Third Wave Meets Old World Tradition

Something remarkable is happening in Lisbon's coffee scene: two worlds are meeting, and neither is trying to replace the other.

On one side, you have the traditional Portuguese café — the kind with marble counters, ancient espresso machines, and a roasting tradition that goes back generations. Dark roasts. Fast drinks. Coffee as ritual.

On the other, a new generation of Portuguese roasters is asking different questions. Lighter roasts. Single origins from Ethiopia, Colombia, Brazil. Pour-overs served in ceramic cups. Coffee as craft.

The Old Guard

Portugal's traditional coffee culture is one of Europe's oldest and least changed. The country's colonial ties to Brazil, Angola, and East Timor created deep coffee roots that never wavered. Walk into a café like A Brasileira (open since 1905) and you're drinking coffee prepared essentially the same way it was a century ago.

The traditional Portuguese roast is darker than Italian, with a distinct profile — slightly sweet from added sugar during the roasting process (a method called torrefacto). Purists in the specialty world often dismiss it. But pour a bica from a traditional roaster and hand it to someone who loves coffee, and watch their face. There's depth there. Character. History.

The New Wave

Starting around 2015, a wave of specialty roasters began opening across Lisbon. Copenhagen Coffee Lab, Fábrica Coffee Roasters, Hello Kristof — these are cafés that would look at home in Melbourne or Brooklyn, but they're distinctly Portuguese in character.

What makes Lisbon's specialty scene different from other European cities is its relationship with the old guard. In many cities, third-wave coffee positioned itself against tradition. In Lisbon, the best new roasters seem to draw from it. They acknowledge the depth of Portuguese coffee culture even as they expand what it can be.

Where They Meet

On our tour, we visit both worlds — and the places where they overlap. You'll taste a traditional bica and a specialty single-origin side by side. You'll meet roasters who grew up drinking their grandmother's dark Portuguese coffee and are now experimenting with light Ethiopian naturals.

The conversation between old and new isn't a conflict in Lisbon. It's a love story.

---

This is part of the Lisbon Coffee Journal — stories, histories, and discoveries from Lisbon's coffee world, written by Greg Maliwanag of Turtle Rock Coffee Tours.