Last updated: February 2026
Calgary has one of the strongest coffee cultures in Canada. The city has produced more Canadian Barista Champions than anywhere else in the country, and several of those champions are still roasting and serving here. Whether you’re after a precise pour-over, a neighbourhood spot to settle into for the morning, or something genuinely unlike anything else, these are the 12 worth knowing about.
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Monogram Coffee
Co-founded by Ben Put, the most decorated barista in Canadian history with seven national championship titles, Monogram is the standard-bearer for Calgary specialty coffee. The Britannia location is the flagship experience: a bright, well-designed room with a full kitchen and bakery on-site, and access to some of the most exceptional coffees available anywhere in the country through their Vault collection. Their 5th Ave downtown location runs a free educational tasting on the last Wednesday of every month, which is worth knowing about if you want to understand what makes great coffee great.
Order: A pour-over if you want to experience what the team does at its best. Ask what’s in the Vault.
Multiple locations: Britannia, Altadore, 5th Ave Downtown, University District monogramcoffee.com | @monogramco
Rosso Coffee Roasters
Rosso’s barista roster reads like a who’s who of Canadian coffee competition. Cole Torode won the Canadian Barista Championship twice and finished third in the world in 2019. Nelson Phu won the national title in 2024 and has multiple national latte art championships to his name. The coffee here reflects that level of precision: seven locations across the city, small-batch roasting, and a commitment to sourcing that shows in the cup.
Order: Whatever the current Limited Edition roast is. The seasonal offerings are where Rosso’s sourcing approach is most evident.
Multiple locations across Calgary rossocoffeeroasters.com | @rossocoffeeroasters
Phil and Sebastian Coffee Roasters
The place where much of Calgary’s coffee talent was trained. Jeremy Ho won the Canadian Barista Championship here in 2012. Ben Put won it here in 2013 before going on to found Monogram. The direct trade sourcing program is one of the most rigorous in the country, and the precision brewing has been consistent for over a decade. Multiple locations now, but the quality has held.
Order: A filter coffee if you want to taste the sourcing, or an espresso-based drink if you want to see the technique.
Multiple locations across Calgary philandseb.com | @philandseb
Paradigm Spark
Founded by award-winning barista David Kim, Paradigm Spark opened its first permanent location in late 2024 in Victoria Park after running as a pop-up inside Eight Ounce Coffee. It is one of the most complete coffee destinations in the city: a roastery, a cafe, an Experience Bar where competition baristas practice their craft, and home to Timberline Coffee School, which offers SCA certification courses. The atmosphere is collaborative and event-driven, with regular coffee tastings and pop-ups.
Order: An espresso from the roastery’s own beans, or ask about what’s on at the Experience Bar.
Victoria Park | Near downtown Calgary paradigmspark.ca | @paradigmsparkcoffee
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Analog Coffee
A 17th Ave institution that has expanded without losing what made it worth going to in the first place. Single origin beans, ethically sourced directly from farmers and roasted in Calgary. The original location is always busy, the espresso machine is always running, and the coffee is consistently excellent. Good for a quick stop or a longer sit depending on when you go.
Order: A pour-over on a single origin bean, or a flat white if you want to see what well-sourced espresso tastes like with good milk work.
Multiple locations: 17th Ave, Southcentre Mall, Calgary Farmer’s Market, downtown analogcoffee.ca | @analogcoffee.ca
Caffe Beano
Open since 1990 and still one of the most reliably packed rooms in the Beltline. Beano is the kind of place that outlasts trends because it never chased them: strong espresso, fresh-baked muffins, a back room that fills up with regulars at all hours, and a chocolate espresso milkshake that has its own loyal following. If you want to understand Calgary coffee culture beyond the specialty scene, this is where you go.
Order: A strong espresso drink, a fresh muffin, and the chocolate espresso milkshake at least once.
