CHILE
SANTIAGO
Santiago is home to one of the more impressive Latin American café cultures seen thus far in the travels. This is also the first non-coffee producing country I've visited in Latin America. That being said, all the coffee is imported.
Café Cultura - Suecia 0130, Providencia (north of Av. Providencia) - One of the top 3 coffee experiences of Santiago in my opinion. Nice space on a quieter part of Suecia, great for taking a lady and having a conversation. They roast on-site on a little side room just to the right of the front main entry which can be viewed through a glass partition. Their coffee is quite good, both espresso and pour-overs. When I was there, they had a very nice lemony Ethiopian espresso and a smooth and winey Peruvian pourover which was a natural processed. Also on offer was a Brazilian and Bolivan bean on pour over. Sweet treats are pretty good as well. This makes the top three coffees in Santiago.
JustPeople - Avenida Apoquindo 5400, Las Condes - Great café that sells a "work meeting concept" with lots of space to spread out and get some work done. Also in my top 3 coffee spots in Santiago. I believe they actually have a private area in back with meeting rooms available to rent for more formal business meetings. In front, there are several free tables here with electrical outlets and a good wifi signal. The coffee is on point too - they have their own brand which I assume is roasted off-site. I think I paid 1800 CLP for an espresso which is on the higher end of cafés in Santiago, but the quality was very good. They had a Nicaraguan single origin bean on espresso when I was there and it was very fruity and acidic, in a pleasant way. Also nice sweet treats. Saw a few pretty hot chicks here wearing business attire, but they appeared to be engaged in a meeting. This is the place to come in Santiago if you're a digital nomad.
Bloom Specialty Coffee - Merced 307, Santa Lucia - This was a nice little surprise. Very tiny hole-in-the-wall spot with enough space inside for maybe 6 people to sit. These guys roast their own coffee as well, when I was there they had a Colombian bean and a Nicaraguan bean. The Nicaraguan bean was very tasty. You can also pick up a bag of their beans. Probably fits in the top 3 of my favorite coffees in Santiago also. Not a great spot to bring a girl or get work done; better if you happen to be in the area and grab something to-go.
Original Green Roasters - Rancagua 040, Providencia - Nice little spot with roaster on-site that gets very busy during lunch time. Their offerings when I was there was a Peruvian bean, a Sumatran, and a Guatemalan. All very nice on pour-over. Free wifi. Their food looked good too, but didn't indulge. You can get 250g bags of their beans for between 5500 - 7500 CLP.
Cofi - Avenida Pedro de Valvida 0180 Local No. 2, Providencia - Cozy little shop with nice coffee. Went on a date here chilling on the tables outside, which was a comfortable and chilled spot to hang out. Had a nice Guatemalan espresso here. From what I remember, reasonable prices and also got some tasty sweet treats.
Fix Café - Avenida Apoquindo 3411, Las Condes - Another hole-in-the-wall that seems to be popular with the working crowd during the day. They made a nice espresso, also a Nicaraguan single origin, offering sweet treats as well. Double espresso was 1500 CLP. Service was a little meh, but otherwise they make a very good coffee for my standards. Not really much outdoor seating here and it got a little smoky due to chain-smoking office-worker types on their break.
Forastero Café - Avenida Ricardo Cummings 54 - Another great coffee shop located a few blocks north of the Repúbilca metro stop. These guys don't roast but they offer coffees from a lot of the local roasters like Café Altura, Tosto, Kawas, Bearded, etc. Had a great espresso here for a reasonable price. I think it was around the 1200 CLP mark. This is a very hole-in-the-wall neighborhood cafe with also very good coffee.
Cafe Altura - 2nd Level, eastern end of La Vega market - Súper cool little cafe buried within the bowels of La Vega market on the second level. It is basically just a cafe with a bar and a few scattered tables. They've got a very nice La Marzocco GS3 espresso machine and make a damn fine coffee here - I had an espresso from the Fraijanes region of Guatemala, which was 900 CLP. Bags of beans are around 5500 CLP. A nice bonus is that you can get some very nice and cheap food from one of the more creole style eateries surrounding this place. Also you can grab some reasonably priced fruit/veg from one of the vendors on the 1st floor.
Cafeta - San Pio X 2413, Providencia - Nice little coffee shop with good coffee also. I do remember the coffee (espresso) was good, not great. 1200 CLP for an espresso. Chatted up a very cute waitress here, but she wouldn't bite for the number.
Café Pardo - Avenida Providencia 903, Providencia - Another little surprise with great coffee from Nicaragua (Santa Laura) and a nice yellow bourbon from Brazil. Espresso was 1000 CLP and a double was 1500 CLP. Smallish place inside, can't remember if the setup would be good for bringing a lady or not, but the coffee was nice.
Café Wonderful - Lastarria 90 - Small little café with nice espresso coffee (Nicaraguan), located in a very walkable and happening neighborhood during the day on a Saturday. Close to Cerro Santa Lucia and Universidad Catolica, where I saw some nice looking girls. Great spot to hang out in front in a table and game other girls or take a girl of your own.
There's easily another 10 cafés in this city that likely have very good quality coffee, but I didn't have enough time to try them all. This place gets a big thumbs up for coffee scene, even though the women I thought were just ok looks-wise. Although the ladies are very friendly, they do seem a little on the flaky/aloof side. The culture here, to me, seems a little more closed-off and exclusive than most places I've been thus far.
