The best coffee shops in Brighton have become popular destinations for people looking for a good cup of joe with friends or co-workers. Everyone’s favorite fun and hip city by the sea, Brighton & Hove is a small quirky world with a rich and vibrant culture that has made it one of the UK’s most interesting and popular places to visit.
For the coffee aficionado, it’s also a surprisingly vast paradise of kooky and wholesome independent cafes, with even most of Brighton’s ‘chains’ being homegrown, ethically traded companies.
From mass mummy after-school brunch spots to bizarre hipster hang-outs, there’s a little coffee corner of Brighton for everyone, all you have to do is get out there and find yours!
So to help you find the best coffee shops in Brighton, we’ve put together this ultimate list of our favorite hidden gems to tantalize the eyes and satisfy the stomach!
Best Coffee Shops In Brighton
Marwood Bar & Coffee House
52 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AFA
A bohemian joint that’s bursting with character, Marwood Bar & Coffee House is filled with eclectic décor, from mannequin hand doorknobs to wacky repurposed furniture, making it a surreal and surprising coffee venture that shakes up the boring café conventions of today.
Credit: @marwood_brighton
A two-time winner of BRAVO’s Most ‘Brighton’ Venue award, Marwood is also a great spot for soaking up local vibes and culture and so if you’re after a truly authentic Brighton experience, it’s not a trip you want to miss.
Better yet, they also make a mean cup of coffee, utilising local roaster Pharmacie to create brews which have also seen BRAVO rank them among the city’s top three coffee venues in both 2017 and 2018.
Black Mocha
103 Gloucester Rd, Brighton BN1 4AP
As you’d expect, this delightful little coffee shop found in North Laine is named after it’s signature beverage, a truly stunning indulgent treat that incorporates rich, raw craft chocolate to take mocha to unthinkable new heights and one of the best coffee shops.
Credit: @blackmochabrighton
But what did you expect? They’re hardly going to name their café after a sub-par menu item!
A superbly satisfying and relaxing brunch spot, it combines gloriously guilt-ridden gooey cakes with dense and complex espressos, courtesy of the always-excellent coffee company Monmouth of London.
The décor is also wonderfully just as sweet and appetizing as the menu and you’re likely to love sinking into its welcoming surroundings for an hour or more longer after the last drop of coffee has gone.
Presuming Ed
114 London Road, Brighton BN1 4LJ
Any establishment that derives its name from the cult 1980’s film Withnail & I is going to be somewhat quirky, but that’s probably still an understatement for Brighton coffee house Presuming Ed.
Credit: @presumingedbrighton
While inviting murals adorn the building itself, inside you’ll find copious amounts of cultural paraphernalia and everything from a library to a cinema, making it a literal labyrinth of discovery and wonder.
Thankfully, Ed’s isn’t all show and no tell either, with plenty of treats for the taste buds as well as a feast for the eyes!
Famed for their seriously sumptuous cakes, the presumptuous Edward also provides a wide range of java, lovingly roasted, ground and brewed to your liking.
Also a fully licensed bar, it’s not the worst space to be in if you like your coffee a little Irish…
Down To Earth
75 Western Rd, Hove BN3 2JQ
Don’t worry Hove, we haven’t forgotten about you!
Credit: @downtoearth_coffee
Not every delight is solely found in the hustle and bustle of Brighton and this neatly hidden establishment can be found in a gorgeous space overlooking Hove’s Palmeria Square, making Down To Earth Coffee a seriously beautiful shop with a seriously beautiful vision.
Light and breezy thanks to long, elegant front-facing windows, it’s an idyllic paradise on a summer’s day, with a minimalist botanical décor inside that seem to dissipate all that stress and tension at a mere glance!
As you might have picked up from the name, this café is all about relaxed, peaceful vibes, as well as providing a cavalcade of new and exciting coffee collections.
Although mostly utilising beans from the tasty Round Hill Coffee, they’ve always got a funky rotating guest list of espressos and filter choices, meaning mixing things up and trying out new tastes is never not an option in this chill zone!
Café Coho
Churchill Square, Brighton BN1 2EP
If you’re someone who gets slightly frustrated at the laptop in the coffee shop generation, you’ll be more than pleased to discover that the award-winning Café Coho bans their use at weekends to prevent studying student table hoggers.
Credit: @cafecoho
Waving the flag for London beans Union Coffee, their house blend espresso is a divine experience for the tongue, a Guatemalan fruity number that balances heavenly aromatics with a cherry hint and a luxurious caramel feel-body that goes by the appropriate name Revelation.
Housed over two levels with exposed brickwork and a lot of vintage second-hand furniture, there’s also a nice vibe inside which feels casual, friendly and accommodating.
