving Madrid to go to Jerusalem (which unfortunately is a desert in terms of decent coffee).

Notable mentions in Madrid, Spain

Middle East

HaOgen Coffee Bar - Tel Aviv, Israel

HaOgen was the first coffee shop we found in the country that offered pour over that wasn’t overroasted. More than that, it was absolutely delicious. Their Kenyan coffee on Chemex was truly a joy to experience. Also, the shop is a very relaxed environment, and a great place to hang out and possibly do some work. This is in stark contrast to many of the other coffee shops in Tel Aviv that often feel like madhouses.

Coffee Shop 51 - Tel Aviv, Israel

The selection at Coffee Shop 51 is a breath of fresh air in Israel. Rather than hearing the question “light or dark roast?” (which unfortunately is the highest standard found in much of the country), you’re presented with a wide array of options, both in terms of region and processing. We enjoyed a variety of pour overs here and opted to buy a bag of their Natural-Process Ethiopian as well. We’re sure it won’t be the only bag we buy.

HOC - House of Coffee - Tel Aviv, Israel

HOC is a very new coffee shop in Tel Aviv, and we were lucky to have found it. The shop’s aesthetic reminded us of Formative Coffee in London, which is very much a good thing. Amir, one of the owners, was quite helpful in identifying our preferred flavor profile and suggested our coffees based on that. We opted for a Washed-Process Malawi and a Natural-Process Colombian on Kinto SCS-S04 pour over, both of which were excellent. We also bought a bag of their Anaerobic-Process Colombian coffee. Additionally, the food at HOC is great as well, which is always a nice bonus- the scrambled egg sandwich on brioche and the various pastries were quite tasty.

Notable mentions in Tel Aviv, Israel

Asia

Amber Coffee Brewery - Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Omotesando Koffee - Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Urban Coffee Roaster - Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Barista Jam - Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Notable mentions in Hong Kong, Hong Kong

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Giocare - Hualien, Taiwan

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Coffee Flash - Hualien, Taiwan

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Ba-Han-Han-Non Tea and Coffee Studio - Hualien, Taiwan

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