Best coffee in Copenhagen

As I simply will not stop discussing, I recently returned from a magical Scandinavia tour that included the stunningly beautiful Copenhagen. We spent three full days in Copenhagen and I hooned around to try all the spots I have read about for years. Of course, said hooning also involved an overly caffeinated attempt to try all the best coffee in Copenhagen.

Given that Copenhagen is a stylish, beautiful, foodie and all around stunning city, I had high expectations for the coffee. I have to say, I had some mixed feelings. By all accounts the Scandinavian way of roasting and brewing coffee is quite light and I found my espressos to be lighter and thinner than I usually like. This could be brewing method, it could be luck of the draw, it could be something else (it could just be me!). I figured it was worth mentioning if you also love a bold espresso with a good crema. With all that said, I still had some great coffee!

I have tried to group the cafes into loose areas because that’s always helpful to me as a tourist. Unfortunately there were some places that I just couldn’t travel to try but they do come extremely highly regarded and are included in this list.

Before I visit a city I use the internet, Reddit and TikTok to research the best places for coffee. Of course, I keep an eye out for anything that looks popular and delicious while I am there too.

One last quick note, before we dive in: I find the suburbs in Copenhagen very confusing! Addresses don’t seem to list a suburb (is Nørrebro technically a suburb or area? I don’t know!) and it can be hard to ascertain what is what. I have done my best, but please let me know if I have labelled anything incorrectly.

April

April is a very serious but light and bright coffee shop that was almost a bit intimidating, but the staff were so lovely, friendly and unpretentious. We had a great espresso and latte at April and it comes highly recommend on almost every list of the best coffee in Copenhagen. April is located a few blocks from The Rundetaarn in Indre By (inner city).

La Cabra

La Cabra was right around the corner from our Hotel, 25 Hours. Talk about convenient! It was always busy and the seating space inside is extremely limited as it is part of a clothing store. It seems to have quite a cult following and has larger coffee shops abroad. La Cabra is located a few blocks from The Rundetaarn in Indre By (inner city).

Coffee Collective

Coffee Collective have a number of locations across Copenhagen and beyond. I went to the one in Torverhallerne, a food market that might be on your itinerary if you are a tourist. It cost me an eye watering $10 Australian dollars for a takeaway espresso but the coffee was very good. Perusing Reddit, a lot of people say that the Sankt Hans Torv location in Nørrebro is a great location. If you’re staying in Indre By, there is a Coffee Collective on Bernikows Gade which is a few blocks away from April, La Cabra and The Rundetaarn.

Hart Bageri

I’m throwing this one in because I had a delicious espresso from here and was able to acquire baked goods for my travel companion at the same time. They are not necessarily known for their coffee per se but they are very much known for their baked goods. Hart Bageri use Prolog coffee beans at the time of writing. They have a number of locations; the one I went to was the Gammel Mønt location which is walking distance to all of the above coffee shops.

Prolog

Like a lot of places on this list, Prolog have a number of venues across Copenhagen. Among those, there is one in the Meatpacking District and one in Papirøen which is a little island across the water from Nyhavn. We went to this venue while we were strolling around Christianshavn and the surrounds. It was a lovely espresso in a chilled and quiet spot. I doubt it would be as quiet in the summer, but still.

Hip Hop

I didn’t make it to Hip Hop, but the internet has great things to say about it. They also roast their own beans and sell them under the name Sensei Coffee, as far as I can tell. Hip Hop is well and truly in Nørrebro and would have been a taxi from the Rundetaarn near where we were staying.

Darcy’s Kaffe

At the time of writing, Darcy’s Kaffe seems to have 3 locations with slightly different names: Darcy’s Kaffe (Nørrebro) Darcy’s & Friends (Meatpacking District) and Darcy’s & CC (Refshalevej, near Reffen). I suspect the latter two would be closer to the tourist hotspots. The Meatpacking District area also has a Prolog and Wild Horses nearby (among other things). Refshalevej has Lille Bakery, Noma and La Banchina within walking distance.

Wild Horses

Wild Horses was temporarily closed when I visited Copenhagen so I was unable to try it. However, I saw it listed on essentially EVERY ‘best coffee in Copenhagen’ list so I have to include it here. By all accounts they are opening again soon and I’ll keep an eye out to make sure this information remains current. Wild Horses is located in Sydhavn which is a little bit out from Indre By, but by all accounts worth the trip.

Orsa

Sadly I didn’t make it to Orsa because there’s only so many thousand steps I can do in a day. In Vesterbrogade, Orsa is near to the meatpacking district and perhaps walking distance from Tivoli gardens. It comes very highly regarded so I will definitely be making the trek next time I’m in Copenhagen.

Above from left to right: La Cabra, Prolog and Coffee Collective in Torverhallerne

Other coffee shops that are highly rated in Copenhagen

• Impact Roasters (I will say that I had a really bad espresso here but the reviews online don’t support my experience so I may have been unlucky, multiple locations but I went to Nørrebro)
• Anderson and Maillard (3 locations and well reviewed baked goods, one in Indre By and one in Nørrebro)
• The Artisan (Nørrebro)
• Norange (Nørrebro)
• Roast (Island’s Brygge is a highly rated location but they have multiple, including one in Indre By)
• Hans, which used to be called CUB (3 locations, one on Grønnegade which is walking distance to Nyhavn, April, La Cabra, Hart Bageri and an Anderson Maillard, among other things).
• Cafe Det Vide Hus (on Gothersgade)
• Kaffe (Vesterbro)
• Lokal (Vesterbro)
• Kaffedepartmentet (north of Nørrebro if it’s a thing so a bit of a trek)
• Yellow Bird (Amager Beach)

Which of the best coffee shops in Copenhagen are located centrally?

Central means something different to everyone, but I thought it might be helpful for my fellow tourists to group some coffee shops together in terms of their walking distance to the sights. For me, central in Copenhagen means walking distance to Nyhavn and Rundetaarn and located in Indre By.

• La Cabra is a 10-15 minute walk from Nyhavn or less than a 5 minute walk from the Rundetaarn
• April is a 10-15 minute walk from Nyhavn or less than a 5 minute walk from the Rundetaarn
• Coffee Collective (the Kristen Bernikows location) is a 10 minute walk from Nyhavn or a 5-10 minute walk from the Rundetaarn
• Hart Bageri (the Gammel Mønt location) is 10 minute walk from Nyhavn or a 5-10 minute walk from the Rundetaarn
• Hans (the Grønnegade location) is a 5-10 minute walk from Nyhavn or a 5 minute walk from the Rundetaarn
• Anderson Maillard (the Østergade location) is a 10 minute walk from Nyhavn or a 5-10 minute walk from the Rundetaarn
• Roast (the Studiestræde location) is a 5-10 minute walk from the Rundetaarn or a 20 minute walk from Nyhavn. It is also a 10-15 minute walk from Tivoli Gardens.