Paris Specialty Coffee Guide — September 2017 Update

At the behest of my French friends, who moved into their beautiful Marais apartment a few months ago, and spurred on by a Eurostar sale, I recently returned to Paris for another long weekend. My two previous visits were rainy and cold, but this time, I was treated to glorious sunshine all weekend. I also managed to visit six new-to-me specialty coffee shops — all on the Right Bank — and two of my favourites from previous trips. I was also interested to see that many of the shops I visited featured guest roasters from outside Paris, so I got to enjoy a mini European coffee tour that took me from Bath to Berlin and on to Copenhagen.

My Paris coffee to-do list is still long — and growing fast — but with these new addresses, my Paris Coffee Map now includes more than 20 venues (please also check out my March 2017 post and my June 2016 post). I hope you find it useful if you are planning a trip to Paris. To get to my latest coffee shop reviews, just scroll on down.



Boot Café
A tiny, cash-only coffee bar inside a former cordonnerie (shoe-repair shop — hence the name), Boot Café is located on a quiet but characterful street in the Marais.

There is only room for a handful of stools inside, as well as a few more on the pavement, and I loved the cosy, rustic décor. The coffee is from Berlin's Five Elephant and I sampled a smooth and well-balanced cortado (€3). If you're in the mood for black coffee, there is a Chemex (€6) option on the menu, but the shop was so busy that I figured an espresso-based drink would be a more considerate order. They also sell cookies and a few other baked goods.

Boot Café is located at 19 Rue du Pont aux Choux in the 3rd arrondissement (Métro: Saint-Sébastien – Froissart). Website. Instagram.

Fringe
Part speciaity coffee shop, part cafe and part photography space, Fringe combines several of my favourite things.

Alas, I only really had time to try the former, but I'm keen to return to sample the tartine-tastic lunch menu. Inside, the café is peaceful, reasonably small and as well-lit and well-decorated as you might expect. The coffee was from Danish roaster Coffee Collective, and there were the usual espresso-based drinks available (with soya and rice milk options) and a Kalita Wave filter coffee (€6). Mainly for reasons of speed, I ordered a cortado (€3.50), which was made with Fringe's house espresso, a Kenyan Kieni from Coffee Collective. It wasn't the prettiest cortado of my trip but it was one of the tastiest — some lovely flavours came through.

Fringe is located at 106 Rue de Turenne in the 3rd arrondissement (Métro: Filles du Calvaire). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Honor
A sunny Saturday is the perfect day to visit Honor, an outdoor coffee kiosk located in a quiet courtyard just off Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

There are a few small seats next to the coffee bar, a few stools at the bar itself and, I noticed later, several seats in a covered area behind the bar. It was standing-room only by the time we arrived but it was a nice day for perching. Although I'd read that Honor usually serves Coutume coffee, they were serving coffee from Round Hill Roastery (based in Bath in the UK). I ordered a piccolo (€4) with a Colombian espresso that worked very well with a little milk. The coffee was well-prepared, as were my friends' drinks. I may also have sampled some of the (delicious) cheesecake brownie... They also serve Aeropress-brewed coffee (€6) and cold brew (€5). Note: Honor is closed on Sundays.

Honor is located at 54 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement (Métro: Madeleine or Concorde). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

MATAMATA
As a teenager in Paris, I used to come to Rue d'Argout to visit a popular fashion emporium known as Le Shop. These days, I'm more interested in the sleek, understated coffee bar, MATAMATA, a few doors down.

With work space in the larger basement room and avocado toast on the menu, MATAMATA is one of the hipper cafés in Paris's specialty coffee scene. It was the coffee that brought me, of course, and my friend and I both ordered a Kalita Wave-brewed pourover. The featured coffee was a Guatemalan Renardo Ovalle from Café Mokxa, a roastery based in Lyon and Strasbourg. We sat at one of the small tables on the pavement and enjoyed the coffee's cocoa and praline notes as it cooled.

MATAMATA is located at 58 Rue d'Argout in the 2nd arrondissement (Métro: Sentier). Website. Instagram.

Neighbours
Neighbours is Honor's British-spelling-adherent sister — it opened in the Marais about five months ago — but I visited the younger sibling first. I went for breakfast on Saturday morning and began to wish that I didn't already have brunch plans because the brunch menu (served all week) looked amazing.

