Granada, Spain has long been a cultural center. The landlocked city in Spain’s southern Andalusia region is home to one of the country’s oldest universities, and the sprawling Alhambra palace complex is Spain’s second most visited site. When it comes to specialty coffee, however, Granada was long something of a late bloomer when compared to Barcelona or Madrid.
Now the Andalusian city is making up for lost time. Walk around Granada Centro and you’re just as likely to see a cafetería de especialidad as a tapas bar. The driving force behind these new cafes are young Granadans looking to modernize the city’s rich coffee traditions.
These are some of the coffee shops leading the way.
Noat Coffee
Before the Reconquista, Granada’s Realejo neighborhood was the city’s Jewish quarter. Today the area is best known for tapas bars and nightlife, which in Granada can go into the early hours of the morning.
But one does not live on sherry and jamon iberico alone. Thankfully, Realejo is also home to Noat Coffee. Noat’s peaceful, understated atmosphere makes this cafe the perfect place to ease into your day with a single-origin espresso and avocado toast.
“I spent a few years in Barcelona, and that’s where I discovered specialty coffee. When I moved back to Granada in 2018, I decided to open a cafe with my sister,” says Saffiya Rodríguez. “We had a clear vision: a neighborhood cafe, simple, with a cozy and welcoming vibe, where people could enjoy different breakfasts and great coffee.”
The coffee is sourced exclusively from Barcelona’s Right Side Coffee.
“From the start, we’ve been working with Right Side Coffee, which has always been my favorite roaster. We usually change the origin every two weeks. We typically go for a sweet profile because it’s the type of coffee our customers tend to like the most,” says Rodríguez.
Noat was one of Granada’s first specialty coffee shop, but Rodríguez welcomes the proliferation of cafes that have opened recently.
“It’s great to see how the local community has embraced this type of coffee, and how Granada is becoming a hotspot for coffee lovers,” she says.
Despiertoo
Many roasters claim to buy direct trade coffee, but Despiertoo boasts an even closer relationship.
“My father is the producer of most of the coffee we serve at Despiertoo, and I feel incredibly proud to showcase all his hard work by serving the wonderful coffee he produces,” says Rolando Montenegro, Despiertoo’s founder and proprietor.
“About 90% of the coffee we serve comes from our own farms [in Guatemala], but we also bring in select lots from other origins to offer a diverse experience. We want every cup to tell a story, whether it’s about the soil it came from or the hands that cultivated it.”
Coffee is roasted on the premises on a six-kilo Giesen coffee roaster that sits just behind Despiertoo’s shiny La Marzocco Linea PB espresso machine.
Although Despiertoo might be the newest roaster in the local scene, Montenegro credits the local community for welcoming them with open arms.
“Granada is a city with a rich cultural and gastronomic scene. The community here is incredibly warm and welcoming, with a growing appreciation for high-quality, traceable coffee,” he says. “At Despiertoo, we aim to not only serve great coffee but also educate and inspire people about its origins. We’re excited to be part of Granada’s growing coffee culture and look forward to continuing to evolve, experiment, and bring more people into the world of specialty coffee.”
Sur Coffee Corner
If one were to make a list of the world’s great coffee cities, Barcelona would be near the top. Unsurprisingly, the Catalan capital’s influence is felt at several Granada coffee shops, including Sur Coffee Corner.
“On a trip to Barcelona and after trying many coffee roasters, we discovered Nomad and immediately knew that we wanted them as our roasted coffee supplier,” says cofounder Manuel Moncalvillo Casanova, who opened the cafe with his business partner Sebastian Cano Bohorquez.
“Currently the specialty coffee scene in Granada is booming and we believe this is very good for the city. When we opened almost six years ago, many people did not know specialty coffee,” he says.
The corner cafe, located on the Plaza de La Romanilla, is cozy if not cramped, but the cheerful service lends the shop a certain electric energy.
When Sprudge visits, we opt for a take-away batch brew: a washed Ethiopia Bombe, that hits all of the right notes. A bonus for travelers with small children: the Plaza de La Romanilla has a small playground perfect for entertaining little ones while the parents get caffeinated.
Seda Coffee
It took 181 years to build the Granada Cathedral. Seda Coffee, located next to the cathedral’s facade on La Plaza de las Pasiegas, was also the culmination of years of effort.
“The idea of opening a coffee shop in that spot had been a dream for many years. When I was at university I used to drink coffee while sitting on the steps of the cathedral every day before class,” says Aiman Amghar.
Amghar moved to Switzerland to train as a barista before returning to Granada to open his dream shop.
“Granada is a small Spanish city compared to other cities like Madrid, Barcelona, or Seville but it’s a center of culture, history,” says Amghar. “We receive hundreds of thousands of people who come to Granada to visit, study or live in this magical place.”
What Seda might lack in seating—there isn’t any—it makes up for with expertly prepared espresso beverages, brewed on their red La Marzocco KB90. When Sprudge visited, Seda was brewing coffee from Seville roaster Ineffable Coffee. Expect fruity and funky microlots.
“We bring coffee from different roasters and we try to change our beans constantly,” says Amghar.
Don’t worry if you need a place to rest your weary legs—take a cue from Amghar and join the other tired tourists on the cathedral steps.
La Finca Coffee Roasters
A barista course in the Specialty Coffee Association’s coffee skills program sparked an interest in coffee for La Finca Roasters founder Juan Manuel González.
“It all started when I took the Batista Intermediate training and got to know specialty coffee, which was something that didn’t yet exist in Granada,” says González.
“You can say that we were the first, along with Dulcimena Coffee & Go, to introduce specialty coffee in Granada.”
La Finca runs a small cafe near the Granada Cathedral, but their house-roasted microlots can be found at a wide selection of cafes and restaurants around town, including natural wine purveyor Al Sur de Granada.
Michael Butterworth is a coffee educator and consultant based in Istanbul, Turkey. Read more Michael Butterworth for Sprudge.
