Did Your Favourite Café Make It to This Book of the World’s Best?
Phaidon’s new book on coffee takes a trip around the world in search of the finest cups of joe
“Coffee is the world’s most popular beverage after water,” reads Phaidon’s new book Where to Drink Coffee, and if the 82 million posts of latte art and cozy cafes on Instagram are anything to go by, they’re probably right.
It goes without saying that coffee is having a major moment thanks to the profusion of specialty coffee shops that have sprung up around the world in response to the “third wave” movement that brought about “a shift toward coffee appreciation on a deeper level,” according to the book.
Compiled by coffee connoisseurs Liz Clayton and Avidan Ross, the book traverses the globe—from Tokyo to Toronto, Mexico City to Melbourne—polling industry experts along the way for this exhaustive compendium of the world’s best coffee shops. Here’s a run-through of the numbers: 600 locations. 50 countries. 150 of the world’s top baristas and roasters.
A quick scan of the book—which is organized geographically— reveals that 40 of those coveted spots lie within our very own borders. Below, some of the Canadian coffee shops that earned a place on the list. The question is: did your favourite spot make the cut?
TORONTO: Boxcar Social
“Like a fancy wine bar for coffee, it turns into a great place to get wine in the evening,” says Alex Tran, co-owner of Toronto’s Capital Espresso. Boxcar, which has four locations around the city, is a multi-roaster café serving coffee from various roasters on a rotating basis, such as Phil & Sebastian from Calgary and The Barn from Berlin. Still trying to sharpen your coffee palate? They offer tasting flights so you can try (and compare) multiple coffees side by side.
VANCOUVER: The Birds & The Beets
“Finally, in Vancouver, you can eat something good and have excellent coffee in the same place. No more cardboard cookies and dry scones. It’s what more shops will start doing all over North America, and they’ll then surely point to Melbourne to say it’s the one thing we haven’t ripped off from Scandinavia. And they have the best barista in Vancouver,” says Drew Johnson, owner of Bows & Arrows Coffee Roasters in Victoria. If that’s not enough to get you in, we don’t know what is.
CALGARY: Rosso Coffee Roasters
“In a short time, these guys have become a staple in the Calgary coffee scene,” declares Jessica Johnston, founder of Prairie Coffee Collective. They source their beans directly from producers in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and Rwanda, and it’s all roasted on-site at their Ramsay location.
MONTREAL: Café Pista
What started out as a coffee cart on wheels where Josh Littlefield, founder of GreatAmericanCoffeeTour.com, “had an incredible shot of an Ethiopian coffee from Dispatch Coffee Roasters,” has grown into a cheery brick-and-mortar space full of—no surprises—pistachio-hued accents.
WINNIPEG: Thom Bargen
“Pour-overs are their filter specialty,” recommends Jessica Johnston. “They’re always on the hunt for new ways to improve their coffee game.” But honestly, we might just go for that gorgeous wall of greenery alone.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeBCPGBhjQv/?taken-by=thombargen
 multiple coffees side by side.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeEjK0cg0Ff/?hl=en&taken-by=boxcar_social
VANCOUVER: The Birds & The Beets
“Finally, in Vancouver, you can eat something good and have excellent coffee in the same place. No more cardboard cookies and dry scones. It’s what more shops will start doing all over North America, and they’ll then surely point to Melbourne to say it’s the one thing we haven’t ripped off from Scandinavia. And they have the best barista in Vancouver,” says Drew Johnson, owner of Bows & Arrows Coffee Roasters in Victoria. If that’s not enough to get you in, we don’t know what is.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU2booIFjPO/?hl=en&taken-by=birdsandbeets
CALGARY: Rosso Coffee Roasters
“In a short time, these guys have become a staple in the Calgary coffee scene,” declares Jessica Johnston, founder of Prairie Coffee Collective. They source their beans directly from producers in Guatemala, Costa Rica, Colombia and Rwanda, and it’s all roasted on-site at their Ramsay location.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdnhiS_BRhq/?hl=en&taken-by=rossocoffeeroasters
MONTREAL: Café Pista
What started out as a coffee cart on wheels where Josh Littlefield, founder of GreatAmericanCoffeeTour.com, “had an incredible shot of an Ethiopian coffee from Dispatch Coffee Roasters,” has grown into a cheery brick-and-mortar space full of—no surprises—pistachio-hued accents.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZiwPjMB6pB/?hl=en&taken-by=cafepista
WINNIPEG: Thom Bargen
“Pour-overs are their filter specialty,” recommends Jessica Johnston. “They’re always on the hunt for new ways to improve their coffee game.” But honestly, we might just go for that gorgeous wall of greenery alone.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeBCPGBhjQv/?taken-by=thombargen){kind=link}