Cafeography
Café especial · Medellín

Specialty coffee cafés in Medellín

Café especial from Antioquian farms, roasted in the city.

Photo: Christian Bolaños, Pexels License

Long before specialty cafés, the coffee Medellín drank was the tinto: a thick, concentrated black coffee sold on street corners from heat-keeping dispensers, often brewed from low-grade beans and sweetened. Beans above a certain quality were exported, which long made good coffee hard to find in Colombia itself.1

Café especial (specialty coffee) changed that. In 2019, El Colombiano wrote that cafés brewing and selling coffee from small Colombian producers had reappeared in Medellín over roughly the previous seven years.2 Its 2026 price survey listed what a specialty cup pays for: the bean's origin, its traceability, the brewing method and its sensory profile.3

Local tip: To compare farms, buy 250 g bags rather than a kilo: Típica sells specialty lots such as its honey-processed Bourbon Rosado in 250 g bags.8

Where these cafés are: El Poblado (6), Laureles–Estadio (2).

At a glance

8Cafés listed
4With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
21:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Café Revolución, from 07:00 (Mon–Sat 07:00–19:00 · Sun 07:00–18:00).
  • Closes latest: Cariñito Café, until 21:00 (Mon–Sat 07:30–21:00 · Sun 08:00–14:00).
  • Most common features: wi-fi (38%), outdoor seating (25%), card payment (13%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Medellín.

How Medellín's specialty scene began

Barista Magazine named Pergamino, owned by the Echavarría family, as one of the first specialty cafés in Medellín when it visited in 2015.4 Across the street on Carrera 37, Café Velvet, owned by a Belgian pastry chef, had been open for just over a year.4 Velvet began roasting in early 2015 with a Probatone 5 at its own plant in Itagüí.5

The same 2015 visit found Cariñito, then a new specialty café near the Museo de Arte Moderno, brewing Chemex, and El Laboratorio del Café downtown, across from the Museo de Antioquia, pairing specialty coffee with desserts.4

Where the roasters pour

El Poblado has the most specialty cafés, ahead of Laureles–Estadio. Hijamia, at Calle 11A #43D-117, opens 07:00–21:00 every day, and General Cafe Bar at Calle 13 #43D-84 opens daily at 07:00. Cariñito Café on Carrera 44 keeps 07:30–21:00 hours from Monday to Saturday and 08:00–14:00 on Sundays. Campesino Café is at Calle 8 #43B-34 and Cafés de Origen at Calle 10 Sur #45-270.

In Laureles, Café Revolución at Carrera 73 #4-10 sells its own beans from Tolima,7 and has a second café at Calle 37 #79-32.

Típica calls itself a specialty coffee and brewing-methods company, with its Centro de Experiencias at Calle 5 Sur #42-17.8

What a specialty cup costs in Medellín

A tinto still costs very little in most of the city. In October 2026, El Colombiano found one for COP$1,000 to 1,500 in Manrique bakeries near Parque de Guadalupe and COP$1,000 to 8,000 downtown. At Pergamino a tinto started at COP$4,700, against about COP$5,300 at Juan Valdez and COP$9,500 at Starbucks.3

Beans to take home are the bigger expense. Típica's online shop listed 250 g of honey-processed Bourbon Rosado at COP$48,000 and a kilo of its traditional coffee at COP$86,000 in October 2026.8

Ordering at a specialty bar

Filter coffee is the house style. Velvet's owner told Perfect Daily Grind in 2021 that her customers tended to order V60, Chemex or Aeropress for the acidity and complexity of Colombian coffee, and Pergamino's owner said they roast light to bring out each cup's flavors.1 Pergamino's menu lists El Tinto, a coffee of the day, next to Aeropress, French press, Chemex and V60.6

If you want milk, ask for a pintadito, the Antioquian name for coffee with a small amount of milk.9 El Colombiano noted that one hand-brewed preparation at Pergamino is enough for two cups.3

Sources

  1. Guía de la cultura del café en Medellín, Perfect Daily Grind Español (June 11, 2021), accessed October 2026
  2. ¿Dónde tomarse un café especial en Medellín y sus alrededores?, El Colombiano (June 27, 2019), accessed October 2026
  3. ¿$1.000 o $12.000? Esto cuesta un tinto, según el barrio de Medellín, El Colombiano (October 1, 2026), accessed October 2026
  4. Medellín's Growing Specialty Coffee Scene, Barista Magazine (June 16, 2015), accessed October 2026
  5. 5 Best Independent Coffee Roasters in El Poblado, Medellín, Medellín Guru (June 19, 2018), accessed October 2026
  6. Pergamino Cafe Review: Medellín's Best Spot for Coffee Drinks, Half Half Travel (September 20, 2026), accessed October 2026
  7. 7 Best Cafés in Medellín, kimkim (February 18, 2021), accessed October 2026
  8. Típica: Café de Especialidad y Métodos, Típica, accessed October 2026
  9. ¿Tinto, perico o chaqueta? Así cambia la forma de tomar café en Colombia, Publimetro Colombia (October 1, 2026), accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

Other ways to browse Medellín

Cafés con wifi

Wi-Fi

29 cafés
Terrazas

Outdoor seating

19 cafés
Brunch

Brunch

8 cafés

By area: El Poblado Laureles–Estadio

FAQ

Specialty coffee in Medellín: questions

Where are the specialty coffee cafés in Medellín?

Mostly in El Poblado, ahead of Laureles–Estadio. Hijamia at Calle 11A #43D-117 opens daily 07:00–21:00, and Típica runs its Centro de Experiencias at Calle 5 Sur #42-17. In Laureles, Café Revolución is at Carrera 73 #4-10 and Calle 37 #79-32.

How much does specialty coffee cost in Medellín?

In October 2026 a tinto at Pergamino started at COP$4,700, against COP$1,000 to 1,500 in Manrique bakeries, about COP$5,300 at Juan Valdez and COP$9,500 at Starbucks. Beans cost more: Típica listed 250 g of honey-processed Bourbon Rosado at COP$48,000 and a kilo of its traditional coffee at COP$86,000.

Where can you buy specialty coffee beans in Medellín?

Café Revolución in Laureles sells its own beans from Tolima, and Típica, at Calle 5 Sur #42-17 in El Poblado, sells specialty lots such as a honey-processed Bourbon Rosado in 250 g bags.

For café owners

Your café deserves better than a pin someone else dropped

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design