Where Great Coffee
Lives & Breathes

IE — 02

Proper Order Coffee Co.

Dublin · Smithfield

Irish Barista and Brewers Cup champion-winning café with a rotating bean selection and a beautifully minimal green and white interior. Widely considered the best espresso in Smithfield.

IE — 03

Kaph

Dublin · Drury Street

An independent contemporary coffee shop in Dublin's Creative Quarter, serving specialty gourmet coffee and stunning cakes across two floors. A favourite haunt for creatives and remote workers since 2013.

IE — 04

Vice Coffee Inc.

Dublin · Middle Abbey Street

Part café, part bar, all character. Known for award-winning Irish coffees and inventive espresso drinks, Vice has been crafting some of Dublin's finest bean brews since 2013 from its home inside WIGWAM.

IE — 05

Copper + Straw

Dublin · Aungier Street

A stylish, industrial-chic café beloved for its flat whites and warm atmosphere. The Ashton Quay location is especially convenient for visitors exploring Dublin's key sights along the river.

IE — 06

The Fumbally

Dublin · Merchants Quay

An icon of Dublin's independent food scene. Sources single-origin beans from world-class roasters and makes its own sunflower milk. Two shots are the standard here — welcome to the Liberties.

IE — 07

Coffeeangel

Dublin · Multiple Locations

A Dublin institution born from a passion for great hospitality, Coffeeangel helped shape Irish coffee culture from the ground up. Known for impeccably prepared flat whites and a deeply community-rooted ethos.

IE — 08

Scéal Bakery

Greystones, Co. Wicklow

Perhaps the prettiest café in Ireland. Founded in 2017 by Charlotte Leonard-Kane and Shane Palmer, Scéal focuses on seasonal Irish ingredients, extraordinary pastries, and warming macchiatos that match the craft of their bakes.

IE — 09

Shoe Lane Coffee

Dublin · City Centre

Set in a restored 19th-century cobbler's shop, Shoe Lane honours the past with vintage shoemaking tools displayed near the entrance — and honours the present with single-origin Full Circle beans and a La Marzocco KB90.

IE — 10

Two Pups Coffee

Dublin · The Liberties

One part specialty café, one part yoga studio, entirely vibrant. Two Pups sources its beans from London's Square Mile roasters and serves a menu bold enough to put garlic peanut butter on avocado toast — and somehow make it work.

UK — 02

Prufrock Coffee

London · Leather Lane, Clerkenwell

Created by former World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies, Prufrock is a spacious, committed temple to specialty brewing. An essential stop for anyone who takes their coffee with a side of craft and conversation.

UK — 03

WatchHouse

London · Bermondsey Street

Born inside a converted old watchmaker's building on Bermondsey Street, WatchHouse has managed to grow without losing its soul. The original location still feels like a neighbourhood secret despite the brand's wider success.

UK — 04

Ozone Coffee Roasters

London · Shoreditch & London Fields

Part café, part roastery, part breakfast destination. One of London's best all-rounders — serious about single-origin coffee while remaining a genuinely warm space to linger over a full breakfast and a flat white.

UK — 05

Caffè Vergnano 1882

London · Charing Cross Road

The best espresso in central London, full stop — according to a long list of aficionados. This Italian café on Charing Cross Road is the go-to for homesick Italians and serious espresso enthusiasts alike.

UK — 06

The Milkman

Edinburgh · Cockburn Street

Housed in a refurbished confectionary store on Cockburn Street, The Milkman is named after the founder's great-grandfather — the last horse-drawn milkman in Aberdeenshire. A rotating menu of guest roasters keeps every visit different.

UK — 07

Fortitude Coffee

Edinburgh · Stockbridge & Newington

Small batch roasting, filtered water, single-origin beans, and a La Marzocco Linea PB. Fortitude details everything in the name of a better cup, with shelves of retail bags and jam doughnuts from local bakers completing the experience.

UK — 08

Twelve Triangles

Edinburgh · Multiple Locations

Sourdough made by hand via a three-to-four day cold-prove process, served with exceptional Fortitude coffee. Their seasonal croissant loaves — think blackcurrant and dark chocolate soaked in custard — have become a genuine Edinburgh food institution.

UK — 09

Cairngorm Coffee

Edinburgh · City Centre

Bright, airy, and welcoming, Cairngorm has two Edinburgh locations serving juicy, sweet flat whites from a team that genuinely cares about the craft. A perfect pit stop between sightseeing and the type of café you find yourself returning to.

UK — 10

Söderberg

Edinburgh · Multiple Locations

An authentically Swedish café group with seven Edinburgh locations, Söderberg pairs cardamom buns filled with almond paste and whipped cream with silky flat whites in minimalist Scandi-inspired surroundings. Hygge in café form.

