Touring the best coffee shops in Madrid is a very current luck. As with the sourdough bread in Madrid, finding specialty coffees a decade ago was complicated. Roasted coffee or blends were, and still are in many cases, the most common. This is a post-war legacy, to compensate for the poor coffee to which the great majority of Spaniards had access, 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 roast is forbidden. Take paper and pencil, because the fever of good coffee in Madrid, of specialty coffee (from speciality coffee, if you are feeling 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: from being 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.
Calle de San Joaquín, 9 (Chueca)
2. Tornasol Coffees
The Antón Martín Market, one of the gastronomic jewels of the capital, could not be without specialty coffee. Here coffee is treated as if it had a life of its own, recipes for each bean are written on the wall. One of its coffee suppliers is Puchero, specialists in roasting good coffee. Also don’t miss his brunch.
Antón Martín Market (Calle de Santa Isabel, 5)
3. Ruda Café
Freshly ground 100% Arabica coffee is what they serve at Ruda Café. If you drink it espresso, ask for it to be made naked. The creaminess and density it provides is indisputable. Their sweets are not far behind. Rudas, small pastries with a touch of lemon, are ideal to accompany the drink.
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 stores 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.
Calle Luisa Fernanda, 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 they currently have two locations in Chamberí. Toma is the place for coffee sybarites where to have breakfast or snack luxury. In addition, Toma 3 is open Thursday through Saturday nights under the name Proper Sound and also worships vinyl music and wine.
49 La Palma Street (Malasaña); 5 Santa Feliciana Street (Chamberí) and 16 Raimundo Lulio Street (Chamberí)
6. Pum Pum Café
Pum Pum Café is almost more known by tourists than by locals. But beyond its Instagram fame, its products are organic, it’s a vegetarian coffee shop with vegan options, and its coffee comes from a small Madrid-based producer who roasts and grinds it almost daily. The project has been growing and now they have Pum Pum Bakery, Pizza Posta and Parque Café.
Tribulete Street, 6 (Lavapiés) and Esgrima Street, 1 (Tirso de Molina).
7. Hello Coffee
Hola Coffee made the list of the best coffee shops in Madrid, almost since its birth in 2017. Its owner was named Spanish Barista Champion 2016 and his coffee is served in other coffee shops, restaurants and hotels. They offer barista training courses and have advice on how to start your own speciality coffee.
Dr. Fourquet Street, 33 (Lavapiés) and Lagasca Street, 42 (Salamanca)
8. 1000 Cups Coffee
At 1000 Cups Café they are expert baristas and roasters of their own specialty coffee. In addition to drinking an espresso dopio, you can buy their coffee and even a coffee grinder, among other coffee gadgets, in their online store.
Camino de Ganapanes, 1 (El Pilar) and 50 Capitán Blanco Argibay Street (Valdeacederas)
9. Aroma and Bread
At Aroma and Bread you can taste a roasted coffee from Germany, such as SUEDHANG Kaffee, and also accompany it with one of the best madrid cheesecakes. The artisanal kombucha they serve also has many followers.
Apodaca Street, 10 (Malasaña)
10. Rebel Café
Rebel Café selects coffees from such disparate parts of the world as Burundi and Guatemala, which vary almost every weekend (warn on Instagram) and are an experience for coffee sybarites. They also use different coffee pots and have a very peculiar one invented in the 19th century.
Ponzano Street, 90 (Chamberí)
11. Plantate Café
In addition to drinking intense coffee, you can do it surrounded by plants, hence its name. At Plántate Café they serve Square Mile Coffee Roasters, a London roaster and supplier with a good reputation.
Calle Meson de Paredes, 28 (Lavapiés)
12. Coffee
With a vintage touch and in the middle of Lavapiés cafelito, Cafelito, serves specialty coffee from Colombia. As if this were not enough, here you can exchange books and cultural activities are organized.
Sombrerete Street, 20 (Lavapiés)
13. 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 you can become a real barista.
Calle de Vallehermoso, 112 (Vallehermoso)
14. Happy Coffee
This cozy meeting point for enjoying coffee is located in the heart of the neighborhood of Las Letras. In addition to specialty coffee, they also sell natural wines and decorative objects.
2 Lope de Vega Street (Las Letras) and 22 Ventura de la Vega Street (downtown)
15. Acid Café
Acid Café and Acid Bakehouse are two specialty coffee shops with exquisite pastries. The first one has been supplying the coffee growers in the neighborhood of Las Letras since 2017 with the Danish coffee La Cabra. The second is also workroom and they sell one of the best sourdough breads in Madrid.
Calle Verónica, 9 (Las Letras) and Calle de la Magdalena, 27 (Lavapiés)
16. Santa Kafeina
Near the Canal subway is this small stand with a selection of coffees roasted by The Fix, Nomad Coffee, among others. If you have the opportunity, try the cocoa cream, banana and brioche bread sandwich or their homemade cookies.
Viriato Street, 37 (Chamberí)
17. Mission Café
That Mission Café is a regular on Instagram stories doesn’t detract from the quality of their coffee. In fact, their coffee comes from Hola Coffee Roastery, a coffee institution in Madrid. They have also had a bakehouse since 2021, located in the adjoining premises, which not only supplies the cafeteria, but also sells to the public.
Calle de los Reyes, 5 (Noviciado) and Cta de San Vicente, 28 (Príncipe Pío)
18. Neutral House
Casa Neutrale already has two Nordic-style cafeterias . It serves specialty coffee (from Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Honduras), freshly made sandwiches, homemade pastries and a good assortment of savory options.
Calle de Regueros, 13 (Salesas) and pl. de Cataluña, 2 (Concha Espina)
19. Syra Coffee
At Syra Coffee they take meticulous care of each stage of coffee. From getting to know 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 own online store or in physical cafeterias.
Various locations
20. 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 coffee shop, where they offer the possibility of taking it home as beans or ground by them. One of the owners is also a pastry chef and is in charge of all the sweets, except for the croissants, which are from another bakery in the Zone.
37 Rodríguez San Pedro Street, Chamberí (Chamberí)
21. Cafecito Weather
If you’re into specialty coffee and chia pudding, you’ll love Clima Cafecito. They have everything from healthier (and saltier) options with toasts full of Verde to the unabashedly sweet: American-style cookies and brownies, and they serve them all day long. Breakfast is assured, but if you’re running late, that’s okay. They also have alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails they call “Los frescos”.
Calle de Alonso Cano, 5 (Chamberí)
22. God Café
This coffee shop opened around 2022 in Chamberí -a coffee neighborhood par excellence- and to make itself known, it had some advertising bicycles with hoods riding 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 two-story space, with high ceilings and a decoration that you would wish for your living room.
Calle de Galileo, 27 (Chamberí)
23. Café Angelica
Café Angelica is a modern café (2017) that has retained the aesthetics and 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 of the coffee industry, and decided to have fair trade suppliers from Colombia, Guatemala or Ethiopia and roast the beans themselves to their liking.
24 San Bernardo Street, Malasaña (Malasaña)
24. HanSo
HanSo is committed to differentiating itself in its preparations. Here you can find special coffees such as 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 every season they have new exotic proposals like this one. Your sandwiches and toast are also out of the ordinary.
Pez Street, 20 (Malasaña) and Costanilla de los Ángeles, 7 (Ópera)
25. Raw
En Bruto is an amalgam of things that could only be understood together in 2024. It is a co-working, cooking workshop, fermenting space, bakery 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 everything.
San Lucas, 13 (Chueca)
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.