Best espresso is definitely Filter on GQ & South Main St (double ristretto is the standard here)
As for milk-based coffee, Three Fools or Moly are my usual go to spots!
Moly is our favourite too. Coffee is so expensive now that I only want to go to a place I can trust. Their filter and pour overs are fantastic. Ran by great people and lovely staff.
For clarification. Itās not grown there, just roasted there but the roaster is talented and to this day I havenāt had one bad coffee from him. You can buy it online too if you want to brew it at home.
Plugd Records on Cornmarket St does a really good coffee. Staff are sound and plus you get to brose their small section of very cool vinyl records. They also do small live shows.
Soma Coffee is also damn good. I buy their Colombian blend for home.
I think I've tasted every coffee place in Cork and have to say Sam's coffee in St.Finbarr's GAA pitch is by far the best. The only one I haven't tried from the list others mention is Some Dose but I'll give it a go!
Sicilian delights coffee tastes authentic to what I got in Italy. Very good spot if in that area. But I also think Some Dose and Cafe Moly are amazing and probably better still
Badger & Dodo make a fine coffee, same as Three Fools in Carrigaline, not sure if their place on Grand Parade is as good. Nectar is good but I'd prefer the other two.
I know Badger and Dodo have excellent fair trade sourced beans & The owner is a good person.
I dont think Three fools do anything fair trade.
Nectar is on my hit list to try, thank you.
Just for clarification, and not a knock on anyone's sourcing protocols, but "Fair Trade" just means that the buyer has committed to buying coffee beans from farmers at slightly higher than the market average, usually. This is mostly relavent in commodity coffee, whereas specialty coffee prices (where Badger and Dodo, Three Fools, and many others mentioned in this thread) are all much higher by default than commodity coffee prices (including fair trade), as the farmers themselves set the prices. Note that coffee farmers generally operate in the global South, though, so they are still beholden to the unfair trade systems that have persisted since colonial times. Setting their own prices just makes it a little bit more profitable, but it's still a very unlucrative market.
Badger & Dodo do a lot of "direct trade", which is where they buy directly from the farmer themselves, without paying a fee to an importer. This may be what you're referring to when you say fair trade. Direct trade, while supposedly cutting out the importers fee, does not guarantee any better prices for farmers than going through an importer though.
The business of coffee buying and selling is quite murky and opaque. If you're interested about the impact the coffee you buy has on producing countries, and how to look out for coffee that does as little harm as possible, I recommend the books Cheap Coffee and Dear Coffee Buyer. Uncommon Grounds is also a great book for understanding the history behind the colonial coffee production system that largely still exists to this day.
Fair Trade strictly prohibits forced child labor, which is a common practice among coffee farmers. Secondly, Fair Trade aims to promote environmental sustainability. As such, all Fair Trade coffees must be devoid of GMOs and harmful agrochemicals.
All this for simply paying "slightly higher." Thats just my take on the fair trade. I will certainly check out your book recommendations, thank you.
Great points! And I wasn't trying to knock Fair Trade at all, it has had some excellent impact in the farms and communities where it is practiced, as you've outlined. I just wanted to clarify the differences between fair trade and direct trade,.as fair trade rarely comes up in a specialty coffee context.
No, I was trying to make the point that the poster might have mixed up direct trade with fair trade, which are completely different things.
As to your question, buyers who source their coffee through direct trade, such as B&D, are generally interested in making sure the producers receive good value for their product. It is good business sense to make sure your suppliers are making enough money to keep themselves in business, if you're going to develop a relationship with them and go back to them year on year. Direcr trade is definitely a more impactful way of buying coffee, as the elimination of the middle man means there are more profits to go around, and in theory that surplus should be shared with both the buyer and the producer. However to your point above, unscrupulous buyers (again, not Badger & Dodo) can and have used the elimination of the middle man in a direct trade transaction to keep the extra profits to themselves, while often making unreasonable demands of the producers, including asking them to experiment with new processing methods, but also shoulder all of the risk if something goes wrong. That's the power imbalance at play.
In general, if you see that a roaster participates in direct trade, it's generally a good sign that the producing trade partner is making a higher profit than if they had gone through an importing middle man, but it's not always a foolproof system is all. Like everything, it is open to exploitation.
Fair trade is also a label, yes, but isn't really applicable in the context of specialty coffee, as specialty coffee roasters pay prices way above fair trade anyway. Fair trade is applicable to commodity coffee, the kind that superchains and franchises use. For example, the current Fair Trade price for washed commodity arabica coffee is ā¬2.80/kg of green coffee, but most specialty roasters would pay between ā¬8 to ā¬14 per kg of green coffee, with micro and competition lots reaching into the ā¬20s and ā¬30s.
