The best coffee in Paris

Tucked away on Rue de Grenelle, with a gorgeous view of the ornate exterior of Musée Maillol through its glass windows, the third outpost of Cuillier (after Montmartre and Galeries Lafayette) takes coffee very seriously. Here the coffee is strong, with a velvety body and slightly fruity aftertaste, both of which are tough to find in Paris, despite its much heralded coffee shop revolution. Swing by in the morning for some quiet time with a book, but be sure to bring friends in the evening because it gets noisy and lively.

Founded in September 2015 by biking enthusiasts Christian Osburn and Paul Barro, who also run the tour company Bike About, Le Peloton is decorated with colourful bike-themed illustrations, a shelf bearing beans from Belleville Brûlerie, and bright yellow chairs that you’ll recognise easily if you follow all the Parisian Instagrammers in the know. The menu offers excellent coffee and homemade sweet and savoury waffles, as well as tarts and cookies made by the popular Mokonuts café.

Paris’s first outdoor coffee shop is hidden inside a pleasant and peaceful courtyard in the 8th arrondissement. Inside their quirky self-contained stand, all glass panes and stark black frames, the English and Australian owners Daniel Warburton and Angelle Boucher prepare rich and creamy flat whites and espressos and serve luscious treats to a chic crowd of office-goers. Tucked at the back of the stand are tiny tables and chairs but the best seat in the house is on the high stools that face the counter, all the better to watch the expert baristas in action.

The Caféothèque is where the coffee revolution in Paris first kicked off seven years ago, created by the doyenne of ‘coffeology’ Gloria Montenegro, a former Ambassador of Guatemala, today an unofficial ambassador for quality coffee from all over the world. Gloria goes at least twice a year to visit coffee producers in South America and Africa. At the moment, the Caféothèque stocks and roasts coffee from 23 different countries, but aims to go up to 31 so they can offer a different country... 

The Marché d’Aligre has become the hottest weekend rendezvous for Parisian BoBos and cosmopolitan foodie travellers doing their shopping, and there are no shortage of trendy hangouts for coffee-lovers, from the bijou espresso machine in Terres de Café to the politically-correct Puerto Cacao, which specialises in ‘equitable’ fair-trade chocolate and coffee. But to really feel the authentic pulse of Aligre, and taste some great coffee... 

Thank goodness for grinning, manic-haired Australians coming to Paris. And not just for the banter, but because they’re bringing their coffee with them. Chris Nielson has come to the rue Dupetit-Thouars by way of Sydney’s Mecca Espresso, London’s Prufrock Coffee and Paris’s own Ten Belles. With that kind of CV, the coffee here is, of course, excellent. At a teensy 15m2, Fondation Café is only just bigger than your standard Parisian apartment, but space is made up for with a terrace... 

The well-known Strada Café has extended its delicious coffees, pastries and decadent brunches over the Seine to the left bank, opening a second venue of the same name on the Rue Monge in late 2014. Simple yet charming, it’s a great place to sit with a coffee and a laptop, or to come with friends for an extended brunch at the weekend. Most of the staff are English speakers: Australians, Americans and Canadians happily doing a stint in Paris... 

Even an authentic Italian espresso bar in Paris struggles for recognition; Parisian coffee roasters seem to be allergic to modern-day Italian bars. They criticise the use of cheap Robusta beans instead of aromatic Arabia as they produce a bitter espresso that invariably has to be ruined by adding sugar, they criticise the use of pasteurised milk rather than fresh – though at least everyone agrees the Italians still make the best espresso machines... 

There are people who hit the button on their Nespresso machine for a caffeine hit (or even the office coffee dispenser, yikes), and then there are people like the founders of the Brûlerie de Belleville, whose coffee is the result of experience and training, tasting and smelling, investment in hardware and in relationships with producers, even the art of decorative coffee foam. The three young entrepreneurs who set up the Brûlerie have travelled the world for the expertise... 

Some will come to the Finnish Cultural Centre’s Coutume Instituutti – sister branch of Le Coutume Café – with a burning desire to discover what actually constitutes Finnish cuisine. Others, because they need a cool, calm, open space in which to type their emails over a cup of coffee. Visitors of the first kind may come away disappointed: the menu is still very small (the venue had opened only one month prior to our visit), and of the fusion variety. We tasted nicely spiced Finnish meatballs on a bed of couscous and parsnips (not cheap at €12.50)...