1. Proper Order - @proper_order_coffee_co
Located just around the corner from the Smithfield Luas stop, coffee in Proper Order really is, proper. The quality and care which is taken for each coffee are impressive, and the overall welcome you receive is top class. Their baristas are award-winning, which is shown in the quality of the coffee you get.
2. Gertrude - @3fegertrude
Gertrude is the sort of place that reminds you that human decency and welcoming is worth its weight in gold (coffee). The baristas and servers are top class humans, they are pretty good at making coffee, too. It is the type of place where you feel at home, and a place you’re not afraid to spend all day in there without feeling like a hogger!
Gertrude uses beans from the well-known 3fe, which generally aren’t my style but I must say they use them well!
3. Shoe Lane - @shoelanecoffee
Shoe Lane has two stores, with two unique personas to match. First, you have the original cafe on Tara Street which is a quaint little cafe with a lot of character. The two floors both have an individual personality. On the ground floor, it is a place for chatting, petting dogs and watching the world rush around as you sit there in bliss. A second floor is a place where you can put the headphones in and zone out of what’s around you and focus on getting work done.
Their Dun Laoighaire store is very much a place of chilled, kicked back vibes - very much like Australia! There are huge floor to ceiling windows, perfect for gazing out into the world, as well as outdoor seats, perfect for basking on a sunny day.
Coffee is provided by Full Circle Coffee roasters, very good quality single-origin beans.
4. Two Beans - @twobeanscafe
Two beans also boasts two locations. One being on Cumberland street, while their second store is on George’s Street in Dun Laoighaire. Both serve the finest beans, and both have highly trained baristas who compete in coffee championships. What I always see is a sign of a quality coffee shop which cares about the craft and the customers is when they have baristas who compete – it’s always a great sign.
Two Beans get their beans from a well-known, quality roaster – The Barn. They pride themselves on quality and you will always get a flavoursome cup of bean juice.
5. Clement and Pekoe - @clementandpekoe
Clement and Pekoe really do the simple things well. I recently got a flat white there and to say you could taste the fruits involved in the complexity of the beans was an understatement. When you can taste the structure and flavour profile of espresso in a milk based drink such as a flat white, it really demonstrates the quality of both the beans and the skill of the barista who made it. The milk texture and temperature was perfect.