I really like Dublin’s coffee scene. While there’s quite a big one of those in Hamburg also, here in Dublin it’s more ‘close’. I mean, literally. Since Dublin is so small and all. Plus: Everybody in coffee knows each other, everybody’s on Twitter, and even Marco (the Uber Boiler people) are based here, so every other good coffee shop here uses their boilers. The AeroPress and Chemex are also more widespread here than even the French Press is in Hamburg, for example. In my opinion (and I think that’s where every coffee aficionado is headed), both these brewing methods are way more interesting than all the fluffy espresso-based stuff (Yes, right, I can’t drink milk anyway, come and get me!).
So, here’s the big tour. And, since you’re not gonna make it to the end of this post, here’s my Dublin Coffee list on Foursquare. This list has no particular order.
3FE @ Twisted Pepper
Yeah, well, the Wifi is broken quite often. Very good coffee, nice staff, comfortable, music is good but repeats occasionally.
3FE @ Grand Canal Street
Modern, a tad cold maybe, but very good coffee. Brian drew me an absolutely amazing map of coffee places and pubs 3FE supplies when he heard that I’m a coffee nut and new in town, so I’d go for ‘lovely staff’.
Coffeeangel
Great AeroPress coffee, nice and enthusiastic staff. They use a new variant of Marco gadget I haven’t seen before, very impressive. Sadly, it’s ‘just’ a pop up shop, so there are only two seats and it’s very small. Several-hours-sessions wouldn’t really fit the shop, for me being a coffee shop student to some extent, that’s somewhat saddening. But anyway: Very good coffee shop. I wish all the best, even if for nothing more than another nice shop to study in for my 2nd semester here.
Brother Hubbard
Very good coffee, also serve food but didn’t have any. Seems to be fancy, though. Runs out of food fairly ofte due to the no-fridge policy, so it’s not that steady of a supply. One drawback: ‘Free Wifi’ is only available outside lunch hours, so… about four hours per day. It’s a small shop, I get it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it, right? The shop is featured here in the Guardian, the article emphasizes how risky it is in these times to start a shop like this. Bonne chance anyway!
Roasted Brown
My standard go-to when I don’t have class weekdays, since it’s the closest to Trinity with free (and steady) Wifi. Good coffee, also serve food but I didn’t have any yet. Located in the ‘Filmbase’ building, so kind of an open space in between offices, nice atmosphere.
Fixx Coffee
The americano is a good tad worse than at the Hasbean-served coffee shops. Also no fancy filter coffee. Free Wifi and fairly comfortable, though.
Cup
Very close to Trinity, good americano, delicious scones, snacks and cakes. Only Eircom-10-Minute free Wifi, dealbreaker if you don’t have company or just want to get work done. Also gets me worked up a bit because its interiour looks like many German bakeries. That is: nice, but very bright wood and colours. Not the sofa-, but the wooden-bench style. Not awfully comfortable to me. Get a glimpse here. The fridge next to the entrance supports that notion, it shouts ‘Take a drink and leave’, but I guess that’s just me.
Update: TIL that Cup now serves AeroPress and Chemex coffee. Nice!
The Fumbally
I admit that the location screams ‘Hipster’, but it’s very nice and there aren’t that many hipsters around. Feels like a big hippy-commune living room, but in the best way possible. Very comfortable. Sofas or seats and a table. Slightly-less-than-very-good americano. Also serve food, had a very nice egg with tomatoes, garlic and cheese on bread. Free Wifi. Two minutes walk from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Update: Oh, here’s a nice article on The Atlantic about how coffee is nothing but good for you.