Visiting the best coffee shops in Madrid is a very current luck. As with sourdough bread, finding specialty coffees in Madrid a decade ago was complicated. Roasted or blended coffees were, and still are in many cases, the most common. This is a post-war legacy, to compensate for the poor coffee that the great majority of Spaniards had access to, they drank this roasted coffee with sugar or molasses that we know as torrefacto.
Fortunately, in the city there are places that, more than coffee shops, are temples of coffee and in them the word torrefacto is forbidden. Take paper and pencil, because the fever of good coffee in Madrid, of specialty coffee ( speciality coffee, if you feel very sophisticated) has already begun.
1. Bianchi Kiosko Caffé
Sandro Bianchi opened with his partner Bianchi Kiosco Caffé, a modest place in the heart of Malasaña that has become an obligatory stop on the Madrid route of speciality coffees, as he calls them. “My evolution with coffee in Spain was: to be burned by bad coffee, but to continue drinking it because I like it and it is an addiction”, that is the reason that justifies the opening of this specialty coffee.
📍Location: San Joaquín street, 9 (Chueca)
2. Obrar
Specialty coffee and a very high level pastry shop. That is what anyone who comes to this bakery in Chamberí will find, where the protagonist is not only its pastries (the pain au chocolat filled with gianduja, the croissant filled with almond cream or a lemon pie that we think of every day): if your breakfast or snack is too long, you can order something salty (like its bikini) and pair it with a glass of wine.
📍Location: Calle de Galileo, 9 (Chamberí)
3. Ruda Café
Freshly ground 100% Arabica coffee is what they serve at Ruda Café. If you drink espresso, ask them to make it naked. The creaminess and density it provides is indisputable. Their sweets are not far behind. The Rudas, pastries with a touch of lemon, are ideal to accompany the drink.
📍Location:Ruda Street, 11 (La Latina)
4. The Fix
The Fix is one of the coffee shops of reference in Madrid, they are roasters of their own coffee, distributors and of course they have two premises located in Argüelles. Here they not only master the raw material with mastery, but also complement it with a sweet and savory menu of the most complete. They also have an online store.
📍Location:Luisa Fernanda street, 15 (Argüelles)
5. Toma Café
Toma Café is one of the best known specialty coffee shops in the capital, which roasts and distributes its own coffee. They started in Malasaña, but currently have two locations in Chamberí. Toma is the place for coffee sybarites to have a luxurious breakfast or snack. In addition, Toma 3 opens from Thursday to Saturday nights, under the name Proper Sound and also worships vinyl music and wine.
📍Location:Calle La Palma, 49 (Malasaña); Calle Santa Feliciana, 5 (Chamberí) and Calle Raimundo Lulio, 16 (Chamberí).
6. Pum Pum Café
Pum Pum Café is almost more known by tourists than by locals. But beyond its fame on Instagram, its products are organic, it is a vegetarian coffee shop with vegan options and its coffee comes from a small Madrid producer who roasts and grinds it almost daily. The project has been growing and now they have Pum Pum Bakery, Pizza Posta, Parque Café and, more recently, Casa Victoria.
📍Location: Calle Tribulete, 6 (Lavapiés) and Calle Esgrima, 1 (Tirso de Molina).
7. Hola Coffee
Hola Coffee entered the list of the best coffee shops in Madrid, almost since its birth in 2017. Its owner was named Spanish Barista Champion 2016 and their coffee is served in other coffee shops, restaurants and hotels. They do barista training courses and have advice to start your own speciality coffee.
📍Location: Dr. Fourquet street, 33 (Lavapiés) and Lagasca street, 42 (Salamanca).
8. 1000 Cups Café
At 1000 Cups Café they are expert baristas and roasters of their own specialty coffee. In addition to having an espresso dopio, you can buy their coffee and even a coffee grinder, among other coffee gadgets, in their online store.
📍Location: Calle Capitán Blanco Argibay, 50 (Valdeacederas)
9. Aroma and Bread
At Aroma and Bread you can try a roasted coffee from Germany, such as SUEDHANG Kaffee, and also accompany it with one of the best cheesecakes in Madrid. The artisanal kombucha they serve also has many followers.
📍Location: Calle Apodaca, 10 (Malasaña)
10. Solo Café
Although it only arrived at Mercado de La Paz a short time ago, Solo Café has become one of the best specialty cafés in Madrid. And no wonder: it is nothing more and nothing less than the smaller and more caffeinated brother of Bucólico, a must in the Chueca neighborhood. It specializes in all kinds of coffees to go, although it also has a small terrace for those who prefer to enjoy their creations in peace and quiet.
📍Location: Calle Ayala, 28B (Mercado de La Paz)
11. Rebel Café
Rebel Café selects coffees from parts of the world as disparate as Burundi and Guatemala, which vary almost every weekend(they warn on Instagram) and are quite an experience for coffee sybarites. They also use different coffee pots and have a very peculiar one invented in the 19th century.
📍Location: Calle Ponzano, 90 (Chamberí)
12. Plántate Café
In addition to drinking intense coffee, you can do it surrounded by plants, hence its name. In Plántate Café they serve roasted coffee from Square Mile Coffee Roasters, a roaster and supplier from London with a lot of recognition.
📍Location: Calle Meson de Paredes, 28 (Lavapiés)
13. Cafelito
With a vintage touch and in the heart of Lavapiés, Cafelito serves specialty coffee from Colombia. As if this were not enough, here you can exchange books and cultural activities are organized.
