The Best Coffee Houses in Latin America

Cusco

Peru grows coffee on the eastern slopes of the Andes. Three Monkeys Coffee in Cusco serves Peruvian beans sorted by altitude and region in a plain Scandinavian-style room, and it is a bakery as well. Takeaway orders cannot use the seats, and there is often a queue for a table. Florencia y Fortunata Specialty Coffee is run by women in a historic house near the Plaza de Armas. Its beans come from women growers and are roasted in Cusco, each drink comes with a choice of two beans, and there is an art gallery upstairs.

Southern Chile

The two Chilean bars are in the south of the country: Villarrica is in the lake district, and Puerto Natales is the gateway town for Torres del Paine. Eco Mapu in Villarrica prepares filter coffee at the table and explains the bean. Its signature drinks include a murtilla coffee and a maqui cold brew, both named after native berries, and it serves kuchen, the German-style cake common in the Chilean south. Holaste! Specialty Coffee, near the main square in Puerto Natales, roasts its own beans, serves Geisha filter in custom ceramic cups and bakes a cookie with calafate, a Patagonian berry. The queue there often stands outdoors without shelter.

Rio de Janeiro

Coffee Five is in downtown Rio, at the entrance of a commercial building, and it is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. The roaster roasts in-house, and baristas prepare a filtered coffee of the day, espresso and teas at the counter. Customers order and pick up there and sit on high stools. Cheese bread and brigadeiros, two standard Brazilian snacks, are sold with the coffee.