Specialty coffee in Malaysia

Specialty coffee in Malaysia's George Town, Penang, has grown steadily over the last decade, with The Alley among its first-wave specialty shops in 2013. George Town's specialty cafés sit within a strong kopi tradition. The Alley opened in 2013 and quietly influenced the city's coffee community. Wells Cafe, which started in Taiwan, brought Japanese and Scandinavian roasting ideas to Penang; Mundane opens at 6am with an AeroPress bar; and Nine Lives Roaster focuses on roasting and training, opening to the public one day a week.

The cafés listed here are in George Town, with one each in Butterworth and Tanjung Bungah.

Expect pour-over and AeroPress as well as espresso, small neighbourhood cafés such as Lunabar in the ground floor of a house, and a community close enough that baristas visit each other's bars on their days off.