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There is much to see in Paris, from the elegant Jardin de Tuileries to the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, and the hilly streets of Montmartre. And with that, you need the energy to keep going. So, here are 4 shops you need to visit for the best specialty coffee in Paris!
Oh, Paris! With its charming streets straight out of a movie, more museums than you can visit on any given trip, and its many boulangeries filled with pastries that look too good to eat.
Paris is known for many things but coffee isn’t something I would particularly think of when I think of Paris.
In my mind, Paris has cafes with salads and crepes and some kind of caffeinated drink to serve after the meal, with no real thought or dedication given to the coffee being served.
But it seems like that is no longer the case, with more specialty coffee shops opening around Paris and perfecting their craft to a T.
Some mix their local style of small intimate cafes with vintage tile work, while others opt for an ultramodern twist with a full-on black facade in the middle of a cream-colored street.
Specialty coffee in Paris is well and thriving, and I am all here for it!
So after visiting a few coffee shops during my last trip to the city of light—and inducing way too many coffee shakes in the name of research—here are my top 4 shops that you need to visit for the best specialty coffee in Paris.
4 Shops You Need To Visit For The Best Specialty Coffee In Paris
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Your future decaffeinated self will thank you!
Motors Coffee: Modern specialty coffee shop in Paris
An easy-to-spot modern specialty coffee shop with an all-black facade, minimalist branding, worn-down walls, and a snug seating space.
The coffee was actually delicious, but the service wasn’t ideal with the “too cool for you” attitude that some specialty coffee shops sadly have sometimes. Or maybe it was a Paris thing, I don’t know.
But the coffee and the chocolate chip cookie were both too good to care about the attitude.
Cafe du Clown: Intimate cafe with excellent coffee
This little Parisian coffee shop is a nice mix of old and new, with amazing third-wave coffee and a traditional-looking facade with the name of the coffee shop spelled out in gorgeous tiles.
A snug specialty coffee shop with lovely and welcoming staff located in the Marche Couvert Saint Germain, a popular area but away from the crowds.
The perfect place to grab a pick-me-up while exploring this beautiful area of Paris, since all their drinks are double espresso, with no option for decaf.
This place also came highly recommended by the amazing barista of Substance Cafe, whom I would follow into battle.
Substance Cafe: The ultimate specialty coffee in Paris
Specialty coffee represents the highest level of quality coffee you can buy, with intense attention to every step of the process, from cultivation, roasting, and preparation. And if there is one place that embodies all of that, is Substance Café.
I don’t even know where to begin, I will just say, that if you are looking for specialty coffee in Paris and only have time for one place it must be Substance Café.
Substance Cafe is a reservation-only specialty coffee shop in Paris, it doesn’t mean you have to pay for a reservation, nor are you expected to consume a specific amount, it functions as a normal coffee shop.
The magic here is that there are reservations in place since the wonderful barista, Joachim, takes the time to welcome each customer and helps you discover what you want to drink and how.
I have been to “similar” places such as the famous Glitch in Tokyo, and left completely disappointed by the experience, lack of genuine interaction, and the pushiness of the barista to try the most expensive beans—Cafe Substance is nothing like that.
Joachim is the most genuine, passionate, friendly, and welcoming barista I have ever met and he takes the experience of getting a coffee to a whole new level.
So much so, that we ended up staying the whole two hours of our reservation, and tried two espressos with different kinds of beans, one incredible flat white, and finally got to try Geisha in a pour-over.
It was all incredible, the experience itself is unforgettable and it made me appreciate coffee on a whole new level.
A specialty coffee shop I will recommend over and over, and one I will visit every time I’m in Paris.
The coffee: Modern Japanese-inspired specialty coffee shop
Another great place serving amazing specialty coffee in Paris is “The Coffee”, a minimalist Japanese-inspired coffee shop with a few locations sprinkled around the city.
By the look of it, I really thought it was a Japanese-originated company—it truly reminded me of some of my favorite Tokyo coffee shops—but it actually is a Brazilian native fully inspired by the to-go culture of the Japanese raising third-wave coffee shops, nonetheless, the coffee is delicious.
We visited the shop located in Rue Cardinal by the Pantheon which caught my attention by its perfect Google reviews score, seriously 5.0 out of over a hundred reviews.
It quickly became very clear that the high reviews were well deserved, the service was very welcoming and informative, and the drinks were made to perfection.
The interesting thing about The Coffee compared to other specialty coffee shops in Paris, is that it plays with classics, whereas most specialty coffee shops like to minimize their menus.
I loved how The Coffee creates fun versions of these, they even have their own menu for their unique drinks, such as the Caramel Flat white, which I ordered and loved.
As a Japanese-influenced coffee, they obviously serve classic matcha-based drinks, as well as some with a fun twist, like their Vanilla matcha latte. However, we stuck to the classic and ordered a regular matcha latte which was also delicious.
After spending a few days slowly exploring the beautiful streets of Paris and trying as many coffee shops as I could, these four really stood out to me.
With many specialty coffee shops sometimes focusing too hard on the decor of the place and not enough on the coffee, all of these four specialty coffee shops in Paris, have the best of both worlds, unique personalities, and incredible coffee.
So I hope you make your way to either one of these, or maybe all of them, and try for yourself. Do you have a favorite specialty coffee shop in Paris that you would recommend?
Let us know in the comments, we are always up for trying a new coffee spot!