Regardless of whether you’re a Frappuccino fanatic, a bean aficionado or you prefer a dark, rich espresso, the one thing we can agree on is that we want to drink the best quality brews, whether that’s at home or out and about. Of course, we recommend Tambia coffee when you’re at home, but we wanted to provide some global inspiration of where might be best to grab a coffee on your travels.
We were curious to discover the locations where coffee culture is thriving the most, so we made use of several different data sources to help us uncover the answer.
TikTok data was used to find the vibiest locations where people were drinking coffee, as it’s a site known for coffee worshipers to show off their latest must-visit haunts. We then used Instagram to reveal where the most beautiful places were to sip on a cup of coffee, as we all know that only the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing images are posted to the platform. Finally, we used TripAdvisor to give us an idea of how many coffee houses and cafes are situated in each location. All three data sources were combined to find the must-visit coffee destinations in the world.
P.s., We’ve heard from passionate coffee drinkers in New Zealand who are shocked that Wellington didn’t make the list but it’s not for lack of amazing coffee, vibrant coffee shops or skilled baristas. Our research used 3 data sources, TikTok, Instagram, and TripAdvisor, to arrive at the top destinations. We summed the number of posts and video views under hashtags #[city]coffee on Instagram and TikTok for 365 cities around the world, along with the number of coffee shops in those cities according to TripAdvisor data. The top picks in our list were based on the timeframe and only the data from those 3 specific sources. It’s really down to a point in time and what people or sharing and talking about — but maybe an opportunity for NZ coffee lovers to share more ;-) PLEASE REACH OUT TO US AND LET US KNOW YOUR FAVORITE NZ SHOPS SO WE CAN WRITE ABOUT THEM :)
Top 50 destinations to drink coffee around the world!
According to the data, New York City is the number one coffee destination in the world, followed by Melbourne and Riyadh, with Toronto and Hanoi rounding out the top five. NYC is frequently linked to coffee culture, thanks to its citizens’ fast-paced and on-the-go lifestyle (often with a coffee in hand) as well as pop culture depictions of fictional New York coffee houses such as Central Perk in Friends or Monk’s Café in Seinfeld.
Melbourne follows closely behind New York City and takes second place. Much like the former, Melbourne has a longstanding reputation as one of the coffee capitals of the world. With 95% of its coffee shops being independently owned, it’s a testament to how loyal coffee drinkers are that they proudly stand behind their local barista, all in the name of a good brew.
Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh takes third place in the ranking, with the city’s warmer climate failing to deter coffee fans from seeking out their daily fix. Saudi coffee is known for its rich and distinct individual taste, thanks to the beans being grown in the mountains of Yemen and Ethiopia. It is often served with cardamom for those who aren’t a fan of its stronger flavour.
Toronto comes in fourth place which could be partly attributed to the cold snowy temperatures throughout the winter season. The city is full of chic, cosy coffee houses that make a perfect place to shelter from the icy conditions while you sip on your chosen choice of beverage. Closing out the top five is Hanoi, Vietnam which boasts plenty of coffee shops throughout the city and is famed for its distinctive, traditional iced coffee that proves popular on social media platforms like Tik Tok.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Paris debuts in seventh place with coffee culture playing a big role in city life. Images of perfectly presented Parisians sipping coffee outside picture-perfect cafes immediately come to mind, in the romanticised version of Paris that we think of and see in the media, and they are not far wrong. In Paris you’ll find quaint, historic cafes nestled next to modern, innovative coffee shops – meaning you get the best of both worlds.
London follows in eighth place with a thriving latte-art scene that keeps customers returning for that bespoke barista service. Seattle, Chicago and San Diego help fill out the remaining places, making the US the country with the most locations in the top 10.
Overall, Europe proves to be the most popular continent for coffee drinking with a total of 19 countries in the top 50 (including Austria, Ireland and Hungary). Asia follows in second with three countries (Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand), North America features two (USA and Canada) as does the Middle East (Saudi Arabia and UAE).
Other cities in the Top 50!
#16 Nashville, USA
#17 Boston, USA
#18 Dubai, UAE
#19 Los Angeles, USA
#20 Perth, Australia
#21 Sydney, Australia
#22 Denver, USA
#23 Lisbon, Portugal
#24 Lyon, France
#25 Vancouver, Canada
#26 Houston, USA
#27 Barcelona, Spain
#28 Austin, USA
#29 Seoul, South Korea
#30 Athens, Greece
#31 San Antonio, USA
#32 Berlin, Germany
#33 Warsaw, Poland
#34 Belfast, North Ireland
#35 Glasgow, Scotland
#36 Atlanta, USA
#37 Prague, Czech Republic
#38 Cape Town, South Africa
#39 Amsterdam, Netherlands
#40 Milan, Italy
#41 Edinburgh, Scotland
#42 Thessaloniki, Greece
#43 Lima, Peru
#44 Memphis, USA
#45 Ottawa, Canada
#46 Porto, Portugal
#47 Abu Dhabi, UAE
#48 Honolulu, USA
#49 Calgary, Canada
#50 Bangkok, Thailand
Methodology and data
To find the most popular cities for coffee drinking, Tambia summed the number of posts and video views under hashtags #[city]coffee on Instagram and TikTok for 365 cities around the world, along with the number of coffee shops in those cities according to TripAdvisor data.