I 'consoled' myself with a slice of toasted banana bread, which came served with some delicious espresso butter. There weren't any hand-brewed filter coffees on the menu so I ordered a piccolo (€4). As at Honor, the coffee was from Round Hill and my piccolo was very well made and with faultless latte art. The café is small — most of the room is taken up with the minimalist coffee bar — and bright, with tasteful décor. The pavement tables are great for people-watching, but it was the friendly baristas who really stood out. A great find and one I'll return to often.

Neighbours is located at 89 Boulevard Beaumarchais in the 3rd arrondissement (Métro: Chemin Vert). Instagram.

République of Coffee

There was something of a specialty coffee dearth in the République area, especially compared to the neighbouring Marais to the south and Canal St Martin and Belleville to the east. Enter, then, République of Coffee, a stone's throw from the titular Place.

There is plenty of seating inside the bright café and I loved the bold accents of colour, particularly the neon sign at the back. I had a well-made Coutume cortado, and while I awaited my drink, my eyes fell on the amazing, colourful packages of coffee behind the bar. I hadn't heard of Lyon-based Placid Roasters, but the Ethiopian Biftu Gudina beans sounded great and the package happened to come in my three favourite colours. I took it as a sign and have been enjoying the coffee through my Aeropress at home.

République of Coffee is located at 2 Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10th arrondissement (Métro: République). Website. Instagram.


And here are the details of the two coffee shops to which I was delighted to return this time:

Coutume
After failing to check out Cuillier's Rue de Grenelle café, which is now closed at weekends (sometimes Google knows better than a company's website!), we met some friends at Coutume.

Last time I went to Coutume, I tried all of the coffee and brunch, and I've never had a bad experience there. Unsurprisingly, they were all out of cold brew on such a hot day, so my friend and I both ordered a Kenyan coffee brewed through the Kalita Wave (€5) and took our drinks to enjoy in a nearby park. The coffee was brewed beautifully with lovely black-tea notes.

Coutume is located at 47 rue de Babylone in the 7th arrondissement (Métro: Saint-François-Xavier or Vaneau). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

KB CaféShop
I liked my last KB CaféShop coffee so much that it has become my Twitter and Instagram avatar. The coffee shop's proximity to Gare du Nord also makes it an excellent place to caffeinate before or after Eurostar journeys.

After enjoying a piccolo last time, I decided to try an Aeropress-brewed filter coffee this time (€5). There were about six single-origin coffees on offer and I selected a Kenyan Slopes of 8 PB, which was incredibly fruity with gorgeous blueberry notes.

KB CaféShop is located at 53 Avenue Trudaine in the 9th arrondissement (Métro: Anvers). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Curated Brew Reviewed

The range of speciality coffee subscription services available these days is impressive, if a little overwhelming. For some time, I’ve received regular coffee deliveries from Pact Coffee. For maximum convenience, I get usually get Pact Coffee delivered to the office, and then stock my home ‘brew bar’ with coffee beans I’ve either bought in London or picked up on my travels.

It’s hard not to experience FOMO when I see people sharing their photos of really great coffee they’ve received from other subscription services — particularly those services that offer beans from a rotating selection of coffee roasters from the UK, continental Europe and beyond. I live by myself, however, and despite my best efforts there is only so much speciality coffee one woman can drink (and afford).

But when I first read about Curated Brew, thanks to a tip from London’s Best Coffee, I thought its focus on high-quality coffee from some of Europe’s best established and up-and-coming roasters, combined with the convenience of being able to pause or cancel one’s subscription at any time would suit me well. I signed up for Curated Brew four months ago — although because I skipped one delivery while I was in Boston, I’ve received three bags of coffee beans — and thought it was time to share my experiences.

First, and most importantly, the coffee has been fantastic. I received beans from one of my favourite Swedish roasters Koppi, Berlin’s excellent Five Elephant and the wonderful Danish Coffee Collective.

The Koppi beans in particular — a Finca El Porvenir coffee from Colombia — were awesome, with chocolate and berry notes when brewed through my Aeropress (first photo below), and it tasted just as good as a piccolo. Five Elephant’s Kenyan Kamwangi AA coffee, meanwhile, had lovely, light, floral notes brewed as a pourover (second photo below). Finally, Coffee Collective's Halo Yirgacheffe coffee had a delightfully complex taste, with nice peachy notes coming through. I've pulled a couple of good Halo espresso shots at home too. 

