World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026: understanding the future of coffee (and how to train for it)

The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026, unveiled at CoffeeFest Madrid 2026, is far more than a ranking. It is a strategic snapshot of the global coffee industry and a clear indicator of how the role of coffee professionals is evolving.

By combining public voting (30%) with the evaluation of more than 800 industry experts (70%), the ranking highlights a crucial shift: excellence in coffee is no longer defined solely by what ends up in the cup. Instead, it is the result of a complex system that includes service, sustainability, innovation, consistency, and the ability to create a meaningful customer experience.

In other words, great coffee today is not just prepared — it is designed, communicated, and experienced.

The evolving role of the barista: from technician to coffee professional

Looking at the coffee shops featured in the ranking, one trend becomes immediately clear: the role of the barista has expanded significantly. Technical skills remain essential, but they are no longer enough on their own.

Today’s coffee professional must understand the entire value chain — from origin and processing to roasting and extraction — while also being able to interpret sensory profiles and communicate them effectively to customers. This shift transforms the barista into a key figure in delivering both quality and experience.

This is precisely the approach adopted by Espresso Academy. Its training programs — including Barista, Brewing, Tasting, Green Coffee, and Coffee Management — are designed to develop well-rounded professionals who can operate confidently in a global and rapidly evolving market. The goal is not just to teach techniques, but to build a comprehensive understanding of coffee as a product, a craft, and a business.

Onyx Coffee Lab: a model for the future

Ranked first, Onyx Coffee Lab represents one of the most advanced expressions of the modern coffee shop. Its strength lies in full vertical integration: green coffee sourcing, roasting, training, and service are all part of a single, transparent system.

Customers are not just served coffee — they are immersed in the process behind it. Every detail, from workflow to interior design, is carefully crafted to reinforce the brand identity and enhance the overall experience. This model clearly illustrates a key concept: quality is not a single step in the process, but the outcome of controlling every variable along the chain.

For this reason, Espresso Academy’s courses place strong emphasis on consistency, repeatability, and understanding extraction dynamics, preparing students to achieve high standards in real-world professional environments.

Three key approaches shaping modern coffee

Following Onyx, the ranking features Tim Wendelboe and Alquimia Coffee, two coffee shops that represent complementary visions of the industry.
Tim Wendelboe embodies technical precision and scientific roasting, focusing on clarity, balance, and control. Alquimia Coffee, on the other hand, highlights the importance of origin, bringing the story of coffee production directly into the customer experience.

These two perspectives — technical mastery and origin-driven storytelling — define much of today’s specialty coffee landscape. Understanding both is essential for any professional aiming to grow in the industry.

This dual approach is also reflected in Espresso Academy’s Tasting and Green Coffee courses, where students learn how to evaluate coffee not only sensorially, but also in relation to its origin, processing, and roasting profile.

Emerging coffee regions: Asia-Pacific and Latin America

The ranking also highlights important geographical shifts. While the Americas remain highly influential, the Asia-Pacific region is rapidly emerging as a hub of innovation. Coffee shops in cities such as Tokyo, Singapore, and Seoul are redefining service standards, often drawing inspiration from fine dining and creating highly curated experiences.

A clear example is Apartment Coffee, where coffee tasting is presented almost as a ritual, with a strong focus on detail, storytelling, and personalization. At the same time, Latin America is evolving from a production region into a destination for high-quality coffee consumption. Coffee shops like Tropicalia Coffee demonstrate how value can be created directly at origin, reducing the gap between producer and consumer.

For professionals, this means adopting a global mindset and staying updated with international trends — a key focus of Espresso Academy’s international training programs.

Italy: heritage meets transformation

Italy appears in the ranking with Faro Caffè Specialty and Ditta Artigianale Specialty Coffee Roasters, both representing different approaches to innovation within a deeply rooted coffee culture.

Italy’s espresso tradition remains one of the strongest in the world, but the challenge today lies in integrating this heritage with new elements such as sustainability, traceability, and customer experience. This transition requires new skills and a broader vision — exactly what structured training aims to provide.

🏆 The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops – 2026

The 2026 ranking clearly shows that coffee is evolving into a multidimensional industry where quality, experience, and knowledge are deeply interconnected.
For coffee professionals, this means one thing: continuous learning is no longer optional.