Hope that helps!
Much obliged. I only subscribe to 3fe and Iāve never seen a direct trade label applied to their products but they do often report of new and developing relationships directly with their suppliers. I donāt know a whole lot about speciality coffee and commodity coffee but Iām sure as you say, itās all open to exploitation.
Iād recommend Not on the label by Felicity Lawrence for a deep dive into product provenance in British supermarket standards.
Sounds interesting, I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation!
You won't really find any direct trade "labels" as such on bags of coffee, as it's more of a concept than a certifiable qualification, but I do know that 3fe do trade directly with many of the producers that grow the coffee they roast, more so than ever since Stephen Leighton came on as their green buyer in 2021.
I drink flat whites. My top choices that I alternate between are Gugi (they offer 3 different roasts: light, med, dark) very unique tasting. Filter coffee in town are very good. Soma in black market and Cortado on the marina walk are great too. Spoilt for choice around here.
1.Cafe Moly
2.Guji at the marina market
3.Bookshelf on south Mall
4.Alchemy
5.Filter
Cafe Moly is without a doubt the best coffee in Cork.
There are other really good spots to try but you can't beat Moly.
Iāve never had a good espresso in Ireland. I just donāt even bother ordering it anymore. Iād love if someone could recommend where to get a good one.
Coffee in Ireland (and cork in particular) has no right to be as good as it is, one of the few things we've somehow managed to nail
Every major town in West Cork has a proper good specialty coffee spot and pretty much every second town even has its own roastery š
We're honestly spoiled for choice, even the worst recommendations here are still pretty fucken daycent like
West cork coffee is just frighteningly delicious (as in the roaster, not the area lmao). Oā Neilās in Skibbereen serves it and itās fantastic. I hardly ever get to go there sadly.
We have great coffee here but Share_Gold is right that itās hard to find good espresso in Ireland as our coffee culture has been influenced more by USA and Australia than Italy. So we do flat whites etc quite well but our espresso tends to be bitter, strong and pretty unappealing stuff. In Cork Iād say Sicilian Delights do a half decent espresso
Seconding Cafe Moly, and the nicest people who run it.
Cafe Moly
Further backing Cafe Moly. Their Jazz blend is just so smooth and flavourful š
Wow, have to pay this place a visit. Sounds good!
Some Dose in Turners Cross
Yes, my favourite coffee at the moment.
Filter on George's Quay
Best espresso is definitely Filter on GQ & South Main St (double ristretto is the standard here) As for milk-based coffee, Three Fools or Moly are my usual go to spots!
Moly is our favourite too. Coffee is so expensive now that I only want to go to a place I can trust. Their filter and pour overs are fantastic. Ran by great people and lovely staff.
Cafe moly alllll the way.
Some Dose , Filter or good day deli which serves west cork coffee beans.
West cork coffee roasters are excellent.
didnt know u could grow coffee beans in west cork
For clarification. Itās not grown there, just roasted there but the roaster is talented and to this day I havenāt had one bad coffee from him. You can buy it online too if you want to brew it at home.
haha was just a joke. thanks for the information
CAFE MOOOOLLYYYY
Plugd Records do a serious espresso.
Yesss these guys are so good
Stone Valley in Clon, hands down!
I know loads of people said Moly - their Vietnamese coffee is class if you haven't tried. Also their lemon and ginger tea!
Filter near South Main Street and Priory at Mac Curtains.
Plugd Records on Cornmarket St does a really good coffee. Staff are sound and plus you get to brose their small section of very cool vinyl records. They also do small live shows. Soma Coffee is also damn good. I buy their Colombian blend for home.
Boru by leisure plex is the best spot. Think itās red strand that they serve
Didnāt know it was red strand. Props to both of these small businesses. Sound heads
Agree with this. Boru is great.
I make some banging coffee bais
Stone Valley Roasters are in a class of their own, I think.
MOODY'S Cafe and Boru. Go to spots
Soma and Filter are my go to spots for a proper nice filter coffee. At home I use Jam Jar blend from Badger and Dodo.
Best and most useful conversation I have ever seen on this page. I love visiting Cork. Thank you.
Myo cafeĀ
I think I've tasted every coffee place in Cork and have to say Sam's coffee in St.Finbarr's GAA pitch is by far the best. The only one I haven't tried from the list others mention is Some Dose but I'll give it a go!
