Specialty coffee in Poland

Specialty coffee in Poland began around 2010 in Warsaw, and in 2018 Agnieszka Rojewska became the first woman to win the World Barista Championship. Poland came to good coffee late. Between 1945 and 1989 most cups were weak and bitter, and in the early 1990s consumption was only around two kilos per person a year. Chains brought espresso in the 2000s, and around 2010 Warsaw's Filtry began serving single origins and pour-over. Competition culture developed quickly: the 2015 Polish AeroPress Championship drew 72 competitors, and Rojewska, a multiple Polish Barista Champion, won the world title in Amsterdam in 2018.

Warsaw holds the largest cluster of cafés, followed by Kraków, while Wrocław stands out as the most roaster-dense city in the country. Poznań and Gdańsk have sizeable café scenes, and Gdynia, Łódź, Szczecin, Katowice and Lublin each support a smaller group of specialty bars.

Roasters that shape Polish taste include HAYB Speciality Coffee, COFFEELAB, Coffee Journey, Dobra Palarnia Kawy, El Gato Specialty Coffee Roasters and Figa Coffee. Filter coffee has been part of the scene from the start, so pour-over and batch brew sit alongside espresso on most menus, and many roasters sell beans from a café or shop of their own.