Copenhagen Coffee Lab Alfama

Sourdough, Danish pastry and a hidden garden

The bakery came first here. This address once held Copenhagen Coffee Lab's main Lisbon bakery, and although production moved as the group grew, the branch still runs on sourdough and Danish pastry delivered daily. Copenhagen Coffee Lab is a Danish-owned roastery, bakery and café group with sites in Denmark, Germany, France and Portugal, and the Alfama room is its garden retreat, set on the Tram 28 route below São Jorge Castle in the oldest part of Lisbon. Behind the counter is a lush back garden, quiet enough to turn a short stop into a long one. The group calls the branch a secret-garden retreat, which is unusually accurate for marketing language.

House-roasted beans and a short food case

The menu is coffee, sourdough and pastry rather than a long list of café plates. The bean list is where the detail sits: Campo Das Vertentes from Brazil, Proexo Espresso from Honduras, PS Blend from Honduras and Peru, Finca Ceylan from Guatemala, Almibar from Colombia, Negrisa from Peru, Sul de Minas Decaf from Brazil, Baragwi from Kenya, Proexo Filter from Honduras and Finca San Felipe from El Salvador. Kalita gear sits on the retail shelf as well, the 155 and 185 drippers, a 500ml server and a kit, which tells you where the group's pour-over sympathies lie. Food beyond the bake case runs to granola and fruit juices, breakfast-weight rather than a kitchen menu.

Order a bake, then choose a brew method

Start with the sourdough or a Danish pastry. Both are what this site was built to make, both still arrive daily, and both are better paired with coffee than chased with a named brunch plate. For the drink, espresso, batch brew and pour-over cover the room. Espresso suits the Proexo Espresso or the PS Blend; filter drinkers should look for Proexo Filter, Baragwi, Finca San Felipe or Campo Das Vertentes when they are in rotation, and Sul de Minas Decaf covers the late afternoon. Then decide where to sit. The interior is calm and minimalist, suited to a slow morning or a focused hour, with the garden behind it for anyone settling in rather than passing through on the way down from the castle. Late afternoon, when the sun reaches the back of the garden, is the best hour to test that.