Coffee places in Paris
This year, I’m going to give a talk at my current job on the subject of specialty coffee. To go with the talk, I’ve listed the places in Paris that I recommend for people that would like to begin their journey but don’t know where to start.
I’ll try to update this page when I find new things !
Where to go to have a coffee ?
- KB coffeeshop - 53 av. Trudaine, 75009
Big terrace, lots of energy, but they manage to keep an uncompromising quality even with tons of customers.
- Radiodays - 15 rue Alibert, 75010
Smaller shop, cosy atmosphere. High quality coffee and cookies. Go there alone with a book.
- 5 pailles - 79 rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, 75010
Fantastic coffee, good brunches. Try their filter.
- Motors coffee - 7 rue des Halles, 75001
Top-tier coffee, fast-paced, incredible energy.
- Back in black - 25 rue Amelot, 75011
Same team as KB, but way quieter. Good if you want to spend more time and talk with the team there.
- Café Lomi - 3 ter rue Marcadet, 75018
All around good place, quiet atmosphere.
- Café Coutume - 47 rue de Babylone, 75007
They also have a lot of other shops, but this one is the OG. Really good coffee.
Where and what to buy ?
There are a handful of really good roasters based in France. Most of the coffee shops listed above also sell beans. They can give you advice, offer you to taste some of them if they are serving it during your visit, and you can ask them to grind it for you if you don’t have a grinder at home.
If you want to get beans directly at home, that is also possible. Most roasters will often sell some hardware too, which can be handy if you are out of filters, or if you want to gear up :
The best of the best in my humble opinion. I suggest getting some advice from the people there, and tell them what you like, and/or if you are a newcomer, because they also have some fairly exotic beans, which can be a surprise if you are not prepared for it.
High quality too.
The website seem to appeal to professionals first, but they sell to individual customers as well.
They do mostly blends today, but they have a strong reputation and do a really good job.
Bonus !
You can book a cupping at the Belleville roastery. This is a small workshop in the saturday mornings, where they let you visit their roastery and explain their craft.
Then you get to do a proper coffee tasting, which they call “cupping”, like people in the industry do when they grade coffee. This is one of the best ways to experience how diverse this universe can be. I highly recommend it.
Learn more ?
There is a nice film named A film about coffee. It’s well written, and manages to explain a lot of the themes of the specialy coffee industry.
There is also some good contents on Youtube. I recommend the work of James Hoffmann who has a lot of cool guides on how to brew good coffee.