Structured training programs like those offered by Espresso Academy provide the tools needed to understand this complexity, develop practical skills, and build a long-term career in the coffee industry.

In a market that is constantly evolving, education becomes not just an advantage — but a necessity.
It proves that quality is not a single action—it is a system.

1. Onyx Coffee Lab – USA
2. Tim Wendelboe – Norway
3. Alquimia Coffee – El Salvador
4. Only Coffee Project Crows Nest – Australia
5. Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters – Australia
6. Apartment Coffee – Singapore
7. Gota Coffee Experts – Austria
8. Story of Ono – Malaysia
9. Tropicalia Coffee – Colombia
10. Tanat – France
11. Fankør – Ecuador
12. Arcane Estate Coffee – USA
13. Beta Coffee – Australia
14. Nomadic Specialty Coffee – Egypt
15. Nemesis Coffee – Canada
16. Nomad Frutas Selectas – Spain
17. Kafi Wasi Café Tostaduría – Peru
18. Benchmark Coffee – UAE
19. Hola Lagasca – Spain
20. Blandin Coffee Club – USA
21. Holaste! Specialty Coffee – Chile
22. Momos Coffee Flagship Store – Korea
23. Monotono Specialty Coffee – Peru
24. Ult Coffee – Japan
25. El Injerto – Guatemala
26. Three Monkeys Coffee – Peru
27. Proud Mary Coffee – Australia
28. Koffee Mameya Kakeru – Japan
29. Coffee Anthology – Australia
30. 7G Roaster – Portugal
31. Espresso Alchemy – China
32. Coffeewerk+Press – Ireland
33. Typica Café – Bolivia
34. Yardstick – Philippines
35. Histórico – Mexico
36. Coffee Sind – Taiwan
37. Delafinca Specialty Coffee – Nicaragua
38. Ottoman Coffee House – UK
39. Casa Canela – Venezuela
40. Espresso Lab – South Africa
41. Seven Mystery – Canada
42. Faro – Italy
43. Domestique – USA
44. Harvest Coffee – Qatar
45. Origen Tostadores de Café – Peru
46. Keep Coffee Roastery – Taiwan
47. Meet Lab Coffee – Turkey
48. Mulano Coffee Shop – Ecuador
49. La Cabra – Denmark
50. Birch Coffee – UK
51. Ruli Coffee – Korea
52. Atte For Coffee – Guatemala
53. Single O – Australia
54. Rubia Coffee Roasters – Rwanda
55. Bob Coffee Lab – Romania
56. Unfiltered Coffee – Ireland
57. Tomorrow Coffee Roasters – Taiwan
58. Ca Passe Creme – Switzerland
59. Eco Mapu – Chile
60. 43.12 Coffee – Bulgaria
61. Fika & Co. Cafe – Thailand
62. Ditta Artigianale Specialty Coffee Roasters – Italy
63. Café Nativo – Honduras
64. Caferatto – Colombia
65. Kross Coffee Roasters – Greece
66. Prevail Coffee – USA
67. Mike Coffee – Belgium
68. Azura – The Coffee Company – Oman
69. Puku Puku – Peru
70. The Golden Pig – Honduras
71. Little Victories Coffee – Canada
72. Push X Pull – USA
73. Galani Coffee – Ethiopia
74. Wake Up – Chile
75. Bouche – Belgium
76. Café De Reyes – Honduras
77. Savaya Coffee Market – USA
78. Coffee Stopover Black – Taiwan
79. Fuku – Netherlands
80. The Miners Coffee – Czech Republic
81. Cupping Café – Brazil
82. Coffee Guatemala – Guatemala
83. D·Origen Coffee Roasters Barcelona – Spain
84. Coffee Stain – Malaysia
85. The Dude Specialty Coffee – North Macedonia
86. Story and Soil Coffee – USA
87. Exploradores – Mexico
88. The Folks – Portugal
89. Casa Barista & Co. – Dominican Republic
90. Cypher Urban Roastery – UAE
91. Cafetano – Honduras
92. Coffee Five – Brazil
93. Kima Coffee – Spain
94. Negro – Argentina
95. Metric – USA
96. El Terrible Juan Café – Mexico
97. Flat White Specialty Coffee – Qatar
98. Cafeoteca – Costa Rica
99. Surry Hills Palermo – Argentina
100. Vacation Coffee – Australia