Travel: Baltic Coffee tour Our speciality coffee guide brings you the best brews in three Baltic capitals

by LĪVA MELBĀRZDE

Baltic coffee tour

The Baltic speciality coffee scene took off a few years ago, but now new third-wave coffee shops are popping up everywhere. There are many lovely, atmospheric cafés and coffee shops with locally roasted speciality coffee beans in Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius. Our speciality coffee guide brings you the best brews in three Baltic capitals!

Rocket Bean Roastery

29 Miera iela / 39 Dzirnavu iela, Riga The atmospheric café is located not far from the city centre. Miera street also hosts great places for craft beer, snacks and the “Laima” chocolate factory. This could be the first real speciality coffee house in Riga and was opened in 2015. The atmosphere is worldly which makes for a perfect spot for a break from a hectic day. The cakes are delicious and their seasonal flagship espresso is “Magic Pussy” from Ethiopia, but they have also prime beans from Honduras, Kenya, Colombia and Peru.

Zvaigzne Café: Specialty Coffee and Books

6 Krišjāņa Valdemāra, Riga This bookshop café is located near the old town of Riga and comes with high-quality beans from Atkinsons Coffee Roasters and variety of smallscale farmers & roasters. Grab a book from the shop, sit back and enjoy your favourite coffee. One can really get lost in a world of good books, coffee, adventure, rainy days and conversations with people we love.

Miit Coffee

10 Lāčplēša iela, Riga Miit Coffee uses third-wave beans from small coffee growing farms and cooperatives around the world. Miit likes their coffee poured and handpressed: AeroPress, V60, Chemex and French Press are skilfully catered for. Vegetarians and vegans are spoiled here with healthy choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They offer almond, quinoa and oat milk as well.

Kalve Espresso Room 38 Stabu Street, Riga Kalve Coffee from the Europe’s biggest coffee roasting competition this winter brought home the 2nd place. Kalve Coffee is a very nice addition to Riga’s coffee scene. In summer 2019, they opened their first signature coffee shop in Riga Kalve Espresso Room. They not only stand for outstanding taste, but also for responsibility towards the environment and great product design, following the zero waste concept.

Andrito & Gemoss kafe 73 Mūkusalas Street, Riga A bit of a hidden gem this café, but the coffee at Andrito is quite popular and you can get it in several shops, not only in Riga but also in other Baltic capitals. The small coffee bar in Mūkusalas street is located within a specialized shop for bars and restaurants and the coffee you will find here is roasted by the Andrito roastery across the street. If you find yourself on the other side of the Daugava, opposite the Old town, this is the place to go.

Elska Coffee

1 Pamėnkalnio g. Vilnius A neon “don’t ask why” sign sits on the back wall. Mismatched, recycled

furniture is arranged to accommodate small groups and couples as they gossip over their coffee. The beans here are from the Andrito coffee roastery (Latvia). You can also choose one of the smoothie options, and a small selection of sweets including granola is available.

Brew Kavos Virėjai 19 Pylimo g., Vilnius Take a break off the main road and head to Brew for a coffee. Lamps hang low over the tables illuminating the black IKEA-esque picture frames displaying a melange of coffee art, fashion and palm trees. My flat white was smooth and pleasant. A small selection of sandwiches is available. Brew sells bags of their coffee beans, which are roasted off-site.

Crooked Nose & Other Coffee Stories

20 Šaltinių g., Vilnius If you’re only interested in drinking espresso coffee, then you must visit Crooked Nose & Other Coffee Stories when you visit Vilnius. Crooked Nose is a micro-roastery and grinds its coffee beans by hand. It’s a really slow coffee. The menu offers Aeropress, Chemex, Siphon, Nerodrip, Cascara, Cold Drip and its own invention, Bro. You will find the type of coffee that should be drunk slowly, like a whisky. Come here to sit and sip your coffee away from the mainstream cafés.

Huracán

15 Vokiečių g., Vilnius You think all coffee chains are a plague? Huracán coffee is an exception because it is a passionate advocate for thirdwave coffee. Huracán first began after a group of Lithuanian noblemen left the country and cultivated a coffee farm in El Salvador. Specialty coffee brewing methods include Aeropress, Chemex and v60. Just sit back on leather couches and sip your coffee.

Strange Love

6B, B. Radvilaitės g. Vilnius “We roast with knowledge, we grind with precision. We brew with skills. We share our Strangelove.” On the edge of Bernardine Gardens, a coffee break at Strange Love is a good idea. There are features like a fireplace for staying cosy in the winter time and an outdoor seating area that’s ideal for summer. Strange Love roast their own beans on-site. Coffee beans are sourced globally and arrive from Ethiopia, Kenya, Costa Rica, Colombia and El Salvador. There is also an option of mouth-watering desserts including éclairs and tiramisus.

T35 Bakery& Specialty Coffee 35 Tőőstuse, Tallinn T35 Bakery& Specialty Coffee is the perfect neighbourhood café. Situated at Tőőstuse 35 (“T35”), the basement café is a few blocks from Tallinn’s Old Town. All espresso coffees are served with a double shot, while filter brew methods include V60 and Aeropress. If you have the time to sit for a while, the 0.6L Chemex is the perfect selection for a couple to share. Their specialty coffee is complemented by an all-day breakfast menu and the speciality is the “Dutch Baby” pancake.

RØST Bakery

14 Rotermanni, Tallinn The small eatery sits in central Tallinn in the renovated Nisuveski building. Every day, bakers prepare sourdough breads, cookies, gourmet sandwiches and the finger-licking cinnamon rolls. All the freshly baked goodies are prepared during the early morning. RØST sources its coffee beans from some of the best micro-roasters, including Drop Coffee from Stockholm, Kalve from Riga and The Brick Coffee Roastery from Estonia. It’s difficult to leave the warmth of the café, so don’t hesitate to have a few more cinnamon rolls.

Gourmet Coffee

13a L. Koidula, Tallinn This café is located in a residential area close to Kadriorg Park. They roast their coffee under the name “Coffee People” and diverse retail packages of beans are on display in the small antechamber near the entrance, along with various bits of coffee making kit. There are nearly a dozen coffee varieties of coffee available to try as a hand-brewed filter coffee. Delicious pastries are on offer too.

Lisanna- Vegan Coffee Shop Suurtüki 2, Tallinn Lisanna is located in a lovely peaceful part of the Old Town, right by Eppingi and Köismäe Towers and the AHK office in Tallinn. It’s a pretty small coffee shop so there’s not a lot seating inside but it’s quite a pleasant place to sit outside, especially when the sun is shining. This is a totally vegan coffee shop so everything there is plant-based, including the cakes and confectionery, and only dairy-free milk and cream are available to go in your coffee.

NOP

1 Kőleri, Tallinn Thus named because its creators thought Tallinn lacked a Neighbourhood Organic Place. NOP is located around two kilometres east of the Old Town, in the Kadriorg neighbourhood. It’s a good place for a breakfast and if you are visiting the KUMU Art Museum in Kadriorg Park. NOP operates from a 100-year-old house in a peaceful wooded area not far from the main road. They focus on local organic produce, some of which they also sell in their attached shop.