These are the two cafes in Barcelona that have entered the ranking of the best cafes in the world

BarcelonaAt a historic moment for coffee, when prices are sky-high, two Barcelona coffee shops are leading the rankingIt is one hundred best coffee shops in the world, which was made public this week. They are Nomad Frutas Selectas (with two establishments and about to open the third), which has placed twenty-fifth, and D·Origen Coffee Roasters Barcelona, ​​​​which has achieved fifty-fifth. The first three positions are occupied by coffee shops from Australia (Toby's Estate Coffee Roasters), the United States (Onyx Coffee LAB) and Austria (Gota Coffee Experts).

What are the two coffee shops like? Nomad Frutas Selectas is located in the Poblenou neighborhood, on Pujades Street, right next to one of the The most anticipated openings for Catalan cuisine, that of the Gegant restaurant, with which Nomad Frutas Selectas collaborates. At the head of Nomad is Jordi Mestre, who has Fran González as a partner. The history of Nomad began eleven years ago, when Jordi Mestre opened the brand's first establishment, located in the Sert passage in Barcelona. The pandemic made the brand rethink its business, which had come to have up to four establishments open. Now they only have two, and they are thinking about the third, which from spring will be located in the yolk of the egg in Barcelona. The rethinking, therefore, made the brand rethink its path to focus on the export of coffee around the world, and the list of countries to which they send their coffee a lot to Barcelona is extensive. In fact, this experience in roasting coffee is what has also led them to win this week the State roasted coffee championship, which in April will continue the next phase in the American city of Houston.

In the Poblenou cafeteria, some letters written on the white wall outside indicate the name of Select Fruits, a reminder of another time, and also of a time when the café also sold vegetables. Outside, a wooden bench, where you can have coffee, and a little further on, on the same street, almost opposite the Gigante, tables with metal chairs. Inside the café, the first sign that coffee is an object of worship are the four Melitta-type coffee makers, that is, filter coffee makers, with scales that indicate the exact weight of the freshly ground coffee. In a filter coffee machine, as in all, the aromas are as important as the quality of what you drink.

At another bar in the café, sandwiches, bikinis and croissants are served, all made in the Pa de Kilo oven, with which Nomad Coffee also collaborates. You won't find any slices of bread with avocados, but instead you will find ham sandwiches. Behind the counter, expert baristas concentrate on precisely drawing flowers and leaves on coffee with animal or vegan milk. And if you like the coffees you've had, you can have them at home, for prices ranging from twelve to seventeen. In fact, the ranking rewards the coffee shops that are also shops, and that's why both Nomad and D·Origen have the coffees they prepare for sale. Another fact: the name of Nomad It was invented by Jordi Mestre to remember the time he lived in London as a student. Among many other jobs he did to make a living, he went around the streets with a wheelbarrow selling coffee. He was a nomad with his wheelbarrow, but it was there that he fell in love with the trade and with the cafes that treat the black drink with all the care, from the origin to the cup, including of course the roasting of the beans. And now the prices: espresso costs 3 euros, as do American coffee, cortado and coffee with milk. Filter coffee costs 3.20, and special filter coffee costs 5. The most expensive coffee is filter coffee with ice, which costs 6 euros. All the prices are clearly displayed on a wooden wall and in Catalan. For those who want coffee and lunch, at Nomad Frutas Selectes they prepare menus consisting of starters (4.00) and main courses (10.60), prepared in the cafe itself, which has its own kitchen. The day we visited them there were lentils with feta and rice; ratatouille fennel, capers, olives and vegan meat and beef stew with vegetables.

To continue, on Casp Street, on the ground floor of one of the buildings built by the architect Antoni Gaudí, Casa Calvet, is the D·Origen Coffee Roasters Barcelona café. As the café's emblem, written on the floor of the entrance, is a phrase by the architect himself written in Spanish: "First, the owner. Then the technique.". Filter coffees are combined with Croissants from the award-winning Brunells bakery in the Born district, slices of bread with avocado and pumpkin seeds and toasted tumaca bread with ham, just as they have written on the menu in Catalan, which is very good food, especially for the quality of the bread from the Brunells oven and the extra virgin olive oil.

Limited computers on high tables

Inside, on the walls, you will see signs indicating that computers can only be used at high tables, because this is precisely the combination that stands out in the decoration: long tables at the entrance of the café, which touches the street, and another at the back, with high stools, and round tables. You will also be surprised by the dozens of open computers of people working with their black coffee steaming next to them. And the feeling of all this is of a minimalist space, as also occurs in Nomad Frutas Selectas. Bare, simple spaces, with wood, which highlight the drink more.

Among the beautiful decorations of the D·Origen café, a precious, closed wooden door that gives access to the main building, Casa Calvet. The best thing about the café is its attractive, comfortable sofa, framed by a giant mirror, which is one of the most desired spaces: that is, it is almost never empty. Nostalgic people will associate it with the series Friends, and those of you who did not follow the adventures of the friends who ended their evenings sitting on the sofa at the Central Perk coffee shop, will see the ideal place to crush it while tasting some of the coffees offered by the roastery and coffee shop. The curiosity: you can spend the day drinking coffees for five euros, because the coffee shop offers the option of refilling the cup for an infinite amount for this price. If you find it excessive (either the price or the quantity), an espresso costs two euros; an Americano, 2.50; a cortado, 2.50; a cappuccino, 3.20 or 3.90. The most expensive coffee is the filter coffee, which costs six euros. The signs on the walls are written in Spanish and English.