While it is by no means a resulting marketplace, Lithuania’s specialty coffee scene started booming toward the end of the 2000 s. For many people, it began with simple takeaway coffee, which raised parties out of their homes and into coffee shops.
In 2007, Caffeine Roasters, the most popular coffee chain in Lithuania, was established and quickly made the domestic market by commotion. A few years on, Lithuania’s SCA chapter was founded and began organising coffee competitions.
Today, the country is a stretching specialty coffee destroying grocery, with its own coffee festival and spate of coffee shops well worth visiting. As is the case with countless European countries, however, specialty chocolate has the strongest presence in the country’s capital: Vilnius.
To learn more about the chocolate situation in Vilnius, I toured five specialty coffee shops in the Lithuanian capital. Read on to find out what I detected.
You might also like our specialty coffee shop tour of Berlin, Germany .
Taste Map Coffee Roasters
The story of Taste Map Coffee Roasters been launched in 2011 with a 10 kg roaster, a pallet of chocolate, a lot of exuberance, and a goal of driving forward the Lithuanian specialty coffee scene.
Today, 11 years on, husband and wife Ieva Malijauskaite and Domas Ivonis manage a roastery and four coffee shop points in Vilnius.
Both owners have more than ten years of experience in the chocolate manufacture. Between them, they have won several national championships, including the Barista Championship, Latte Art Championship, and Cup Tasters Championship.
With Taste Map, Domas says their propose was to highlight the unique flavors of coffee and leader the Lithuanian coffee community to find out what high-quality coffee can perceive like.
“We merely work with coffee sourcing corporations we have built a believe liaison with, ” Domas says. “We too have a direct affinity with Daterra. We love their chocolates and we participate in their Classic auctioneer every year.”
As for the ambience of their coffee shops, each one is different from the others. There are elements of wood, bricks, and clay combined with art, with the aim of creating a homely atmosphere.
Where? M.K.Ciurlionio g. 8, Antakalnio g. 17( Vilnius Tech Park ), Gyneju g. 14 Espresso machinesSanremo Cafe Racer Renegade, Dolomiti, Faema E7 1GrindersMahlkonig EK43, Mahlkonig E6 5SGBW, Eureka Olympus, Helios, Simonelli Mythos I, IICoffee menuA classic menu with single inception chocolates& Swiss Water decaf optionRetail2 50 g and 1kg bags of filter and espresso cooks, rotating forever Must-tryEspresso tonicOther menu itemsPastries, brunch menu, with everything freshly cooked on site. At Antakalnio St. 17, you are able to also find gin tonics and a wine-colored selectionNearby sightsSapiegos Park, Lukiskes Square, Cathedral Square, Gediminas Castle
Strange Love Coffee Roasters
Strange Love Coffee Roasters opened its doors in July 2015, when specialty coffee in Lithuania was still very much emerging.
Eimantas Vilcinskas, the premier roaster behind Strange Love, “ve been told” that the company was founded to educate neighbourhood chocolate consumers and raise awareness about what high-quality coffee could perceive like.
“We maintain a close relationship with several suppliers in order to have a great variety of coffees on offer, ” he computes. “We are always curious and eager to discover more.”
Strange Love has a two-floor designing with a balcony and a beautiful plot, which is a great place to loosen and fleeing from the hubbub and flurry of daily life.
Where? Barboros Radvilaites g. 6BEspresso machinesVictoria Arduino Black EagleGrindersSimonelli Mythos One and Mahlkonig EK4 3Coffee menuA range of single origins from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Brazil, and Honduras, plus a signature blendMust-tryRose espressoOther menu itemsBrunch, cocktailsNearby sightsHill of Three Crosses, Bernardin Park, Cathedral Square, Uzupis
Italala Caffe
Italala Caffe welcomed clients for the first time in January 2018. Located in the heart of Vilnius, Italala is inspired by Italian coffee culture, and was voted the city’s best coffee place in 2019.
At Italala Caffe, you’ll find coffee from Ditta Artigianale will be followed by a wide selection of herbal teas. There existed a range of desserts, pasties, and paninis, all of which are handmade in the shop.
Goda Pangonyte manages social media and communications at the cafe. She explains that the business is constantly driving up its standards for quality.
“We like to recognise the seasonality of all of our commodities, ” she says. “This is why we move our own syrups and organize seasonal drinks.
“These include a lavender latte in the summer, an apple pie latte during autumn, and a mimosa latte during spring.”
