Green: Superlative, a must visit. These are cafes that typically source exceptional coffees direct from the farmer, roast themselves to highlight the terroir above the roast, or use coffee from a well-regarded roaster who does the same. Their baristas are highly trained and consistent, and most of the time you’ll have an exceptional coffee here!

Yellow: Good or Very good: shops that are making a strong effort to ensure high quality. This may include some cafes that can be inconsistent, or that I haven’t visited enough to judge consistency. Read the individual reviews for more detail.

Purple: Honorable mention: above average (or quirky coffee experiences), worth a visit if you’re nearby.

Note that these rankings should be taken as rough guides and are relative to their local context. Things change over time, staff and management changes, and this can all affect the coffee for better or for worse. If you have a good or bad experience, leave a comment and let everyone benefit from your knowledge!

Zoom in and scroll around each city. You’ll find the best specialty coffee and cafes I’ve reviewed in Seoul, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Malmö and beyond!

EUROPE:

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ASIA:

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NORTH AMERICA

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Follow the link to the larger map on your iPhone or iPad to bookmark it, then you can access this guide whenever you’re out.

Also, if you want a more comprehensive map of the best cafes in Tokyo, check out Masahiro Onishi’s great map here.