I am struggling to find a real coffee hit in Switzerland so far, both in terms of freshly ground coffee and coffee shops with any flair or desire to produce something tasty. I am from New Zealand, so anyone who understands NZ coffee culture might be able to help, or complain alongside me.

So, are there any Cafes or coffee shops in Zurich or Luzern that use a decent coffee bean, and/or anywhere that takes any care in producing the milk for a cappuccino or cafe latte?

Also, are there any firms anywhere in this land that roast beans and sell them fresh, or freshly ground? (Vacuum sealed tends to mean not fresh by the way)



It may be that starbucks is the pinnacle here - yes starbucks _is_ coffee, but I see them as only trying to match the local culture in each country they sell in, not blow the competition away.

Schwarzenbach http://www.schwarzenbach.ch/ in Zurich old town.
That's where I buy my coffee beans.

My favourite shop in Zurich

La Stanza on Bleicherweg has a decent selection in a traditional Italian style coffee bar.

It's a bit off topic, but where is the best place to buy tea? Does anyone know a shop that carries Mariage Freres?

There's a tea shop in Old town of Luzern that has quite a variety of fine tea, might be your best bet. Camellia Tea House.

Il Baretto in Zurich HB, nice coffee for a long working day!

+1 to that

This established German company has shops in large towns, and produces some very tasty coffee. Give them a try, maybe we have similar taste?

http://www.tchibo.ch/Unsere-Kaffees-...400005382.html

http://www.tchibo.ch/filialfinder

I order my coffee here:

www.hasbean.co.uk

Roasted on the day you order. You wont go back to ordinary coffee after trying that :-).

Reporting back-

La Stanza made us a couple of excellent cappuccinos so that's a definite keeper. (maybe i will have to dress up more next time we go back however).

Tchibo near to La Stanza was boarded up or being renovated so we will try them another time/place.

Schwarzenbach looks like a cool store and we got some delicious smelling coffee ground for us which has so far turned out to be good, but I need to give it another go later.

Thanks for the tips!

Globus does

Hi!
If someone would go for a very good coffe, please don't hesitate to write me, I would love to combine travelling to Luzern or any other places, good companions and a cup.

Greetings,
Ellen

For fresh beans, try Rösterei Rast in Ebikon (http://www.rast-kaffee.ch/). They roast all of their beans daily, and their Milano and Barista blends are perfect for both thick, syrupy espressi and for milk drinks.

While you can get a decent espresso in a lot of places, for the type of shots you're used to from NZ your best bet is make it yourself.

-Christian

Manta Bar in Zurich - Bahnhofstrasse 42

for coffee in Zurich, this thread might be of interest.

Oh, whoops, I certainly should have seen that thread. Some more good links there.

Meanwhile schwarzenbach have produced good coffee, but for some reason their grinder gave us half a bag of really coarse coffee, and half finely ground as we expected.
Need to fine tune my german coffee related terms before going back there I guess.

Ok La Stanza coffee visits have been put on hold for now, unless someone can share the password to get smoother service there?
2x have we had our order taken and then ignored until we send a follow up (the water always comes promptly!).
2x have we had extremely tasty but lukewarm cappuccinos (Maybe thats a bit of authentic Italy I guess).
1x have we almost killed a small dog sitting barely visible in the very full coffee bar.

Oh dear.
Switzerland (and ZH) has sooo many great places for coffee, I wouldn't know where to start.
I am constantly amazed at this kind of question. Am I on another planet? (Maybe)

And Starbucks is seen as a bit of a joke here.