The Café Dispatch #9
The Spanish coffee chain that outsmarts most cafés, appreciation of specialty coffee in Hong Kong required education and my weekly 3 coffee wants
Welcome to the Café Dispatch, a weekly letter about interesting café trends across the globe. If you enjoy it, please feel free to share it, and don’t forget to grab your favourite cup of coffee ☕️
I didn’t expect Sevilla to blow my (coffee obsessed) mind. Two year ago, I could count the good spots on one hand. That was September 2024. Now, fast forward to this year, and I spent an entire day wandering around town trying (and failing) to keep up with all the new places that had opened. Delatribu delivered one of those flat whites that made me go like Phil Rosenthal on “Somebody feed Phil” on Netflix, I was literally dancing and thanked the barista 5x.. I can be a little too much when my coffee is exceptional. It was the perfect size, beans that actually tasted super fresh, and milk foam that’s silky without being overdone. But what really got me thinking was visiting The Miners: gorgeous interiors, excellent coffee, scrumptious snacks, and a crazy drinks menu. It felt very NYC - very what I’m calling Coffee Shop Era 3.0.
Era 1.0 was coffee nerds gatekeeping single origins. Era 2.0 brought specialty to the masses via Instagram, better equipment but also coffee knowledge available everywhere. Era 3.0 is about inclusion without compromise; spaces where your V60-obsessed friend and your “cappuccino is too strong” friend can both have a great experience. The Miners understood that really quickly because since launching in Prague in 2019, they’ve expanded to 30+ locations across 7 countries, including Spain, with their own roastery and bakery!!
Now besides the few coffee shops we visited and loved, Spain took its time, it feels like they learned from every other EU country’s coffee mistakes, and instead is now building something sustainable. In fact, the proof is here because a few Spanish four coffee shops landed on the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops ranking, the market is growing at 8.6% annually, and cities like Sevilla and Málaga are quietly becoming Europe’s most exciting coffee destinations.
Spain’s late bloom was perfect timing. The country skipped the gatekeeping phase and went straight to creating spaces that feel genuinely inclusive. As someone living part-time in Spain, watching this unfold just a 2.5-hour drive away feels like witnessing something special (and exciting!).
I visited Hong Kong back in 2014, right after selling The Blend, and it’s still one of my fondest travel memories. After four years of living in Cape Town and getting used to our coffee culture, seeing how people did it across the globe felt pretty magical. I remember going to cafés I never imagined existed—perched on top of hills, barely visible, the kind of places where you wondered if you needed a password just to walk in and order coffee. And while many of us rave about Tokyo and Seoul for their coffee scenes, let’s not forget Hong Kong. Where The Coffee Academïcs—founded in 2012 by Jennifer Wai Fun Liu—has been at the heart of that transformation through educating and showing people that specialty coffee is not intimidating, rather the opposite.
What started as one woman’s post-Cornell architecture school side project (all those all-nighters required serious coffee, I bet) has grown into over 40 locations across Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They were the precursor to what we have today in terms of coffee scene by promoting specialty coffee and offering educational workshops, cuppings, and a genuine commitment to teaching people why their coffee tastes the way it does. They’ve since fostered a deeper appreciation for quality beans among locals and set the foundation for Hong Kong’s entire specialty scene. I have to go back!
What I’ll be ordering: Whatever single origin they’re featuring at the momen. Their name is clearly bragging about their excellence in choosing brilliant coffee and educating us about it, so I’d definitely sit in on a cupping session and order a V60.
Airscape Coffee Canister you know you’re a coffee snob when you can taste that your coffee is just no longer fresh… here’s apparently the solution I’m personally eyeing though I would say I just need to stop buying too many beans
French Press coffee maker on the go, who doesn’t need such a thing? If you’re back to commuting or are - lucky you - planning a holiday, this might be worth considering.
The Barista Care Kit is one set I’m getting. Longevity of your espresso machine is tied to its care but so is the taste of your favourite daily ritual.
Julie Hanell works for Perfect Daily Grind, and writes The Coffee Dispatch from Paris and Málaga. Want to see more? Check out her LinkedIn.
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Thanks for the references, Julie! Speaking of Sevilla, a special mention to the folks at “Ineffable Coffee,” who are roasting excellent coffee while making their way into almost every café in the city (not a sponsored comment 🤭).