The Best Coffee and Cafés in Sydney

Sydney's specialty coffee scene is the origin point of Australia's broader café culture revolution. The Surry Hills and inner west precincts that pioneered single-origin espresso and alternative brew methods in the 2000s are now joined by specialty operations in virtually every suburb, and the quality floor of Sydney coffee has risen to a level where mediocre café coffee has genuinely become difficult to find in the inner city.

Single O (Surry Hills) — the Sydney roaster and café that has maintained its position at the top of the city's coffee culture since the early 2000s, Single O's Surry Hills café and its innovative tap systems (ready-to-drink filter coffee on tap) represent the original wave of specialty coffee in Sydney. The coffee quality remains excellent; the atmosphere is the benchmark inner-city café.

Artificer Coffee — Surry Hills' most technically focused café, Artificer's competition-level baristas and the precision of the extraction approach make it the choice for coffee nerds who want the most exacting espresso in the city. Not for the flat-white-as-fuel crowd; absolutely for anyone who wants to understand what specialty espresso is about.

Coffee Alchemy — Marrickville's Coffee Alchemy provides the inner-west's best single-origin coffee programme alongside an intimate café setting that has maintained its cult status for years. The filter and espresso programmes are both excellent and change regularly.

Reuben Hills — the Surry Hills café with a Central American food menu and a house-roasted coffee programme that has developed into one of Sydney's most loved all-day café experiences. The arepa and the single-origin pour-over make Reuben Hills a full morning stop rather than just a coffee grab.

Gumption by Coffee Alchemy — the CBD kiosk in the Strand Arcade (George Street) that provides the most accessible specialty coffee in central Sydney for office workers needing quality without leaving the CBD, from the same team behind Coffee Alchemy in Marrickville.

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