Some, although not all, of the coffee packages came with a card with more information about the roaster and the coffee. I loved all three coffees, but I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to try out a new-to-me roaster. Unfortunately, the month I skipped would have given me that opportunity, as the featured coffee was from Danish roaster April. September's coffee, which I am skipping, is from Colonna, and I'm sure it will be wonderful, although again, it's a roaster I'm familiar with already. Another minor frustration for me was that some months, the identity of the month's featured roaster was only revealed several weeks after I had been billed. It’s nice to be surprised (says the woman who plans every last thing!), but knowing what the coffee will be before I pay for it would help me decide whether I might want to skip a month.

Curated Brew costs £11.95 per month, including delivery, for a 250g bag of beans, which you can have as whole-bean or ground. This isn’t particularly cheap but it is excellent value given the quality of the coffee. The customer service has been great too — whenever I have emailed with a question, I have received a swift response.

All of that being said, I am not sure that Curated Brew is the service for me — at least for now — and this is solely because it doesn't suit my coffee lifestyle. Understandably, you can only receive the coffee at one specific point in the month — generally, although not always, the last week of the month. As I travel frequently and like to bring home coffee beans, this inflexibility makes it hard to plan and means I risk having a surplus or shortage of beans. Moreover, one of the reasons I signed up was the ability to pause or skip deliveries online but there isn’t an option on my account page (other than the 'cancel' button, which feels rather final) and instead, I had to email to get my account paused. This is not a huge amount of effort, of course, but more control would be much better.

If you like receiving excellent coffee from some really great roasters and don't have the same ‘stock control’ issues as I do, I think you might get on rather well with Curated Brew. I have currently paused/cancelled my account — I will be travelling a lot over the next couple of months, but I'm not sure that I will resubscribe when I get back. However, I will certainly continue to follow Curated Brew with interest — I suspect that as they grow, there will be more flexibility. The option to just buy a single bag of beans without subscribing would be really useful, for example, so that I didn't miss out on a must-try coffee.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Stir Coffee, Brixton

Finding myself — unusually — with plans in Clapham on Saturday, I took the opportunity to visit a new-to-me coffee shop on the way. The Black Lab, on Clapham Common's Southside, would have been the closest coffee bar but I've already been a couple of times (it's great), so I had to look a little further afield. In the end, I decided to go to Stir Coffee on Brixton Hill, which has been on my list for a while.

When I'm in Brixton, I tend to hang out in and around Brixton Market; Stir Coffee is about a half-mile south of there and the Tube. On Saturday, I had already eaten lunch closer to home at the Bermondsey Street Festival, and although Stir serves food, I was hoping to miss the brunch/lunch rush. It was still pretty busy when I arrived, with a queue soon forming behind me. Inside, it's a cosy, rustic space with bar stools at the windows, a few tables in the front and on the pavement, and more seating in the back room. The exterior suggests that the site may once have been a pub.

As there were both V60 and Aeropress (£4) options on the menu, I asked what was on offer at the brew bar, but was persuaded to try the batch-brew filter coffee (£2.40), a Kenyan Mchana AA coffee from Round Hill Roastery, which had been selling extremely well. I also ordered a piccolo (£2.40) and, from the selection of nice-looking cakes on the counter, I plumped for a brownie (£2.90).

I nabbed one of the stools by the window and before long, the piccolo and the brownie arrived. Learning from previous mistakes, I saved the latter until after I'd tried both coffees to avoid overriding my palate with its rich, chocolatey, salted-caramel deliciousness (yes, it was great!).

The piccolo was excellent too. I didn't check which of the Round Hill coffees was in the hopper, but the flavours of the espresso were very well-balanced, making for a smooth taste that paired well with my sweet treat. It was well-prepared too, the latte art prevailing right down to the bottom.

The filter coffee arrived soon afterwards and given its rave reviews, I was slightly underwhelmed as to me, it was a little on the weak side, making it hard to pull out the blackcurrant notes I might have expected. A new batch had just been brewed and I suspect I was just unlucky. I thought about trying the coffee as a V60 as well, but ran out of time.

As I said, though, the piccolo was excellent and I otherwise really enjoyed my time at Stir. It was bustling and lively on a Saturday afternoon and the service was really good — well worth the short walk from central Brixton.

