Caffeine Crazy: The Best Coffee Shops in Medellin

One of Colombia’s most famous exports has to be coffee, and Medellin is the perfect place to sample some black gold.

It’s well known that the best coffee in Colombia is grown in the MAM triangle, named for Medellin, Armenia, and Manizales.

It would be a real shame to get those cheap flights to Colombia without even sampling some of the world’s best coffee.

Near Medellin, your absolute best chance to get some premium coffee is to go straight to the source: the fincas where the coffee is grown.

Many local farmers are happy to let you visit their plantations and let you taste some of their own home-roasted produce.

But if you don’t want to leave Medellin and would rather settle down with a cup of joe to engage in a spot of people watching (and the ladies of Medellin are particularly beautiful) then you need to find a coffee house.

Bear in mind that the best coffee in Colombia is exported: only a few select coffee shops sell premium, export-grade coffee. Shops such as these:

Me Late Chocolate

This fabby little chocolate and coffee bar has Wi-fi so if you’re a travel writer, there can’t be many better places to work from.

World class coffee and chocolate sit side by side, and it’s obvious that the owners have a real passion for what they do.

For a handful of pesos you can grab a slice of home-made chocolate cake to enjoy with your coffee. Perfect.

Juan Valdez

Perhaps not a hidden gem, but certainly somewhere that you should visit during your trip to Medellin if it’s a good, consistent cup of coffee that you’re after.

Juan Valdez is the Colombian answer to Starbucks: with a chain of comfy coffee shops selling export quality coffee.

The difference between Juan Valdez and Starbucks is that Juan Valdez’s coffee actually has a good reputation.

Café Le Bon

This funky little coffee shop in Parque Lleras is everything you could ever want from a coffee house.

Good food, interesting magazines, outdoor seating, and over ten different types of coffee: the ideal spot for a chilled afternoon (if you can deal with the noise of the traffic outside).

Open until 2am, you can even spend an evening here enjoying a quiet cerveza.

Café Bettini

The Bettini sisters have been plying their own brand of hospitality for years.

Their friendly attitude and great customer service make it the perfect place for a relaxing post-lunch coffee.

The sisters have a long list of coffees to choose from, which can be prepared hot or cold.

They sell the usual suspects, such as cappuccino and espresso, but you must try the granizado: served cold, not dissimilar to a frappe.

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This post was written and brought to you by James of Edinburgh-based flight comparison company, Skyscanner.net.