UK COFFEE HOTSPOTS - BEST CITIES FOR COFFEE
How coffee-obsessed is your city? Do you find yourself constantly walking down streets infused with the fragrance of freshly roasted beans? Can you not escape the clanking of cups on saucers and the buzz of espresso machines?
It could be that you’re living in one of the UK’s coffee hotspots!
Fireheart Coffee wanted to find out which UK cities share our passion for the best brew. Where can you find the most coffee shops, the highest rated coffee and the most independent cafés?
By analysing some of the UK’s most caffeinated cities, we uncovered the biggest coffee hotspots in the UK!
Brighton is the UK’s coffee capital, offering the highest number of coffee shops per person
London boasts the most coffee shops in the UK, with 3,718 cafés. But when it comes to the highest number of coffee shops per person, many other UK cities outrank the capital.
| Location | Number of coffee shops | Number of People | Number of people per coffee shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | 363 | 290,395 | 800 |
| Edinburgh | 576 | 524,930 | 911 |
| Belfast | 266 | 275,000 | 1,034 |
| Bristol | 338 | 463,400 | 1,371 |
| Manchester | 416 | 576,500 | 1,386 |
| Newcastle | 215 | 300,820 | 1,399 |
| Cardiff | 244 | 364,200 | 1,493 |
| Plymouth | 176 | 263,070 | 1,495 |
| Liverpool | 333 | 498,000 | 1,495 |
| Glasgow | 415 | 633,120 | 1,526 |
For coffee lovers looking to skip the queues and grab a delicious caffeine hit on every corner, Brighton is the place to be. The city boasts 363 cafés, which means there’s one coffee shop for every 800 people! This is followed by Edinburgh at one café per 911 people and Belfast at one per 1,034 people. Meanwhile, London isn’t even in the top ten!
Quality over quantity: Bournemouth has the best coffee shops in the UK
We may be famous as a nation of tea lovers, but Brits know their coffee. For aficionados who value quality over quantity, we analysed Trip Advisor ratings to find out which city has the highest number of coffee shops with 5-star reviews.
| Location | Number of Coffee Shops | Coffee Shops with Trip Advisor 5* Reviews | % of 5* Coffee Shops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bournemouth | 156 | 43 | 27.6% |
| Liverpool | 333 | 75 | 22.5% |
| Sheffield | 286 | 54 | 18.9% |
| Leeds | 346 | 57 | 16.5% |
| Manchester | 416 | 67 | 16.1% |
| Cardiff | 244 | 36 | 14.8% |
| Newcastle | 215 | 31 | 14.4% |
| Birmingham | 299 | 43 | 14.4% |
| Edinburgh | 576 | 78 | 13.5% |
| Leicester | 180 | 23 | 12.8% |
If having the ultimate coffee-drinking experience matters to you, Bournemouth is the UK coffee hotspot of your dreams. Over a quarter of Bournemouth cafés have 5-star ratings, which is the highest in the UK. This is followed by Liverpool at 22.5% and Sheffield at 18.9%.
Indie hotspots: less than 10% of coffee shops in Brighton, Plymouth and Belfast are high street chains
A good indie café is a welcome break from the monotony of Starbucks Coffees on every corner. We tallied up the numbers to discover which UK city has the highest proportion of independent coffee shops offering a refreshing change from the high street chains:
| Location | Total Number of Coffee Shops | Total Number of Chain Coffee Shops | % of Chain Coffee Shops |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brighton | 363 | 23 | 6.3% |
| Plymouth | 176 | 16 | 9.1% |
| Belfast | 266 | 26 | 9.8% |
| Edinburgh | 576 | 71 | 12.3% |
| Bristol | 338 | 44 | 13.0% |
| Leicester | 180 | 24 | 13.3% |
| Cardiff | 244 | 37 | 15.2% |
| Sheffield | 286 | 46 | 16.1% |
| Glasgow | 415 | 67 | 16.1% |
| London | 3718 | 613 | 16.5% |
In addition to being the ultimate UK coffee hotspot, Brighton also offers the highest proportion of independent coffee shops. Only 6.3% of cafés in Brighton are a big chain (Starbucks, Costa, Caffè Nero or Pret A Manger), followed by Plymouth at 9.1% then Belfast at 9.8%.
Fresh speciality coffee straight to your door, anywhere in the UK
Don’t live in one of the UK’s coffee hotspots? Don’t worry!
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