Stir Coffee. 111 Brixton Hill, Brixton, London, SW2 1AA (Tube: Brixton). Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Oslo Specialty Coffee Guide

Oslo's city centre is relatively compact but the coffee-loving Norwegian capital is home to countless coffee shops and some top-notch specialty coffee roasters. I packed in visits to quite a few during my recent trip, and I had some particularly excellent hand-brewed (håndbrygget) filter coffees while I was there. I also enjoyed many of the cortados and piccolos I tried, although prepare to be asked whether you'd like a single or double shot (and, in some cases, how much milk you want). This being Norway, the coffee was on the pricey side: most cortados cost about 40 NOK (about £4) for a double, while hand-brewed filter coffees tended to run at between 40 and 60 NOK (£4–6).

I chose to stay in the arty Grünerløkka neighbourhood mainly because of its proximity to some of the city's best coffee shops and micro-roasteries (many of the bigger roasteries are located further outside the city centre, of course). This meant that all of the specialty coffee shops listed below were within easy walking distance, but if you stay centrally, you will probably not be too far from the good coffee.



Grünerløkka
Tim Wendelboe
Top of my list of coffee spots to hit, Tim Wendelboe, needs no introduction. The roaster is considered one of Europe's best specialty coffee roasters and I've enjoyed some beautiful Tim Wendelboe coffees over the years. It was no coincidence that their Grünerløkka espresso bar, roastery and training centre was just four minutes' walk from my hotel.

I was first through the door when the coffee bar opened at 11:00 on Saturday morning. It took me a while to decide which of the extensive list of single-origin coffees to try, though, and a queue had formed by the time I'd made up my mind, although thanks to the efficient and friendly baristas, it was soon my turn.

The coffee bar is small with only a few seats and spots to perch inside, and a few more out on the pavement, although the inclement weather during my visit turned me off that idea. The décor is rustic and minimalist; I particularly liked the turquoise chairs. There was also a cupping session taking place in the adjacent training room. It was fully booked, so I couldn't join in, unfortunately, although with such a hectic coffee agenda that day, perhaps that was for the best.

I ordered a Caballero Geisha from Honduras, brewed through the Aeropress, as well as a cortado with a different Honduran Caballero. The cortado was nice, but it was the filter coffee that really stood out. The lovely papaya notes of the coffee came through beautifully and it was impeccably brewed. In fact, I knew then that I wanted to buy some beans to take home. It was only when I got to the front of the queue that I noticed the 299 NOK (£30) price tag — almost twice the price of the other beans. But the coffee was one of the best filter coffees I've had all year, so I bit the bullet and sunk all my home-coffee-bean funds into this one bag. I have been enjoying it at home this week too, so I have no regrets.

Tim Wendelboe is located at Grüners gate 1, 0552 Oslo. Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Supreme Roastworks
Ten minutes' walk north of Tim Wendelboe, Supreme Roastworks' cosy coffee bar and roastery occupies a small space at the top of Thorvald Meyers gate. I arrived during the lunchtime rush but managed to nab a seat at the L-shaped coffee bar. There are also a few small tables in the main room and some more seating the next room, which also houses the roaster.

There were three single-origin coffees available as a V60 pourover: a Colombian, a Kenyan and an Ethiopian. I followed the friendly barista's enthusiastic recommendation and opted for the latter, a Diima Guji. As I was sitting right next to the brew bar, I could smell from a metre away how great a coffee it was going to be, and after my first sip, savouring the floral, pineapple and passionfruit notes, I was not disappointed. I had other plans for lunch but if you're in need of a quick bite, they serve a few sandwiches and cakes.

Supreme Roastworks is located at Thorvald Meyers gate 18A, 0474 Oslo. Website. Instagram.

Solberg & Hansen Concept Store
Established in 1879, specialty coffee and tea company Solberg & Hansen puts the 'old' in the 'old guard of Oslo's coffee scene'. Their roastery is located to the east of the city centre so I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to sample their coffee, but then I happened upon their concept store inside the foodie hotspot that is Mathallen.

The Solberg & Hansen concession occupies a good-sized space in a bright corner of Mathallen. A septet of Kalita Wave drippers was ready and waiting on the counter, and the menu included three single-origin coffees, from Ethiopia, Colombia and Papua New Guinea. I tried the Ethiopian Tade, which had bright citrus and bergamot notes that came through very nicely in the well-brewed drink. The care and attention to detail the staff put in to their work really showed. And if you're a tea-drinker, there were three teas on offer from S&H's collection, as well as many more available to buy for home brewing.

Solberg & Hansen Concept Store is located at Mathallen, Maridalsveien 17, 0178 Oslo. Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Hendrix Ibsen
The closest coffee shop to my hotel (it was right next door), Hendrix Ibsen, was also one of the coolest. It's a bar and vinyl shop as well as a coffee bar and even early on a Friday afternoon, there was a relaxed but fun atmosphere.

