5 Cartagena Coffee Shops You Can’t Miss
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Cartagena is home to quite the collection of coffee shops, but after 2.5 years of calling this Colombian Caribbean city home, these are the five that rise to the top of the list.
I like to call myself a coffee shop connoisseur and Cartagena’s café scene proved to be as rich and varied as I’ve ever experienced, from bookshop café’s straight out of a fairytale to surely one of the most innovative coffee drink menus in the world. While I don’t call Cartagena home anymore, I did for a good 2.5 years (have you seen my full Cartagena guide yet?).
The coffee shops I’ve included here are the best of the best Cartagena cafes, the ones I loved to frequent when I lived in Cartagena (and still miss dearly). Below the list, I’ve also created a pocket guide to purchasing beans for anyone looking to bring a few bags of specialty Colombian coffee home with them, and below that are some suggestions for guided coffee experiences, tastings, and café crawls to book if you want to go even deeper into Colombia’s coffee culture while you’re in Cartagena. Together, I think this might be the most comprehensive coffee guide on the internet for coffee lovers in Cartagena. I hope it helps you to enjoy!
Cartagena’s Best Cafes
The map below shows you where my top 5 Cartagena coffee shops are located in town. Keep scrolling for the why behind each selection.
1. Época Café Bar
Location: Centro
Doubly belonging on Cartagena’s best brunch spots list, Época Café Bar in Centro is a gorgeous cafe with perfectly poured coffee and a full menu of mouthwatering breakfast fare served all day long. The interiors reflect a 1940s Parisian flair while the beans are all sourced locally, certified fair trade, and masterfully turned into one of the best cups of coffee you may have in Colombia.
2. Libertario Coffee Roasters Cartagena
Location: Getsemani
Libertario Coffee Roasters was relatively new to the Cartagena coffee scene when I was living in Cartagena back in 2019. Today, it’s one of the city’s best coffee shops and in one of my favorite parts of town, the street art-coated Getsemani. Order your brew at the to-go window or grab a seat inside. There’s even a coworking table for those of you looking to get a bit of work done in an inspiring atmosphere.
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3. Abaco Libros y Café
Location: Centro
You cannot beat the ambiance of this independent bookshop cafe. Sip delicious brews amidst the Abaco Libros y Cafe’s stacks. The wifi never seemed to work when I would go, but that’s the perfect excuse to stick your nose in a book for a few hours instead, just like Belle in Beauty and the Beast; a reference that instantly makes sense when you see its ladder-adorned shelves and cozy library vibes.
4. Café del Mural
Location: Getsemani
Café del Mural is a coffee laboratory on a lovely shaded street in Getsemani and an experience in and of itself. Go for something your tastebuds have never tried and re-discover what’s possible when it comes to coffee. Inventive only begins to describe the coffee concoctions on their menu. For a truly unique experience, sign up for their coffee roasting and tasting experience with the owner David Arzayus, a true character.
Read:Meet the Genius Behind Cartagena’s Coffee Lab Moonlighting as a Coffee Shop
5. Café San Alberto
Location: Centro
Café San Alberto loves to boast that they have the most awarded coffee in Colombia, but they should. Their Quindio-sourced beans are truly a palate-pleaser and their reverence for what they do comes through in the terminology of their cafe, which they prefer to call a “temple,” and their coffee tasting experience a “coffee baptism.”
Update: Since writing this post over a year ago, I’ve just had one reader reach out to say this list should have a 6th coffee shop added, so here you go: Maria Julio Coffee Shop in Manga (my old neighborhood!). In his words: “one of the best cups I had in Colombia.” Let me know if you go and agree!
Buying Coffee in Colombia: A Pocket Guide for Bringing Colombian Coffee Home With You
Before you run out to buy a bag of beans to pack in your suitcase, it helps to know what you are looking at. Use this handy cheat sheet to decode Colombian coffee bags, pick your favorite regional flavor profile, and shop like a local coffee expert.
The Coffee Lover’s Cheat Sheet: Sourcing the Best Colombian Beans
Fast Facts: Colombian Coffee at a Glance
The Flavor Profile: Colombia-grown coffee is typically mild, balanced, and has a bright acidity with notes of chocolate, caramel, and citrus.