SANTIAGO
Santiago is home to one of the more impressive Latin American café cultures seen thus far in the travels. This is also the first non-coffee producing country I've visited in Latin America. That being said, all the coffee is imported.
Café Cultura - Suecia 0130, Providencia (north of Av. Providencia) - One of the top 3 coffee experiences of Santiago in my opinion. Nice space on a quieter part of Suecia, great for taking a lady and having a conversation. They roast on-site on a little side room just to the right of the front main entry which can be viewed through a glass partition. Their coffee is quite good, both espresso and pour-overs. When I was there, they had a very nice lemony Ethiopian espresso and a smooth and winey Peruvian pourover which was a natural processed. Also on offer was a Brazilian and Bolivan bean on pour over. Sweet treats are pretty good as well. This makes the top three coffees in Santiago.
JustPeople - Avenida Apoquindo 5400, Las Condes - Great café that sells a "work meeting concept" with lots of space to spread out and get some work done. Also in my top 3 coffee spots in Santiago. I believe they actually have a private area in back with meeting rooms available to rent for more formal business meetings. In front, there are several free tables here with electrical outlets and a good wifi signal. The coffee is on point too - they have their own brand which I assume is roasted off-site. I think I paid 1800 CLP for an espresso which is on the higher end of cafés in Santiago, but the quality was very good. They had a Nicaraguan single origin bean on espresso when I was there and it was very fruity and acidic, in a pleasant way. Also nice sweet treats. Saw a few pretty hot chicks here wearing business attire, but they appeared to be engaged in a meeting. This is the place to come in Santiago if you're a digital nomad.
Bloom Specialty Coffee - Merced 307, Santa Lucia - This was a nice little surprise. Very tiny hole-in-the-wall spot with enough space inside for maybe 6 people to sit. These guys roast their own coffee as well, when I was there they had a Colombian bean and a Nicaraguan bean. The Nicaraguan bean was very tasty. You can also pick up a bag of their beans. Probably fits in the top 3 of my favorite coffees in Santiago also. Not a great spot to bring a girl or get work done; better if you happen to be in the area and grab something to-go.
Original Green Roasters - Rancagua 040, Providencia - Nice little spot with roaster on-site that gets very busy during lunch time. Their offerings when I was there was a Peruvian bean, a Sumatran, and a Guatemalan. All very nice on pour-over. Free wifi. Their food looked good too, but didn't indulge. You can get 250g bags of their beans for between 5500 - 7500 CLP.
Cofi - Avenida Pedro de Valvida 0180 Local No. 2, Providencia - Cozy little shop with nice coffee. Went on a date here chilling on the tables outside, which was a comfortable and chilled spot to hang out. Had a nice Guatemalan espresso here. From what I remember, reasonable prices and also got some tasty sweet treats.
Fix Café - Avenida Apoquindo 3411, Las Condes - Another hole-in-the-wall that seems to be popular with the working crowd during the day. They made a nice espresso, also a Nicaraguan single origin, offering sweet treats as well. Double espresso was 1500 CLP. Service was a little meh, but otherwise they make a very good coffee for my standards. Not really much outdoor seating here and it got a little smoky due to chain-smoking office-worker types on their break.
Forastero Café - Avenida Ricardo Cummings 54 - Another great coffee shop located a few blocks north of the Repúbilca metro stop. These guys don't roast but they offer coffees from a lot of the local roasters like Café Altura, Tosto, Kawas, Bearded, etc. Had a great espresso here for a reasonable price. I think it was around the 1200 CLP mark. This is a very hole-in-the-wall neighborhood cafe with also very good coffee.
Cafe Altura - 2nd Level, eastern end of La Vega market - Súper cool little cafe buried within the bowels of La Vega market on the second level. It is basically just a cafe with a bar and a few scattered tables. They've got a very nice La Marzocco GS3 espresso machine and make a damn fine coffee here - I had an espresso from the Fraijanes region of Guatemala, which was 900 CLP. Bags of beans are around 5500 CLP. A nice bonus is that you can get some very nice and cheap food from one of the more creole style eateries surrounding this place. Also you can grab some reasonably priced fruit/veg from one of the vendors on the 1st floor.
Cafeta - San Pio X 2413, Providencia - Nice little coffee shop with good coffee also. I do remember the coffee (espresso) was good, not great. 1200 CLP for an espresso. Chatted up a very cute waitress here, but she wouldn't bite for the number.
Café Pardo - Avenida Providencia 903, Providencia - Another little surprise with great coffee from Nicaragua (Santa Laura) and a nice yellow bourbon from Brazil. Espresso was 1000 CLP and a double was 1500 CLP. Smallish place inside, can't remember if the setup would be good for bringing a lady or not, but the coffee was nice.
Café Wonderful - Lastarria 90 - Small little café with nice espresso coffee (Nicaraguan), located in a very walkable and happening neighborhood during the day on a Saturday. Close to Cerro Santa Lucia and Universidad Catolica, where I saw some nice looking girls. Great spot to hang out in front in a table and game other girls or take a girl of your own.
There's easily another 10 cafés in this city that likely have very good quality coffee, but I didn't have enough time to try them all. This place gets a big thumbs up for coffee scene, even though the women I thought were just ok looks-wise. Although the ladies are very friendly, they do seem a little on the flaky/aloof side. The culture here, to me, seems a little more closed-off and exclusive than most places I've been thus far.