Best Cafés in Bolivia
Colombia changed me. From being a Nescafe-red-mug girl with sometimes a cup of black coffee with cardamon, I became a “feinschmecker” that now drinks only specialty coffee. I like fruity coffees made slowly, in french press (“prensa francesa”), V60, Chemex or AeroPress.
We’ve been seeking for coffee “like in Colombia” both in Peru and in Bolivia; and although both have a small coffee industry, mainly in the high jungle, it’s not as rich and has often less “body” compared to Colombian coffee.
Despite all that, we found places that care about their coffee and clients and created cozy places where we could sit and write for the blog (reason #1 for having a blog: sit in cafes without feeling guilty) or just plan our next adventures. In case you are a digital nomad or just a tired backpacker in need for some peace and quiet, here is a list of our favorite cafes in Bolivia. (These all come from our personal experience and we are not paid for the links)
Typica Café (Cochabamba, Oruru, La Paz)
Typica is a chain of cafes with 14 branches throughout Bolivia, most of them in La Paz. Though it’s a chain, it does’t look like one – each of their cafes is large and well decorated with vintage furniture, include an outside area and many sockets for working. On weekends, groups of friends and families gather for a breakfast and some sun; During the week, we have seen many people working from there. The wifi password in many of the typicas is “cafesinazucar” (coffee without sugar) which may be an indication of what they think is a good coffee 🙂
The menu is quite confusing but we always went for Cafe del Dia (18 BOB) – each day a different sort of method. Other “filtrados” were more expensive, around 25 BOB, depending on the method and coffee type.
To snack, Robin liked their empanadas (2 for 18 or 19 BOB, depending on the branch) and maraccuya cheesecake (28 BOB). Shir tasted their Cuñapes and Sonso (only in CBBA) and really liked it.
Sucre – Bolivia’s Capital of Cafés
The white city of Sucre is a famous backpacker destination for its colonial architecture, history, dinosaurs – but maybe above all for its great cafés! Sucre people know their coffee. Although many cafes are located around calle Calvo, it seems like in every neighborhood there is a cute place to sit. Here are our favorites:
- Coffee Bike – Just near the main square and MUSEF (a free anthropological museum much worth a visit, if only for the building!) lies bici cafe. They have outdoor seating as well as a second floor with designated working area with big tables and sockets everywhere. We loved their V60 geisha sort (20 BOB), but they also make a decent americano. In terms of food, nothing gluten-free, but they were able to make an omelette as a side dish.
This is where the blog was born, so we are sentimental about it 🙂 They have other branches throughout town and also sell their own coffee (expensive). - Caffeccio Express – the budget option – their filtrados cost 15 BOB and they have multiple cheap snack options (didn’t try). The V60 was our favorite. Note you sit in a yard which is great but also open to multiple street vendors coming with their artesenia / sweets / songs… on the third round of the same people, we were annoyed and left.
Best Café of Potosí
We only set in one café in Postosí because we couldn’t find Cronopios Café Librería in its google map location! If you know where it is and if it’s nice, please let us know.
Perfecto is a tiny cute café right near the main square. It is the place to meet other gringos or, if you are lucky, Alejandra the barista that will tell you all about the history and stories of Potosí. I think they have branches in other cities in Bolivia.
Uyuni’s Cutest Coffee Place
Llama cafe in Uyuni was the reason for us staying there another night! Although there is no specialty methods, their americano is good and the place itself is super cute: has llama photos everywhere, a shelf with books and games you can use and really nice postcards for 5 BOB. The structure is nice too, facilitating conversations between fellow backpackers coming or going to the Salar tour. We found our tour company from a tip there! Note they are closed on Sundays.
Coroico’s Specialty Coffee
Arcoiris cafe is the place to get a decent coffe in town . If you are more into Frappe (iced coffe), you will find cheaper options around. Arcoiris owner seems to be proud of the region’s coffee and also sell beans.
Our Favorite Cafés in La Paz
We stayed in Sopocachi, the middle class neighborhood bustling with chic cafés. The Typica branch was not the best we visited – coffe quality was not so good.
Café Yanaloma they also roast their own coffee which makes the entire place smell incredible! They don’t sell the beans they use for Filtrados, just for the espresso machine. We bought them for our hike and loved the price (30 BOB for 250g), the chocolaty taste and the boost of caffaine much needed while climbing pico austria.
The best coffee we had in La Paz was at Fortaleza coffee in the center (thanks Ella for the tip!). They have specialty coffee grown in Bolivia, and the Barista is enthusiastic to share all about it. Their price was also good – V60 filtered coffee for 2 was 25 BOB.
Samaipata’s Coffee is… hmm.
We haven’t found any good café in Samaipata, and didn’t really like the local beans we bought in the market (Cuevas). A friend recommended Capi cafe, but it was closed so we didn’t try. Anyway we still really recommend to go. Read our post about Samaipata here.
Rurrenabaque’s Gringo Café
Roots coffee is the place where backpackers go to rest and drink a cold coffee after a hot day in the jungle (or hammock). They also have cocktails happy hour with 2 drinks for 40 BOB.