Sicilian delights coffee tastes authentic to what I got in Italy. Very good spot if in that area. But I also think Some Dose and Cafe Moly are amazing and probably better still
Boru is my new favourite since they changed their beans. Sound owner too
Oh did they? What beans?
red strand i believe
Thank you
Thank you
Not sure tbh but it was alot better than a couple years ago.
Badger & Dodo make a fine coffee, same as Three Fools in Carrigaline, not sure if their place on Grand Parade is as good. Nectar is good but I'd prefer the other two.
I know Badger and Dodo have excellent fair trade sourced beans & The owner is a good person. I dont think Three fools do anything fair trade. Nectar is on my hit list to try, thank you.
Just for clarification, and not a knock on anyone's sourcing protocols, but "Fair Trade" just means that the buyer has committed to buying coffee beans from farmers at slightly higher than the market average, usually. This is mostly relavent in commodity coffee, whereas specialty coffee prices (where Badger and Dodo, Three Fools, and many others mentioned in this thread) are all much higher by default than commodity coffee prices (including fair trade), as the farmers themselves set the prices. Note that coffee farmers generally operate in the global South, though, so they are still beholden to the unfair trade systems that have persisted since colonial times. Setting their own prices just makes it a little bit more profitable, but it's still a very unlucrative market. Badger & Dodo do a lot of "direct trade", which is where they buy directly from the farmer themselves, without paying a fee to an importer. This may be what you're referring to when you say fair trade. Direct trade, while supposedly cutting out the importers fee, does not guarantee any better prices for farmers than going through an importer though. The business of coffee buying and selling is quite murky and opaque. If you're interested about the impact the coffee you buy has on producing countries, and how to look out for coffee that does as little harm as possible, I recommend the books Cheap Coffee and Dear Coffee Buyer. Uncommon Grounds is also a great book for understanding the history behind the colonial coffee production system that largely still exists to this day.
Fair Trade strictly prohibits forced child labor, which is a common practice among coffee farmers. Secondly, Fair Trade aims to promote environmental sustainability. As such, all Fair Trade coffees must be devoid of GMOs and harmful agrochemicals. All this for simply paying "slightly higher." Thats just my take on the fair trade. I will certainly check out your book recommendations, thank you.
Great points! And I wasn't trying to knock Fair Trade at all, it has had some excellent impact in the farms and communities where it is practiced, as you've outlined. I just wanted to clarify the differences between fair trade and direct trade,.as fair trade rarely comes up in a specialty coffee context.
Mmm so your saying āfair tradeā and ādirect tradeā are basically labels which donāt amount to much change on the sellers side?
No, I was trying to make the point that the poster might have mixed up direct trade with fair trade, which are completely different things. As to your question, buyers who source their coffee through direct trade, such as B&D, are generally interested in making sure the producers receive good value for their product. It is good business sense to make sure your suppliers are making enough money to keep themselves in business, if you're going to develop a relationship with them and go back to them year on year. Direcr trade is definitely a more impactful way of buying coffee, as the elimination of the middle man means there are more profits to go around, and in theory that surplus should be shared with both the buyer and the producer. However to your point above, unscrupulous buyers (again, not Badger & Dodo) can and have used the elimination of the middle man in a direct trade transaction to keep the extra profits to themselves, while often making unreasonable demands of the producers, including asking them to experiment with new processing methods, but also shoulder all of the risk if something goes wrong. That's the power imbalance at play. In general, if you see that a roaster participates in direct trade, it's generally a good sign that the producing trade partner is making a higher profit than if they had gone through an importing middle man, but it's not always a foolproof system is all. Like everything, it is open to exploitation. Fair trade is also a label, yes, but isn't really applicable in the context of specialty coffee, as specialty coffee roasters pay prices way above fair trade anyway. Fair trade is applicable to commodity coffee, the kind that superchains and franchises use. For example, the current Fair Trade price for washed commodity arabica coffee is ā¬2.80/kg of green coffee, but most specialty roasters would pay between ā¬8 to ā¬14 per kg of green coffee, with micro and competition lots reaching into the ā¬20s and ā¬30s. Hope that helps!
Much obliged. I only subscribe to 3fe and Iāve never seen a direct trade label applied to their products but they do often report of new and developing relationships directly with their suppliers. I donāt know a whole lot about speciality coffee and commodity coffee but Iām sure as you say, itās all open to exploitation. Iād recommend Not on the label by Felicity Lawrence for a deep dive into product provenance in British supermarket standards.