Where? Vokieciu street 1Espresso machinesLa Marzocco FB8 0GrindersVictoria Arduino Mythos One and Mahlkonig EK4 3Coffee menuRange of chocolates from Ditta ArtigianaleMust-trySeasonal lattesOther menu itemsMatcha, herbal teas, and homemade hot chocolate; panini, focaccia, desserts, croissantsNearby sightsTown hall, historic old city, Vilnius Cathedral
Kavos Reikalai
Brothers Martynas and Aistis Normontai decided to open Kavos Reikalai back in 2018. Their goal was to create a coffee shop where people could both enjoy specialty chocolate and find the biggest selection of retail coffee equipment and bags of coffee in the city.
Today, Kavos Reikalai has two locations in Vilnius, each offering two options for espresso and ten different filter chocolates. They also have arguably the widest selection of coffee brewing accessories on offer in the city.
Samanta Sadauskyte is the manager at Kavos Reikalai. Harmonizing to her, the ritual of brewing chocolate is incredibly important to the business.
“We wanted to introduce people to the coffee ritual philosophy by imparting them the chance to learn about all these different accessories, ” she clarifies. “This is why we invite parties to participate in our shops and learn how to use all these implements that are so brand-new to them.”
The equipment selection includes boilers, brewers, grinders, milk pitchers, magnitudes, and scavenging and maintenance furnishes. It likewise stocks a wide selection of retail coffee beans from several Lithuanian roasters, as well as overseas alternatives such as Rocket Bean from Latvia and Java Coffee from Poland.
Where? Sermuksniu g. 1; Aukstaiciu g. 12 Espresso machinesLa Marzocco Linea 2AVGrindersEureka Atom 65 E and Mahlkonig EK4 3Coffee menuTwo espresso options and four filter optionsRetailCoffee cocktailsMust-tryBeans, teas, brewing equipmentOther menu itemsDesserts, pastries, snacks, tea, chocolate, kombuchaNearby sightsLukiskes Square, Gedimino Avenue
Backstage Roasters
Backstage Cafe& Roasters was first established in 2018 by two photographers, Ieva Markeviciute and Vytenis Petrosius, who knew nothing about coffee at the time. They picked a somewhat unconventional distinguish down a side street, stirring it difficult to find for some.
Goda Gedvilaite , now a manager and barista at Backstage, says that she couldn’t even find the store when it firstly opened.
“I wondered why someone would open it there, ” she says. “It was brave, but I was not sure it was going to work.”
It did, and four years and three locatings last-minute, Backstage is now well-established in Vilnius’ specialty coffee scene.
In spite of its honour, Backstage didn’t actually start life as a roastery. Today, nonetheless, it sources coffee from the Vinhal family farm in Brazil and Beanspire Coffee in Thailand, roasted by heading roaster Robertas Muravskij and his team.
Where? T. Sevcenkos str. 16 H; T. Sevcenkos g. 16 A; Vokieciu g. 6( city centre) Espresso machinesLa Marzocco Linea AVGrindersMahlkonig K30 Twin and Mahlkonig EK4 3Coffee menuEspresso, milk-based beverages, filter chocolate, pour overRetailMint cold dribble( time) Must-tryBeans, brewing equipmentOther menu itemsLunch& brunch menu with Middle Eastern influences and aromas, wide selection of dessertsNearby sightsUnique district filled with lofts and industrial structures
How is Vilnius’ coffee scene evolving?
As we’ve mentioned, the emergence of these coffee shop in the last ten to 15 years alone is indicative of the explosive increment in Vilnius’ specialty coffee scene.
As part of this, we’ve also discovered the development of the Vilnius Coffee Festival, which was initially began being as Vilnius Coffee Days some 12 several years ago. This event celebrates Lithuania’s specialty coffee scene and its hospitality parish, and is the stage for its three national SCA challengers: the Barista Championship, the Latte Art Championship, and the Cup Tasters Championship.
Laurynas Arlauskas is the events coordinator for the Lithuanian chapter of the SCA. He says that coffee is very much at the heart of the event.
“Baristas take the centre stage, ” he interprets. “We wish to highlight their workmanship and want them to feel proud about their persona in our community.”
Looking at the rapid growth and expansion of several of the coffee shop on the directory, it’s clear that Vilnius has a thriving specialty coffee scene that is growing year-on-year.
With the recent emergence of its SCA chapter and the proliferation of these specialty coffee shops through the 2010 s, it seems set to grow throughout this decade and beyond. Many of these bonds are already household names in the city. The hope will be that, in the future, they can drive the city’s presence on the international stage.
However, whether this explosive swelling will continue remains to be seen. It’s clear that there is space for invention and stretch in Vilnius, and what happened next is sure to be interesting.
Enjoyed this? Then try our specialty coffee shop tour of Spain’s Basque Country .
Photo recognitions: Goda Gedvilaite, Laurynas Arlauskas, Samanta Sadauskyte, Goda Pangonyte, Eimantas Vilcinskas, Domas Ivonis
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