The Best Coffee and Cafés in Adelaide

Adelaide's specialty coffee scene punches above its weight for a city of 1.4 million, with a roaster and café community that has developed its own identity rather than simply mirroring Melbourne. The CBD laneways, the Norwood and Unley Road precincts, and the Adelaide Hills townships now provide specialty coffee of national quality at prices that maintain the Adelaide advantage over the eastern capitals.

Abbots and Kinney — the Leigh Street CBD café that has been instrumental in defining Adelaide's contemporary café culture, with a brunch food programme of genuine quality alongside a serious coffee offering. The room's design and the consistency of the kitchen make Abbots and Kinney the most complete café experience in the Adelaide CBD.

Exchange Coffee — the specialty roaster and café that has developed Adelaide's most technically focused coffee programme, with a cupping culture and single-origin rotating menu that places Exchange alongside the best roasters in any Australian city. The North Adelaide café provides the most complete expression of the Exchange approach.

Karpo — the specialty café and food programme in the east end of the CBD that has developed a following for the precision of its coffee extraction and the quality of its seasonal brunch menu. The natural wine list extends the evening programme beyond standard café hours.

Blessed (multiple locations) — the Adelaide operator that has most successfully combined accessible café culture with specialty coffee quality at multiple locations across the inner suburbs, creating the most replicable expression of what a quality Adelaide neighbourhood café looks like.

Hahndorf and Adelaide Hills cafés — the German immigrant village of Hahndorf and the broader Adelaide Hills township café culture (Stirling, Bridgewater, Woodside) provide the country café aesthetic with improving specialty coffee quality, making an Adelaide Hills café tour a viable all-day programme for those who want a coffee-and-produce road trip.

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