Rhostio roasts in Roath, and Sparrow and Mec Coffee add V60 bars and rotating guest roasters, making this Cardiff's most credible neighbourhood for specialty.
Worth going out of your way
A rotating guest roaster programme and baristas who'll split an espresso so you can taste the same bean two ways. Roath's best argument for slowing down over coffee.
Roath's go-to for serious coffee, with a V60 on the bar and cortados that coffee nerds keep coming back for.
A Roath lifestyle store with a genuinely serious coffee programme tucked inside it. Get the V60 with whatever Peruvian single origin is on, and ask the barista about it.
Roath's in-house roastery and one of Cardiff's most credible specialty operations. Order a V60 on single-origin Ethiopian and pick up a bag from the shelf on the way out.
Good if you're nearby
Blossom brings a Turkish-inspired sensibility to Roath, with house-baked pastries, vegan cakes, and a coffee programme built on beans sourced directly from a named farm in El Salvador. More going on here than the neighbourhood setting suggests.
The flat whites here are the real deal. Properly pulled espresso with latte art to match, in a relaxed Roath neighbourhood spot.
Coffi Lab roasts its own coffee in Cardiff, and the Roath branch is where you taste the results. Grab a flat white, pick up a bag of Fox Red or Yellow Lab to take home, and bring the dog.
A Syrian-run neighbourhood café on Wellfield Road where the coffee is genuinely good, not just incidental to the food. If you're in Roath and want a flat white made with care, this is the one.