📍Location: Calle Sombrerete, 20 (Lavapiés)
14. Monkee Koffee
At Monkee Coffee they select, blend and change coffee varieties from time to time, always maintaining a sublime quality, and taking care that they are small producers. They also organize tastings so that you can become an authentic barista.
📍Location: calle de Vallehermoso, 112 (Vallehermoso)
15. Feliz Coffee
This cozy meeting point to enjoy coffee is located in the heart of Las Letras neighborhood. In addition to specialty coffee, they sell natural wines and decorative objects.
📍Location:Calle Lope de Vega, 2 (Las Letras) and Calle Manuel Fernández y González, 17 (Centro).
16. Acid Café
Acid Café and Acid Bakehouse are two specialty coffee shops with exquisite pastries. The first one has been supplying coffee lovers in the neighborhood of Las Letras since 2017 with the Danish coffee La Cabra. The second is also a bakery, and sells one of the best sourdough breads in Madrid.
📍Location: Calle Verónica, 9 (Las Letras) and Calle de la Magdalena, 27 (Lavapiés).
17. Santa Kafeina
Near the Canal metro is this small stall with a selection of coffees roasted by The Fix, Nomad Coffee, among others. If you have the chance, try the cocoa cream, banana and brioche bread sandwich or their homemade cookies.
📍Location:Calle de Viriato, 37 (Chamberí)
18. Mision Café
That Misión Café is a regular on Instagram stories does not detract from the quality of their coffee. In fact, their coffee comes from Hola Coffee Roastery, a coffee institution in Madrid. They also have a bakehouse since 2021, located in the adjoining premises and not only supplies the coffee shop, but also sells to the public.
📍Location:calle de los Reyes, 5 (Noviciado)
19. Neutrale House
Casa Neutrale already has two Nordic coffee shops. It serves specialty coffee (from Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Honduras), freshly made sandwiches, homemade pastries and a good assortment of savory options.
📍Location:Calle de Regueros, 13 (Salesas) and Pl. de Cataluña, 2 (Concha Espina).
20. Syra Coffee
In Syra Coffee they take meticulous care of each stage of coffee. From knowing the farms with which they collaborate until the coffee is in the cup. This traceability has an immediate consequence which is exclusivity, their coffee is only sold by them, either through their online store or in physical coffee shops.
📍Location: various locations
21. Caferama
Caferama wants to bring the international spirit of the coffee shops of Malasaña and Lavapiés to Chamberí. They buy from Toma Café and grind it in the cafeteria, where they offer the possibility of taking it home as beans or ground by them. One of the owners is also a confectioner and is in charge of all the sweets, except for the croissants, which are from another bakery in the area.
📍Location: Calle de Rodríguez San Pedro, 37 (Chamberí)
22. Clima Cafecito
If you like specialty coffee and chia pudding, you’ll love Clima Cafecito. They have everything from healthier (and saltier) options with toasts full of green to the sweet without complexes: American style cookies and brownies and they serve them all day long. Breakfast is guaranteed, but if you’re running late, that’s okay. They also have alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails called “Los frescos”.
📍Location: Calle de Alonso Cano, 51 (Chamberí)
23. God Café
This coffee shop opened at the end of 2022 in Chamberí -a coffee neighborhood par excellence- and to make itself known it had some advertising bicycles with hoods going around the area. The result is that it is one of the trendiest coffee shops in the city, not only for its good coffee and hearty toasts -especially the one with peanut butter, banana and chocolate chips-, but also for its space on two levels, with high ceilings and a decoration that you would wish for your living room.
📍Location: calle de Galileo, 27 (Chamberí)
24. Café Angélica
Café Angélica is a modern café (2017) that has kept the aesthetics and the name of the herb store that in 1948 opened in this location. After watching the documentary Black Gold the current owners became aware of the problems that the coffee industry brings, and decided to have fair trade suppliers from Colombia, Guatemala or Ethiopia and take care of roasting the beans to their liking.
📍Location: Calle San Bernardo, 24 (Malasaña)
25. HanSo
HanSo is committed to differentiate themselves in their preparations. Here you can find coffees as special as the cold brew with lime juice, rum, lychee and thyme or coffee with passion fruit, pineapple, sparkling water, mint and a touch of peta zetas; although each season they have new proposals as exotic as this one. Their sandwiches and toasts are also out of the ordinary.
📍Location: Baja de San Pablo, 51 (Downtown) and Costanilla de Los Ángeles, 7 (Downtown).
26. En Bruto
En Bruto is an amalgam of things that could only be understood together in 2024. It is a coworking, cooking workshop, fermenting space, pastry shop and specialty coffee shop, of course. The truth is that it has something of the old market spirit brought to the XXI century, it is arranged with a common area with tables surrounded by small stalls for each thing.
📍Location: San Lucas, 13 (Chueca)
27. Borbeen
Borbeen fits into the category of specialty coffee shops which is ideal if you are looking for a place where you can telework. Although it is also, simply, a good choice to relax while you enjoy a good coffee. Here you will find, in addition to the usual flavors, others such as pistachio latte or Chips Ahoy. And you can accompany it with the famous Dubai chocolate, which has become so famous in TikTok.
📍Location: Calle del Prínicipe de Vergara, 93 (Salamanca neighborhood) and Calle de Concepción Jerónima, 30 (Downtown).
If the word barista is common in your vocabulary, you think it’s sacrilege to add sugar to your coffee and you grind the beans daily, the best specialty coffee shops in Madrid have to be your A, B, C.