About
Manifesto
Coffee is more than what ends up in the cup.
It is the work of farmers, producers, roasters, café owners and baristas. It is neighbourhoods, friendships and everyday rituals. It is thousands of independent people choosing to do ordinary things extraordinarily well.
CoffeeSpots exists to document and celebrate that culture.
We publish guides that help people discover remarkable cafés, recognise good work and strengthen the independent places that make cities more interesting to live in and visit.
We believe publishing can create opportunity. Recognition can help independent businesses thrive. Local knowledge deserves to be preserved. Great work deserves to be remembered.
CoffeeSpots is an independent publication. Every recommendation is made with care, curiosity and editorial independence.
One city at a time, we hope to leave behind a lasting record of coffee culture.
Editorial Principles
We publish for readers.
Every decision begins with what is genuinely useful to someone looking for great coffee, not with commercial interests.
Recommendations are earned.
CoffeeSpots includes places because we believe they belong in the guide. Recommendations from baristas are one of our strongest forms of editorial evidence, but every inclusion is ultimately an editorial decision.
Good work deserves recognition.
Independent cafés shape neighbourhoods in ways that extend far beyond coffee. We believe careful publishing can direct attention towards people doing exceptional work.
Accuracy is part of good publishing.
Coffee culture changes constantly. We revisit, verify and improve our guides so they remain useful long after they are first published.
Independence matters.
Nothing a café buys from us changes what we publish. A selected café can buy the Official Display Kit to show its selection, and that never affects whether it is listed, how it is described or how it is recommended.
We think long term.
CoffeeSpots is built as a publication that can grow city by city and year by year. Our aim is to create something that becomes more valuable with time.
The Official Display Kit
Being selected for CoffeeSpots is free, and it is never for sale.
A café we have selected can buy the Official Display Kit: that year's CoffeeSpots Recommended window sticker and badge artwork, to show its selection on its door and in its own marketing.
Buying it never changes whether a café is listed, how it is described or how many people recommended it. A café that does not buy it stays just as selected, and its page looks the same.
Payment never protects a place either. If a café is no longer selected, its right to display the kit ends.
The People Who Publish CoffeeSpots
CoffeeSpots is edited and published by André Ribeirinho and Gonçalo Salgado.
André Ribeirinho is an editor and publisher who cares about coffee, wine, cooking, architecture and local culture. His work has long revolved around publishing, discovery and independent culture. Gonçalo Salgado cares about bicycles, urban life, entrepreneurship and the independent businesses that make neighbourhoods distinctive and livable.
Together, they publish CoffeeSpots as an independent publication dedicated to documenting coffee culture, supporting local businesses and creating meaningful editorial work.