Top 6 Coffee Shops in Lima, Peru Your Tour Guide Won’t Tell You

Following an article we wrote on Coffee in Peru: There’s More to Peru than just Machu Picchu, Dafna, a CoffeeSphere reader wrote:

I would suggest checking out non-chain cafes in Lima, of which there are many, including artisan and family-owned. Try, for instance, Kulcafe, Puku Puku, True Artisan, Café Verde, Buenavista Café (in the Malecón, has a great view), Arábica, La Cafetera, etc, in Miraflores. Barranco, the more artsy district, has Bodega Verde, Bisetti and Piselli (same owner as Arábica), while San Isidro (upscale upscale) has The Coffee Road and Pueblo Libre district has Orígenes.

Also, when in Cuzco, one cannot miss the traditional Café Ayllu. Going to Starbucks in the Plaza deArmass is kind of sacrilegious.

We liked her comment so much so that we did our research and wrote to the coffee shops in Lima she mentioned and asked them to share:

• Their favorite photos
• Name three top sellers in the coffee shops
• Where they source their coffee
• Opening hours

And some of the owners and managers went above and beyond by giving us many helpful answers. So here are 6 top coffee shops to learn about Peruvian coffee and to drink coffee in Lima:

1. The Coffee Road

San Isidro is Lima’s financial district and one of its most upscale neighborhoods. Situated at Av. Prescott 378, is The Coffee Road. When The Coffee Road debuted in June 2014, it immediately joined the ranks of the top coffee shops in Lima. The coffee shop focuses on serving locally sourced coffee with three major coffee regions in Peru:

1. Finca Vidurrizaga – Villa Rica – Junin,
2. Finca Alto – Bagua Grande – Amazonas
3. Finca Churupampa – Chirinos – Cajamarca

The Coffee Road’s top three best sellers are the cappuccino, espresso and their simple V60 beverage, a non-coffee drink for caffeine intolerant visitors. When in the San Isidro district of Lima, also check out Huaca Huallamarca, an Inca civilization ruin.

Its opening hours are Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

More information: The Coffee Road  Facebook page.

2. True Artisan Cafe

Located on a quiet street (Bolivar Street 159), in Miraflores, south of Central Lima, True Artisan Cafe offers a relaxing atmosphere, good food, and great coffee. True Artisan Cafe focuses on the art of making classic espresso, macchiato, and cappuccino using La Marzocco espresso machines.

Their top three best sellers including non-coffee items: cappuccino, traditional espresso, and iced Americano Latte (especially in summer). When you’re there, don’t forget to try their spinach and cheese quiche and Caprese (mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil salad).

True Artisan Cafe sources arabica coffee from small-scale Peruvian coffee farmers in:

1. Cajamarca
2. San Ignacio
3. Villa Rica

They try to integrate different flavors to their coffee. Recently, the company has included robusta coffee from India to create their house blend coffee along with their favorite hand-roasted artisan coffee.

True Artisan Cafe’s cappuccino is known to have the intensity of espresso and blended perfectly with milk. Their espresso has a hint of sweetness created by mixing fine arabica with robusta. The arabica is from the Cajamarca region in Peru and the Sethuraman Estate in India.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

1. Finca Timbuyacu, Rodríguez de Mendoza, Amazonas
2. Finca Churupampa, Chirinos / Cajamarca
3. Finca La Encañada, Rioja / San Martín
4. Finca La Flor de La Palma, Chirinos / Cajamarca
5. Finca La Flor del Sapote, Chirinos / Cajamarca

Opening hours are Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Origen has a branch at Surquillo Calle Las Tiendas 295, close to San Isidro.

More information: Origen Tostadores de Cafe’s website and Facebook page.

4. Tostaduria Bisetti

What separates Tostaduria Bisetti from the rest of the coffee shops is its history. Started by Rómulo Bisetti, a Peruvian of Italian descent in the 50s, Tostaduria Bisetti already served Italian-style coffee since then. With time, came experience and the new generations serving in Bisetti have perfected the art of serving specialty coffee in Barranco (v. Pedro de Osma 116, Barranco), one of the affluent districts in Lima.

Sourcing their coffee from Cajamarca, Puno and Huancayo coffee regions, Tostaduria Bisetti has a laboratory inside the coffee shop to experiment and roast the freshest and best coffee beans for its customers. When asked what the three best sellers in the coffee shop are, we received the following answers:

1. Solo para fumadores (Only for smokers) blend that has an intense flavor. The name was inspired by an essay by Julio Ramon Ribeyro, a Peruvian writer.
2. RATIO, that has an extraction process of 12 hours. It is a versatile coffee concentrate that is great taken pure (black), with ice, milk or fruit juice. It is simply, a coffee essence.
3. Espresso.

Opening hours are Monday to Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

More information: Cafe Bisetti

5. KULCafe

If you like bagels and specialty coffee, you’re going to love KULCafe. Besides bagels and baked goods, KULCafe serves Bratwurst and other typical German foods. Their best sellers are Nutella latte, cafe Americano, and iced coffee. KULCafe has indoor and outdoor dining areas. The cafe is at a quiet street in Miraflores.

When asked where they source their coffee, KULCafe said:

We sell coffee only from Peru. Usually, we roast the coffee. We buy the green coffee from the Amazonia region of Peru, sometimes we work with coffee farmers from the region of Villa Rica. And sometimes we buy from the Chacra D’dago. They have the only Demeter-certified biodynamic coffee plantation here in Peru.

Opening hours are from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

More information: KULCafe’s Facebook page.