Coffee in Bucharest: from Turkish coffee to third wave

About Coffee in Bucharest: from Turkish coffee to third wave

By the ULTIMATE Bucharest Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Coffee came to Bucharest from the Ottoman world, and the city has been drinking it ever since: in Belle Époque cafés on Calea Victoriei, in book cafés and now in a lively scene of specialty roasters and baristas.

Turkish coffee

For centuries coffee was brewed the Turkish way, in a small pot, and served strong and sweet. You can still order cafea turcească in some places.

Belle Époque cafés

Around 1900, Calea Victoriei had famous cafés where writers, artists and politicians met. Few survive, but the tradition lives on in cafés such as those in the Macca-Villacrosse passage.

Bucharest drank Turkish coffee long before espresso.

The third wave

Today Bucharest has an excellent specialty coffee scene, with local roasters and cafés serving filter coffee and espresso from carefully sourced beans.

Our advice: start the day at a specialty café, have a coffee under the glass roof of the Macca-Villacrosse passage in the afternoon, and try a book café for a quiet hour.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Coffee in Bucharest: from Turkish coffee to third wave before you go.