Coffee Notebook

Coffees to order or look out for.

Interested

• QBF — Badnekhan Estate SL33 Caturra (Washed) — Chikmagalur, 1400m. Award-winning estate, washed process. ₹775/200g. Link

Want to re-order

• Glitch — Colombia Risaralda Milan Nitro Wash — outstanding, need someone travelling to Japan
• Greysoul — MOGRA (Ratnagiri Estate) — was sold out soon after first purchase

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Travel

Places worth seeking out when visiting. The benchmark is Glitch in Tokyo — obsessive sourcing, experimental lots, rotating single origins.

Bangkok

• Roots Coffee — Specialty-forward roaster at the centre of Thailand's booming coffee scene. Good for tasting Thai single origins, especially northern lots.

Berlin

• The Barn — Multiple locations across the city. Nordic light-roast rigour, single-origin focused. Roaster of the Year 2025. No music, laptops discouraged — product-first to the point of being strict about it.
• Bonanza Coffee — Prenzlauer Berg / Kreuzberg. Berlin's original specialty pioneer (2006). Best Independent Cafe Europe 2025.
• Five Elephant — Kreuzberg. Direct-trade roastery + cafe + bakery. Known for both serious coffee and their legendary cheesecake.

Chiang Mai

• Ristr8to — Run by Arnon Thitiprasert, one of Asia's most decorated competition baristas. Worth a trip for Thai coffees at their best.

Copenhagen

• The Coffee Collective — Nørrebro (Jægersborggade). Scandinavian direct-trade pioneer; pays and publishes above Fair Trade prices. Multiple locations, bakery, roastery. Helped define the Nordic coffee movement.

Dubai

• Mokha 1450 — Al Wasl Road. Specialises in Ethiopian and Yemeni origins — historically significant lots, direct women-owned farm partnerships. Unique angle: not fermentation-forward, but extraordinary terroir you can't get elsewhere.
• Nightjar Coffee — Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz arts district. Dubai's best homegrown roaster. Colombia, Burundi, Rwanda lots; creative cold brew and nitro menu.

London

• Square Mile Coffee Roasters — East London. Co-founded by James Hoffmann. Impeccable sourcing, precise and restrained.
• Assembly — Multi-roaster cafe with rotating guest coffees from top European roasters. Good way to taste across the spectrum in one visit.
• Workshop Coffee — Multiple locations. Strong on fermentation-forward lots from Central and South America.

Munich

• Man Versus Machine (MvsM) — Glockenbach flagship (Müllerstr. 23; roastery on-site). Munich's closest equivalent to Glitch — Japanese-trained founder, light roast only, rotating single origins. "Mad Professor" series explicitly for experimental lots: anaerobic, carbonic maceration, extended fermentation. Geisha and rare-variety lots appear regularly. The only place in Munich for syphon coffee. Best place to buy beans — roasts on-site and ships across Europe.
• Kanso Coffee Lab — Residenzpassage, Theatinerstraße 35. Munich's only omakase coffee experience. Bookable sessions with a coffee sommelier: guided progression of rare single-origins across brew methods, with commentary on origin and flavour evolution as the coffee cools. €70–€240 tiers; reservation required (listed as ticketed events, not walk-in). The in-house filter service also has an experiential angle — each brew served with a temperature note on how it changes as it cools.
• Sweet Spot Kaffee — Viktualienmarkt. Multi-roaster bean shop + café; stocks Prodigal, SEY, La Cabra, Coffee Collective, Tim Wendelboe. Three rotating single-origins weekly — any bean on the wall orderable as a filter cup. Good for sampling across roasters or picking up beans alongside MvsM.
• The Barn — Altstadt (Tal 15, near Marienplatz). Roaster of the Year 2025; Nordic light roast, hand-brewed filter served Japanese style (no milk by default). Geisha Masterpiece series, anaerobic and natural lots in rotation.

Oslo

• Tim Wendelboe — Grünerløkka. Ranked #2 in Europe and top 5 globally (2025–26). Owns his own farm in Colombia (Finca El Suelo). Seasonal brew-to-order menu; described as "run like a Michelin-starred restaurant but feels like a neighbourhood shop." A must-visit.
• Fuglen — Sentrum. Coffee by day, cocktail bar by night, vintage Scandinavian design shop always. Has a Tokyo outpost with similar DNA to Glitch.

Paris

• Terres de Café — Le Marais (multiple Paris locations). Pioneer since 2009; named Best Roaster in France. Direct-trade sourcing of competition-level lots. Expanding to Japan in 2025.
• Belleville Brûlerie — 19th arrondissement. Known for a blending philosophy inspired by cognac and wine varietals — unusual in the specialty world. Also has a Tokyo outpost.

Seoul

Seoul's specialty scene is world-class and deep. The epicentre is Seongsu-dong (east of the Han River) — think Williamsburg or Shimokitazawa; a former industrial neighbourhood now packed with serious coffee bars.

For the taste profile (fermentation-forward, rare varieties, light-precise roasting):

• Center Coffee — Seongsu (near Seoul Forest). The most on-profile shop in the city. Known for their "K72 Geisha Processing" (24hr natural + 48hr Kenya processing, engineered for complexity). Run a rotating "Geisha of the Month" that sells out in weeks. Reserve line is explicitly anaerobic and fermentation-forward.
• Mesh Coffee — Seongsu-dong. Seven seats, standing bar. The closest equivalent to Glitch in philosophy: Nordic-light, single-origin, rotates every two weeks. Co-authored the canonical Korean specialty coffee guide. Precise, tea-like, no frills.
• Tremor Coffee Works — Hongdae (basement bar, five seats). Up to 15 rotating coffees at any one time. In-house roasting, fermentation-forward lots are a regular feature. The range at five seats is remarkable.
• Lounge Clarimento — Hapjeong. Best place in Seoul for COE and Geisha-level lots. Has been known to pour COE 1st-place Gesha by the cup. Vintage airport lounge aesthetic, serious sourcing.
• Lowkey Coffee — Seongsu. Veteran shop with an experimental "Jazz" menu alongside classics. Known for creative fermentation presentations — co-fermented espresso served over watermelon sorbet in a champagne flute is a documented signature.
• Dorae Knot — Mangwon (near Han River). Stocks ILSE, SEY Coffee, and Prodigal — all internationally respected micro-roasters. If you want a window into globally sourced rare lots, this is it.

The institutions (culturally important, still excellent):

• Fritz Coffee — Dohwa, Mapo-gu (renovated 1960s mansion; the Dohwa location is the one to visit). Rotating single-origins bi-weekly, direct-sourced from 90%+ of producers. The flagship of the Seoul specialty scene.
• Coffee Libre — Yeonnam-dong. Founded by Korea's first Q-grader, who also operates a farm in Nicaragua. The founding institution of independent specialty roasting in Korea.
• Namusairo — Jongno-gu, steps from Gyeongbokgung Palace in a renovated 1950s hanok. Korea's oldest serious specialty roaster (2002). Scandinavian-light roasting. The hanok setting makes it a uniquely Korean experience.

Singapore

• Nylon Coffee Roasters — Everton Park, Tanjong Pagar. One of Singapore's original specialty pioneers (2012); direct-trade, single-origin focused. Closed Tuesdays.
• PPP Coffee — Multiple outlets; New Bahru (River Valley) has a coffee omakase experience — multi-course, each coffee prepared with its ideal brew method.

Stockholm

• Drop Coffee — Södermalm, Mariatorget. Co-owned by Joanna Alm, three-time Swedish Coffee Roasting Champion. Small-batch, certified organic, full direct trade. Celebrating 15 years in 2025.