10 of Sydney's best coffee shops

By Ute Junker

If you love good coffee, you've come to the right place. From lattes and flat whites to the power punch of a double espresso, Sydney offers a variety of ways to get your daily dose of caffeine. Whatever your drink of choice, these cafés are guaranteed to please even the most particular coffee connoisseur. 

Where: 10 Llankelly Pl, Potts Point

First, you have to find it: tucked down a pedestrian laneway, Room Ten's location falls into the “hard to locate” category. Even then, if you are not paying attention you might walk right past this simple hole in the wall, where low stools are pushed up against tiny tables. That would be a shame. As well as dishing up delicious breakfasts, Room Ten is known for having some of the best coffee in the inner city.  

Gumption

Where: Shop 11, The Strand Arcade, city centre

Looking for a caffeine hit in the heart of town? Gumption has what you need. Situated in the city's lovely Strand Arcade, Gumption takes a back-to-basics approach to serving up coffee. Coffees come in one size, there is no food menu, no high-tech machines and no attitude: just quality coffee served with a smile. Insider tip: on a hot day, the cold drip is the perfect way to cool down.

Artificer

Where: 547 Bourke Street, Surry Hills

Minimalist design, no food and just a few scattered seats. The focus at Artificer is purely on the coffee, and it's done exceptionally well. The team regularly buy small quantities of the best beans and roast them to bring out the inherent qualities in that particular batch. So stop in often to see what they are roasting.

Campos Coffee

Where: 193 Missenden Rd, Newtown

This pocket-sized hotspot is the hub from which the successful Campos Coffee empire has grown, and few places are more efficient at serving coffee. The aroma of single origin coffee hovers above the Missenden Road premises, where a trio of well-trained staff seem to work in sync with the jazz soundtrack. They claim to make an astonishing 200 cups an hour and watching them work, we’re prepared to believe it.

Cabrito Coffee Traders

Where: 10-14 Bulletin Pl, Sydney

Sightseeing can be hard work. If you find your energy flagging somewhere between the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, look for the tiny laneway known as Bulletin Place, where Cabrito Coffee Traders will provide you with a  pick-me-up. Look for the small goat logo above the door, or simply follow your nose – at Cabrito they roast their beans on-site.

Paramount Coffee Project

Where: 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills

Let’s be honest: this airy space is so inviting, we would probably still drop in even if the coffee was just passable. Fortunately for us, at the Paramount Coffee Project they know their beans. The café showcases a rotating selection of roasters from around the world, changing every four to six weeks. As a result, this is a great place to start the day with a coffee and a smashed avocado on toast.

Barefoot Coffee Traders

Where: 18 Whistler St, Manly

Sometimes, you want to sit down and relax over a cup of coffee. Sometimes, however, you just need a quality caffeine hit. That’s what Barefoot Coffee Traders in Manly does best. Don’t ask for decaf: they don’t serve it. Just enjoy your single origin coffee, wander down to the beach and wonder, does life get better than this?

South Coffee and Food

Where: Tower 1/100 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo

You would expect Sydney’s newest dining district, Barangaroo, to have some seriously good coffee on offer and South Coffee and Food does not disappoint. This sleek café in the lobby of Tower One, is the first Sydney outpost of Melbourne’s well-loved Dukes Coffee Roasters, known for sourcing only sustainable and ethical beans.

The Grounds of Alexandria

Where: 7a/2 Huntley St, Alexandria

One of Sydney’s favourite foodie playgrounds, The Grounds of Alexandria offers 1800 square metres (19,000 square feet) of gastronomic delights, from a café and a bakery to a vegetable garden. At its heart, however, is some serious coffee love, including an on-site roaster and even a coffee research facility.  If you can't make it to Alexandria, grab a takeaway from their location in the city centre. 

Celsius Coffee Co

Where: Commuter Wharf, Holbrook Ave, Kirribilli 

If the good folk of Kirribilli leap out of bed eagerly every morning, we know why. Not only can they take the ferry to work – one of the loveliest commutes in the world – but they can enjoy one of the best coffees in town on the way, courtesy of Celsius Coffee Co, which also dishes up a seriously tasty breakfast.