The Method: If it’s truly a quality Colombian coffee, it will have been hand-harvested on steep slopes and primarily wet-processed (washed) for clarity.
The Variety: Strictly 100% Arabica beans (primarily Castillo, Colombia, Caturra, and Typica).
4 Things to Look For on the Bag
Do not just buy a bag with a pretty logo. Look for these four specific indicators on the label to ensure you are buying high-quality, specialty beans:
Finca (Farm) / Producer Name: Identifies single-origin coffee rather than commercial blends.
Elevation (MASL): Look for 1,200 to 2,000+ Meters Above Sea Level for complex flavors.
Roast Date: Buy beans roasted within the last 1–4 weeks; avoid bags without a clear date.
Process: "Washed" yields a clean, classic cup; "Natural" or "Honey" brings fruity sweetness.
Regional Flavor Guide: Choose Your Profile
Colombia’s diverse microclimates produce vastly different flavor profiles. Use this regional breakdown to match your personal taste:
Northern (Sierra Nevada): Heavy body, low acidity, deep chocolate, nutty notes. Best for espresso & milk-based drinks.
Central (Eje Cafetero / Antioquia): Balanced, medium body, classic caramel, bright citrus. Best for everyday drinking and drip coffee.
Southern (Huila, Cauca, Nariño): High acidity, floral aromas, complex fruit, juicy finish. Best for pour-overs (V60, Chemex).
3 Golden Rules for Buying Coffee in Cartagena
Buy directly from the specialty cafes: Avoid airport souvenir shops and commercial supermarkets. The top specialty shops in the Walled City and Getsemaní (many of which are on the list you just finished reading) source directly from independent farms, roast in small batches, and store the beans in proper airtight valves.
Check the roast type: Traditional Colombian culture favors darker roasts, but modern specialty shops lean toward light or medium roasts to preserve the delicate fruity and floral characteristics of the bean.
Keep it whole bean: Request whole beans to preserve freshness during your flight home. If you don’t have a grinder at home, ask the barista to grind it for your specific home brewing method right before you pay.
The Coffee Experiences to Book in Cartagena
Beyond finding your fix from this list of my favorite Cartagena coffee shops or purchasing a few bags of quality beans to take home with you, there’s also a surprising number of guided coffee experiences in Cartagena, from coffee shop crawls to barista-led tastings, cuppings, and tutorials on the various ways to brew and enjoy the Colombia-grown beans you’ll likely be bringing back home with you. Here are a few I recommend looking into:
Coffee Cupping with Local Barista Pedro Rodulfo: With a local barista as your guide, you’ll get to taste three different specialty Colombian coffees while learning how to properly brew with a Chemex, V60, and French Press. Pedro will teach you how to pick up on the various aromas, flavors, and body of each bean and the way it can all change by brew method. Along the way, you’ll also hear some fascinating stories about Colombian coffee culture.
Coffee Shop Crawl & Cupping in Getsemaní: If you’d prefer more of a multi-stop itinerary, this coffee shop crawl takes you to three different specialty coffee shops in the Getsemaní neighborhood of Cartagena. At each coffee shop, you’ll get to taste a 100% Colombian brew, ranging from a bold espresso to a smooth filtered cup. Between stops, your guide will share some of the rich history and culture of Colombian coffee and its deep-rooted impact on Colombian history.
A Beyond-the-Walls Coffee Tasting: See the other side of the city beyond the walls while supporting local businesses by booking this coffee tasting experience in the Los Cerezos neighborhood of Cartagena. You’ll get to try five traditional ways coffee is enjoyed in Cartagena, ranging from the sweet coffee bonbon to the spice-infused cafe campesino and classic cappuccino. Throughout the experience, you’ll learn some of the history of coffee, the various types of coffee, crops, and their benefits, while tasting cofee in all of its forms and facets, from sweet to bitter to hot and cold.
The $20 2-Hour Tasting in a Coffee Laboratory: From plantation to your cup, this coffee tasting experience is as thorough as it gets. Taking place in a coffee laboratory, your expert Tomas will walk you through the history, various brewing processes and your tasting of three different Colombian specialty coffees. What sets this experience apart from other tastings is its emphasis on the sensory experience, activating your olfactory sense and tastebuds with pairings like chocolate, dried fruits, and fresh fruits to bring out even more each brews profile and distinguishing characteristics.
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