Manchester's best coffee
Whether you like pourover or Aeropress, flat whites or long blacks, Manchester’s coffee shop scene leaves the chain establishments eating, erm, superior-single-origin-coffee-flavoured dust. Here are a few great places to get your caffeine fix.
City centre and Northern Quarter
Koffee Pot
Using beans from local roastery Ancoats Coffee Co., beloved breakfast spot (and now late-night bar) Koffee Pot is The Skinny's go-to place for our morning fuel: smooth, flavoursome and one of the cheaper deals in town. The suppliers are a few minutes round the corner with their own cafe if you fancy going straight to the source. 84-86 Oldham St
Home Sweet Home
Another top tip for an affordable takeaway cup, kitsch cafe Home Sweet Home does a nice line in brews using Stafford's Has Bean espresso. While some coffees in town are strong enough to take your face off, these guys are nice and subtle. 49-51 Edge St
Foundation Coffee House
Vast and minimal, Foundation Coffee House somehow manages to be comfy despite being made almost entirely of tiles. The hot chocolate is a winner, and you can hire a strange little shed in the middle of the space for private meetings and prolonged caffeine benders. Sevendale House, Lever St
Takk
This Icelandic-inspired coffee house near Piccadillly Station is mainly in love with all things Nordic, serving its own 'North Projekt' espresso; but it's also more broadly committed to great European coffee, with single origin filters supplied by The Barn in Berlin and regular guest espressos coming from all over t'shop. 6 Tariff St
North Tea Power
The first to bring third wave coffee to Manchester city centre and arguably still the best, North Tea Power revolutionised cafe culture in the NQ when dynamic duo Wayne and Jane opened their premises in 2010. Now multiple award-winners, hosting workshops and looking at a second location, they're a must-visit if you want to get a taste of Manchester's true coffee scene. 36 Tib St
Idle Hands
North Tea Power pals Idle Hands first wooed us with their tasteful, artist-friendly bar on Piccadilly Approach and are now popping up in Northern Quarter barbers Mr Beardmore until their new site is ready to open. Follow them wherever they may go. 32-34 Dale St, follow @idlehandscoffee for the latest opening news
Deansgate and Spinningfields
Grindsmith
People-watching paradise Grindsmith looks out onto busy Deansgate (and the Church of Scientology) and is a little haven amid the road's rather more commercial vendors. Their ickle wooden pod, from which they started out, is also still in action. 231-233 Deansgate
Pot Kettle Black
A watering hole for weary shoppers, Pot Kettle Black is slap bang in the middle of the retail district but you'd never know it, being surrounded by the ornate Victorian finery of Barton Arcade. Boozy coffees are available for those truly broken by fruitless laps of House of Fraser. 14 Barton Arcade, Deansgate
Salford
Lupo Caffe Italiano
If you're looking for true Italian coffee, search no futher than Lupo Caffe Italiano, winner of Best Coffee Bar at the 2015 Manchester Food and Drink Awards. It's not just coffee, either: classic Italian dishes (tiramisu, provola) are all part of this light, airy bar's simple charm. 142 Chapel St
University and Oxford Road
The Anchor
Monmouth Coffee in Manchester?! Yes please. The Anchor sits at the tip of Whitworth Park and aims to support societal cohesion as well as just make a good cup of joe: as part of the Suspended Coffee initiative, you can add £2 to your bill which will be spent on providing food, drinks and more to the wider community. 508 Moss Ln East
Green Quarter
Popup Bikes
No need to be bored out of your mind while someone fixes your wheels thanks to Popup Bikes, a combined cafe and cycle repair shop under the railway arches. There's parking space for 100 bikes, the sarnies come toasted and the coffee is fairtrade. Arch 5, Corporation St
Out of town
The Spoon Inn
Coffee bar and tea house The Spoon Inn rotates its house bean weekly, specialises in Vietnamese and Arabic-style coffee and hunts out 'unique and obscure' flavours. They're also well into their leaves – staff can advise on the medicinal properties of different tea blends – and have one of the friendliest gaffs in Chorlton. 364 Barlow Moor Rd
Barbecue
The home of Passion Fruit Coffee Roastery, Barbecue is one member of The Skinny team's favourite place for a cuppa: "Their cakes and food menu is minimal and delish and you can sit in their super minimalist suave space for hours if you want." Their bread comes from ace Levenshulme bakery Trove, too. 486 Wilbraham Rd
Caffeine & Co.
Offering an oasis in the middle of Stretford's Longford Park, Caffeine & Co. make everything they sell in their kitchen at Manchester Science Park and get their roasts from famous London coffee co Square Mile. Sit out under the trees, page through a book and watch squirrels at play. Longford Park
Looking for somewhere new? Check out our New in Food column
Find more Manchester favourites in our 2016 Food and Drink Survey