They take their coffee seriously, though, with beans from Norwegian roaster Kaffa, whose coffee I tried at various cafés during my visit. At Hendrix Ibsen, I ordered a cortado with their house espresso — Kaffa's Kiaragana. My coffee came in a Kaffeeform cup and was nicely prepared. There aren't any hand-brewed filter coffees on the menu, but they do serve cold brew, nitro cold brew and espresso tonic, if you're playing it cool.

Hendrix Ibsen is located at Vulkan 16, 0178 Oslo. Website. Instagram.

Oslovelo
I didn't have time to stop for coffee at cycle store/cafe-bar Oslovelo, as I'd spent too long sheltering from the rain in Supreme Roastworks and was late for lunch. I did pop inside, though, and it looked like a nice spot. They serve Supreme Roastworks coffee but I didn't spot an espresso machine so I suspect it's probably filter-coffee only.

Oslovelo is located at Seilduksgata 23A, 0553 Oslo. Website. Instagram.

St Hanshaugen
Java
Up on the hill in leafy St Hanshaugen, Java was perhaps the most welcoming of all the coffee shops I visited (which is saying something because everyone was very friendly). I visited on Sunday morning and the small, beautifully tiled coffee bar was very busy indeed. There were lots of families there and clearly lots of regulars coming in for coffee, breakfast and chats.

There were no fewer than seven single-origin Kaffa coffees available as hand-brewed filter coffee. I decided to go for the Kenyan Kiaragana, which I had also tried in the cortado I had at Hendrix Ibsen. I think the coffee worked better as a filter coffee, its tart notes accentuated sans milk. I took a seat in the window, which was great for people-watching. If the weather is fine, you can also grab one of seats out front.

Java is located at Ullevaalsveien 47, 0171 Oslo. Website.

Grønland
Kaffebrenneriet
There are dozens of branches of Kaffebrenneriet all over Oslo, but I decided to visit their Grønland location, which is based inside a 150-year-old fire station. I particularly liked the use of a portafilter as the door handle, but there are lots of nice design features inside too. The cafe occupies a large space with high ceilings, exposed-brick walls and plenty of seating. The coffee bar runs the length of one wall and the baristas will happily prepare an espresso-based drink or a svart kaffe (black coffee). There are two batch-brew filter coffee options, which change regularly, while the espresso is usually the Klassisk espresso blend.

I had already had several filter coffees that day, so I ordered a cortado, which was really good. It was also one of the few cortados I had in Oslo that came with latte art. The milk was well steamed and textured, and the design lasted down to the bottom of the cup. There was also a large selection of beans available for purchase; some of the Cup of Excellence beans looked very good.

Kaffebrenneriet is located at Grønlandsleiret 32, 0190 Oslo. Website. There are more than 30 other locations across Oslo.

Downtown
Fuglen
Coffee bar and vintage store by day, and cocktail joint by night, Fuglen is my kind of place. The sun was over the yardarm on my first visit so I sampled the libations, but I came back to check out the coffee. There were beans for sale from Kaffa and Tim Wendelboe, and from Langøra, which had some beautiful retail packaging.

I ordered a cortado with a Kaffa espresso, and it came served in a tall shot glass, which made it a little hard to judge when to say 'when' on the milk front. The coffee was nice, though: smooth and chocolatey. I enjoyed sipping my drink on one of the vintage chairs set out on the sunny pavement.

Fuglen is located at Universitetsgata 2, 0164 Oslo. Website. Twitter. Instagram.

Steam Kaffebar
Located inside Oslo's central station, Steam Kaffebar is just opposite the Oslo Visitor Centre, which is how I found it. Lured in by the colourful Lippe Kaffe packaging, I decided to stop by for a quick cortado. Like at Fuglen, it came in a tall shot glass and again, I wasn't very good at the 'how much milk would you like?' game. The coffee was good, though, and the cafe is a good bet if you're looking for a decent coffee stop in or near the station.

Steam Kaffebar is located at Jernbanetorget 1, 0154 Oslo. Website. Instagram. There are two other Oslo branches.

I found out only after booking that three weeks after my trip, an Oslo coffee festival, in the form of Kaffikaze, would be taking place at the Vulkan Arena, a few doors down from my hotel in Grünerløkka. (If you happen to be in town, Kaffikaze is on Saturday 30 September 2017 and you can buy tickets here.)