Six of Europe's best coffee shops are Portuguese

Six of Europe's best coffee shops are Portuguese, and three of them are in Lisbon. It's Saturday, 25 July. Twenty-six degrees. Here's what you need to know.

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SIX OF EUROPE'S BEST COFFEE SHOPS ARE PORTUGUESE. THREE ARE IN LISBON.

A new ranking from the European Coffee Trip, one of the most established independent guides to specialty coffee in Europe, has placed six Portuguese cafés among the best on the continent. Three of the six are in Lisbon: SO Coffee Roasters, The Folks, and Torra Roasting & Coffee. The other three, 7g Roaster, Combi Coffee Roasters and Booínga, are in the Porto area. Six from one country is one of the strongest showings on the list.

The three Lisbon entries are worth knowing. SO Coffee Roasters roasts its own beans and has locations in both Lisbon and Porto. The Folks has several branches across Lisbon, built around consistently good specialty coffee with a full breakfast and brunch menu. Torra Roasting & Coffee, on Travessa do Conde da Ponte near LX Factory, is a roastery and café in one, with single-origin beans roasted on site.

What the ranking reflects is a shift that has been building for years. Portugal has one of the highest per-capita espresso consumption rates in Europe, but until recently, that meant the traditional bica at the pastelaria counter, made with commodity-grade beans and served in thirty seconds. The specialty scene grew up alongside it rather than replacing it, and the two now coexist in a way that is unusual in Europe. You can still get a 70-cent espresso at the counter on most streets in Lisbon. You can also, increasingly, get a pour-over made with single-origin beans roasted a few kilometres away.

That coexistence is what makes the Portuguese coffee scene different. In cities like London or Berlin, specialty coffee largely displaced the old café culture. Here, they sit next to each other, sometimes in the same street, serving different purposes. The pastelaria is for the quick morning ritual. The specialty café is for the longer sit, the laptop, the conversation about where the beans came from. Neither has killed the other, and both are thriving.

The European Coffee Trip has been mapping and reviewing specialty cafés across the continent since 2015, assessing venues on the quality of their coffee, their baristas and their commitment to sourcing and roasting. The full list covers dozens of countries, but six entries from a country that most people still associate with instant-speed espresso is notable.

What this means for you: if you have not explored the specialty coffee scene here beyond your usual spot, SO Coffee Roasters, The Folks and Torra are all open now, all roast their own beans, and have the best coffee in the neighbourhood. The 70-cent bica is not going anywhere. But the range of what you can drink in this city has expanded.

Bottom line: the country that built its coffee culture on the bica now has six of Europe's best specialty cafés. Three of them are a walk away.

⚡ QUICK HITS

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

BREAKFAST LOVERS (CHIADO)

On Rua Vítor Cordon, a few minutes downhill from Largo do Chiado, Breakfast Lovers has built itself into one of the most consistently well-reviewed brunch spots in the city. It holds a 4.9 on Google from over 4,000 reviews and a 4.9 on TripAdvisor from over 400, where it ranks among the top handful of restaurants in Lisbon. Those numbers are not a fluke. The menu is built around eggs Benedict variations, pancakes, smoothie bowls and specialty lattes, all made from scratch, and the portions are generous enough that you will not need lunch.

The space is small, bright and cosy, with plates on the walls as decoration and a warm atmosphere that regulars describe as the reason they keep coming back. It is walk-ins only, no reservations, which means weekend mornings can involve a short queue, but it moves. Reckon on about €15 to €20 a head for a full brunch with coffee.

Worth knowing before you go: the specialty lattes and flat whites get regular mentions in reviews and are worth ordering alongside whatever you eat. The menu is vegetarian-friendly throughout, with enough options that nobody at the table has to compromise.

→ See the menu and find them here ←

Insider tip: go on a weekday morning if you want a table without waiting. On Saturdays, arrive before 10 or be prepared to queue. If you are in a group, order different eggs Benedict variations across the table so you can compare.

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