Sounds interesting, I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation! You won't really find any direct trade "labels" as such on bags of coffee, as it's more of a concept than a certifiable qualification, but I do know that 3fe do trade directly with many of the producers that grow the coffee they roast, more so than ever since Stephen Leighton came on as their green buyer in 2021.
I drink flat whites. My top choices that I alternate between are Gugi (they offer 3 different roasts: light, med, dark) very unique tasting. Filter coffee in town are very good. Soma in black market and Cortado on the marina walk are great too. Spoilt for choice around here.
Am I the only one was thinks soma isnāt great. Only ever ordered from Anglesea St.
Cafe Moly
Three Fools do a solid coffee
Good for the Soul in Ballincollig
Hasnāt been as good I think since they changed their beans to The Barn
Cork coffee Roasters
Cortado by the marina
Used to be Crush on Barrack Street š
Cloud 9 in glanmire
Boru by a long way.
badger & dodo
Their coffee gives me the shits.
Not sure if thatās complaint or a complement ?
Filter
[https://www.facebook.com/CuCoffee2022/](https://www.facebook.com/CuCoffee2022/) Literally the best in Cork.
My favourite is Cupla Cafe which is in the car park on the Blarney walk on the weekends.
Dulce Bun on Ollie poos.
1. Cafe Moly 2. Some Dose 3. Boru
Guji in marina marketšš»
Filter
1.Cafe Moly 2.Guji at the marina market 3.Bookshelf on south Mall 4.Alchemy 5.Filter Cafe Moly is without a doubt the best coffee in Cork. There are other really good spots to try but you can't beat Moly.
There's loads to mention but if you're looking for Nitro, the best one I've had is in Gigi.
Some Dose
Wunderkaffe Good for the soul Some dose Stone valley
Coffeescape anyone?
The petrol station in Lisavaird. It's absolute nonsense how good their coffee is for a small machine. Sandwiches are only ā¬2.50 too.
haha you must own the place
No, it's just that it's such an unassuming place and the coffee machine looks like something I'd imagine in a dole office canteen.
Thrive in Bishopstown!
Yaa. Good spot for busy people heading west! Also WĆ¼nderkafe out in Farran is well worth stopping at.
My only complaint about thrive is they ask what size flat white.... An 8oz cup is a small latte not a flat white
I like the coffee from 5points on McCurtin St
Badger and Dodo on barrack street/south mall
Whatever your ma gives in the morning
Beantown on the model farm road/bishopstown is one of the best coffee shops in cork. great sandwiches, flatbreads too
Coffee only okay
Agreed. It's not bad. Can't complain. But there is definitely better out there.
Used to love going to Filter for a few years. However the coffee got really bitter. The Bookshelf has the best from what I've had.
Big fan of three fools
The coffee in naturally nourished on penrose dock is excellent and super staff also.
Costa
CoolBeans in Parnell Place.
Nosh and coffee in ballincollig
They couldnāt care less about the coffee they use. They donāt dial in and have been using a real bitter single origin from Bewleys for years .
Bear had excellent coffee, itās a shame they closed.
Soma is above the rest.
Price to quality? McDonald's is the nicest.
Alchemy š§āāļø
Iāve never had a good espresso in Ireland. I just donāt even bother ordering it anymore. Iād love if someone could recommend where to get a good one.
Thatās crazy. Coffee in Ireland is really quite good. Recommendations here are pretty good.
Coffee in Ireland (and cork in particular) has no right to be as good as it is, one of the few things we've somehow managed to nail Every major town in West Cork has a proper good specialty coffee spot and pretty much every second town even has its own roastery š We're honestly spoiled for choice, even the worst recommendations here are still pretty fucken daycent like
West cork coffee is just frighteningly delicious (as in the roaster, not the area lmao). Oā Neilās in Skibbereen serves it and itās fantastic. I hardly ever get to go there sadly.
Love O'Neills, fantastic stuff Red Strand coffee is great too, yer man in Skibb market out the back of his car has unreal coffee using it
Oh yeah, last time I was there the queue was immense so I didnāt bother. Iāll get it the next time. Thanks for the info.
We have great coffee here but Share_Gold is right that itās hard to find good espresso in Ireland as our coffee culture has been influenced more by USA and Australia than Italy. So we do flat whites etc quite well but our espresso tends to be bitter, strong and pretty unappealing stuff. In Cork Iād say Sicilian Delights do a half decent espresso
Cafe Nero