Beltline | 1613 9 St SW @caffebeano
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Higher Ground
Alberta’s oldest coffee shop, open in Kensington since 1982. It has outlasted chain invasions, recessions, and every coffee trend of the last four decades by doing the same things consistently well: ethically sourced organic and fair trade coffee, a warm room that feels genuinely community-oriented, live music and rotating local art, and a patio that fills up whenever the weather allows. Sees 600 to 800 people through the door on a busy day, which tells you everything you need to know.
Order: Whatever their current seasonal offering is, alongside something from the food menu if you’re staying a while.
Kensington | 1126 Kensington Road NW Capitol Hill | 2502 Capitol Hill Crescent NW highergroundcafe.ca | @highergroundcafeyyc
Gravity Coffee
An Inglewood community hub that has grown into several locations across the central city without losing the neighbourhood feel. The original Inglewood location doubles as a wine bar and live music venue, which makes it genuinely versatile depending on the time of day and what you’re after. The coffee is expertly brewed, the food is solid, and the spaces are comfortable enough to stay in for hours.
Order: A well-pulled espresso drink. If you’re there in the evening, the wine and live music program is worth checking in advance.
Multiple locations including Inglewood gravitycoffee.ca | @gravitycoffeeco
Sought X Found
A husband and wife-run roaster and cafe that takes coffee seriously without being precious about it. Kitty placed third at the Western Canadian Barista qualifiers, and the sourcing reflects that level of expertise: curiosity-driven, diverse in origin, and brewed with care. The monthly rotating coffee flights, where you can try different origins made the same way or one origin made three different ways, are the best way to understand what the team is doing here. Just expanded from the original Crescent Heights location to a new Beltline spot.
Order: The monthly coffee flight. It changes regularly and is one of the more educational coffee experiences available in the city.
Crescent Heights | 916 Centre Street N Beltline | New location soughtxfound.com | @soughtxfound
Eight Ounce Coffee Club
The most unusual coffee experience on this list. Eight Ounce is primarily a specialty coffee equipment supplier, and the cafe sits inside their showroom, which means you’re drinking exceptional coffee surrounded by the machines that made it. They carry Canada’s largest variety of specialty beans, sourced from roasters across North America, Europe and Asia, and the coffee flight (three pour-overs side by side) is the best way to explore what’s available. Worth going if you’re curious about what separates good coffee from exceptional coffee.
Order: The coffee flight. Three origins, side by side, brewed on top-of-the-line gear.
Downtown | Inside the Eight Ounce showroom eightounce.ca | @eightouncecoffee
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Bono Coffee
Ethiopian-owned and operated, Bono was built around promoting Ethiopian coffee culture in Calgary. The owners grew up in Ethiopia and brought what they learned about coffee to their small-batch roasting operation. A number of roasts and blends are on offer, and the cafes are comfortable spots to spend time in. A genuinely different perspective on coffee from most of what else is on this list.
Order: Ask what’s roasting currently and go from there. The Ethiopian single origins are the obvious starting point.
Multiple locations in Calgary bonocoffee.ca | @bonocoffeeroasters
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Element Cafe
A 17th Ave spot built around the latte flight, which Element invented in Calgary and has since become their signature. The concept is simple: three small lattes, each made with a different flavour combination using house-made syrups, so you can try before you commit. The menu rotates monthly, which gives regulars a reason to keep coming back. The space is cozy, community-oriented, locally sourced pastries, local art on the walls, and the kind of staff that people consistently mention by name in their reviews. Less of a precision specialty destination than a few other spots on this list, but one of the most fun coffee experiences in the city.
Order: The latte flight. That’s what you’re here for.
17th Ave | 331 17 Ave SW Mon–Fri 7am–10pm | Sat–Sun 9am–10pm elementcafe.ca | @elementcafe
A Note on Calgary’s Coffee Scene
Calgary’s reputation in coffee is built on competition. Canadian Barista Champions Jeremy Ho, Ben Put, Cole Torode and Nelson Phu all trained or work here, which is an unusual concentration of talent for a city this size. That competitive culture filters down into the cafes in the form of higher standards across the board. It is genuinely one of the better cities in North America to drink coffee, which is not something most people expect before they arrive.
Know a spot that should be on this list? Let us know.