Stylish to look at and serious about a good brew, it’s a fail-safe spot if you’re ever in the area of Churchill Square.
Best Coffee in Brighton
If you live in Brighton/Hove, or it’s your nearest seaside getaway, you probably already know the lay of the land pretty well when it comes to cafes.
We realize that once you’re native, fancy gimmicks and ‘doing it for the gram’ no longer matter as much in regards to your experience and instead you’re probably more concerned about finding the coffee crème de la crème of your city.
While the choices below also boast relaxing vibes and delicious décor, they tend to be more focused on one thing and one thing only – ensuring their blends and roasts are truly the best Brighton & Hove has to offer.
So listen up espresso enthusiasts, because these are the city’s true artisan experts.
Pelicano
28 Sydney St, Brighton BN1 4EP
With a rustic look and effortlessly cool vibe, Pelicano is a popular haunt for Brightonians and surprisingly one of the few Antipodean premises to be percolating in the city’s vast coffee scene.
Credit: @pelicano.coffee.co
Boasting a micro-roastery onsite, Pelicano use their own ethically sourced beans to ensure a seriously fresh coffee that’s put through rigorous quality testing before it’s allowed to reach your lips!
A fun and hip venue, there’s three floors to explore here as well as a lavish coffee garden to soak up the sun on a hot day. And if you like what you sample, Pelicano also sell all their own blends inhouse meaning you can savour a little bit of Brighton at home too!
Twin Pines Coffee
11 St James’s St, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1RE
With a cosy downstairs dwelling that evokes a homey feel most cafes would kill for, the darkly lit warming atmosphere of Twin Pines is probably more suited to brandy by the fire than a mug of java, but that doesn’t make it any less relaxing.
Credit: @twinpinescoffee
Like a 1920’s millionaire’s living room, Twin Pines also features handmade crockery and kooky interiors that make you feel like you’re in a golden age Hollywood film, with the coffee of course being the star of the show.
TP usually rotate their selection of roasters on a monthly basis to keep adventurous customers coming back for more, but the range of espressos and filter coffees also means even the fussiest caffeine craver can find a familiar flavour here!
Bond St Coffee
15 Bond St. Brighton, BN1 1RD
For those who like a little more technicality and craft in their coffee, Bond St. Coffee is home to a fellowship of intelligent baristas using the very best in brewing methods and machinery to give you the optimum cup of joe!
Credit: @bondstcoffee
For a quality controlled roast, Bond St. get all their beans from Horsham Coffee Roasters who specialise in a satisfying light to medium roast and make their espresso using the renowned Synesso Hydra espresso machine for maximum flavour and accurate extraction.
Offering a rotating single location coffee menu, it’s always a new and exciting adventure when you walk through the door and the latte art alone makes this one of Brighton’s hottest tickets, so expect a buzzing and lively atmosphere!
For those with a coffee conscience, everything is also all ethically sourced and fairly traded, with plenty of photos around the joint of the very producers who grew your coffee, so you can see the story come full circle before your very eyes!
Redroaster
1d St James’s St, Brighton BN2 1GG
Remarkably still the only certified organic coffee roastery in the South, Redroaster is a stunning coffee by the sea experience and a pioneer in the world of UK specialist coffee houses.
Credit: @redroastercafe
A tantalising coffee haven in the happening hub of Kemptown, it’s one of the prettiest places on our list. with a botanical, holiday feel which takes you to another climate with every sip of espresso.
Using globally sourced beans to ensure they are always at optimum freshness and in season, Redroaster also allows you to take home this unbeatable java experience, with plenty of its signature blends available to buy in store.
Coffee aficionados and good enough for the ‘gram? What more could you ask for.
Small Batch
68 Goldstone Villas, Brighton BN3 3RU
Okay… so if you’re local, you already know all about Small Batch and how good it is.
Credit: @smallbatchcr
But what are we meant to do… leave it out?!
Starting out as just one dinky roastery, Small Batch has ironically become an absolute behemoth of the Brighton coffee scene in recent years, now boasting an astonishing seven locations dotted around the city.
To put this into perspective, that’s more local locations than Starbucks!
Interestingly, Brighton’s hipster culture is generally dead against brands and chains, preferring to celebrate independent businesses above all else. But despite becoming a chain of sorts, Small Batch has thrived in the area thanks to their likeable and inspiring coffee ethos, creating sustainable relationships with their bean producers and traveling across the world to forge face-to-face partnerships with farmers.
The fact their logo is modelled after the local Royal Pavilion has probably also helped to sway naysayers who love a homegrown success story.
Always a stylish venue with smooth rich coffees, Small Batch knows their stuff and it’s a fantastic choice for when you want to be a little more adventurous with your order, with rare treats like Cortados and Cold Brews on the menu!