FR — 02

Ten Belles

Paris · Canal Saint-Martin

A tiny, beloved hole-in-the-wall bakery-café near Canal Saint-Martin that many consider to serve one of the finest cups in the city. Arrive early, order confidently, and linger as long as Parisians permit themselves — which is always long enough.

FR — 03

Café Kitsuné

Paris · Palais Royal & Multiple

The Palais Royal location — where you sip a macchiato under the arcades with the garden unfolding before you — might be the single most beautiful spot to drink coffee in the world. Kitsuné's seasonal drinks and refined aesthetic are unmatched.

FR — 04

Lomi Café

Paris · 18th Arrondissement

An in-house roasting facility, exposed stone walls, reclaimed wood, and a house speciality of café fromage — espresso paired with blue cheese. Lomi is one of Paris's most adventurous and acclaimed specialty destinations.

FR — 05

Boot Café

Paris · Le Marais

Hidden inside a former cobbler's workshop in the Marais district, Boot Café has barely two tables and a world-class rotation of specialty beans. The tiny blue shopfront is one of Paris's most photographed — and most genuinely loved — coffee spots.

FR — 06

Stohrer

Paris · 2nd Arrondissement

In existence since 1730 and created by King Louis XV's pastry chef, Stohrer is the oldest pâtisserie in Paris and a listed historical monument. An espresso alongside a flaky croissant in this opulent interior is a genuinely irreplaceable experience.

FR — 07

Café de la Paix

Paris · 9th Arrondissement

Brunch and coffee in one of Paris's most lavish settings, with a terrace overlooking the Opera Garnier. A place where the grandeur of the Second Empire meets a very good cappuccino and some of the finest people-watching in the city.

FR — 08

Bonjour Jacob

Paris · Saint-Germain & Canal Saint-Martin

A vinyl record shop meets specialty café — Bonjour Jacob stocks a curated collection of LPs alongside excellent coffee, turning a caffeine stop into a cultural afternoon. Two locations, one very good vibe.

FR — 09

Merci Café

Paris · Le Marais

A used bookstore, concept store, and café wrapped into one destination. Merci's cobblestone courtyard with a little red Fiat parked in the centre is quintessentially Parisian. Order a coffee and settle in with a book from the shelves.

FR — 10

Clove Coffee

Paris · City Centre

Worth visiting for the chocolate babka alone. Clove serves specialty coffee alongside one of Paris's best selections of carefully baked goods, in a warm space that somehow avoids every Parisian café cliché while feeling completely at home in the city.

US — 02

Victrola Coffee Roasters

Seattle, Washington

Housed in a spectacular 1920s auto row building on Capitol Hill, Victrola combines an on-site roastery, training facility, and cupping room. Jazz-era vibes, window seats, and some of the Pacific Northwest's finest beans make this an unmissable Seattle stop.

US — 03

Espresso Vivace

Seattle, Washington

A Seattle legend, consistently cited as the city's finest espresso experience. The signature Café Nico — espresso, vanilla, orange, half-and-half, and cinnamon — is worth making the trip across the country for on its own.

US — 04

Blue Bottle Coffee

Oakland & San Francisco, California

The café that helped teach America what specialty coffee could be. Blue Bottle's commitment to freshness — beans roasted within 48 hours of serving — and obsessive brewing standards helped launch a national movement. The Ferry Building location remains a pilgrimage site.

US — 05

Metropolis Coffee Company

Chicago, Illinois

Hand-roasted beans delivered daily from the award-winning roastery a mile down the road on the Chicago River. Metropolis is the definition of a local roaster done right: fast, friendly, community-focused, and consistently delicious.

US — 06

Thank You Thank You

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

A small, immaculate café in Washington Square sourcing beans from around the world with genuine curiosity. Pour-overs and lattes prepared with the kind of care that makes every drink feel made specifically for you. Philadelphia's best-kept coffee secret.

US — 07

Frisson Espresso

New York City, New York

Hell's Kitchen

The highest-rated independent café in New York City according to customer ratings, Frisson earned its reputation through exceptional espresso, warm baristas, and the kind of consistent quality that keeps a neighbourhood coming back every morning without exception.

US — 08

Copper Star Coffee

Phoenix, Arizona

Set inside a repurposed service station, Copper Star is a Phoenix institution built on bagels, house-baked pastries, award-winning lavender syrup lattes, and a spicy dirty chai that locals swear by. Proof that great coffee culture thrives even in the desert.

US — 09

Caffé Vita

Seattle, Washington & Beyond

Roasting in the Emerald City since 1995 with a focus on locally-roasted organic coffees sourced directly from the farm. With five Seattle locations and outposts in Portland and New York, Caffé Vita helped define the Pacific Northwest coffee identity before it was famous for it.

US — 10

Pacific Bean Coffee

San Diego, California

California's top-rated independent café, perched right on the coast where those who brave a late afternoon coffee are rewarded with sunset views over the Pacific. Exceptional beans, exceptional people, and a location that makes every cup taste better than it has any right to.