True Artisan
So, I can tell you where I get coffee. I usually do a small tour when my friends come to the city, and I like to show them the coffee places—and I like to drink the best coffees. At the same time that I do the coffee tour, we can visit the rest of the city.
In Barcelona, there are maybe six places that do coffee. And this movement is really about having a new mentality about coffee. In Spain, there’s not a big coffee culture. There was not a high quality of beans, people didn’t know the taste. But it’s starting to change.
Nømad Coffee
The culture started to change a year and a half ago, when the first specialty coffee shops started opening. The thing is, in Spain, people drink a lot of coffee…but it’s not important. The barista pushes a button, the coffee goes fast, like water, and they just drink it like a shot, like “Ugh,” and move on. But the taste of the coffee is, you know carbon? It tastes burned. For sure, if you try the coffees around Spain, you will understand. People burn the milk, so it just isn’t good to drink, and then when the big commercial roasters do the roasting, it’s dark dark dark roasting, and people put so much sugar in. Here, people don’t know V60 or Aeropress. They see it and they ask, what is this? So we have to teach them, and give them a taste.
Satan's Coffee Corner
I like to get coffee at True Artisan. It’s near Arc de Triompf. And Nømad is also nearby, in the Gothic Area. I also recommend you go to Satan’s Coffee Corner. There are a few more places. Animal Coffee Bar. Skye Coffee. Skye Coffee is really curious because they’re a—you know co-working? Under the co-working is an old silver bus, and the barista is inside the bus. It’s a cool concept. But the barista probably feels like they’re in a prison, right?
In London, there are a hundred coffee shops. But in Barcelona, we are five or six places, and we know that. So everyone works hard to be the best. It’s a good time to do a tour. I would also visit Cafés El Magnífico. This is the oldest coffee roaster in Barcelona. Oldest, but not the best—but if you do the tour, you have to go see them.