Darcy’s Kaffe

Four roasters on the shelf, and they keep changing

Darcy's Kaffe, in Copenhagen, runs as a multi-roaster, which means the beans rotate instead of sitting still. April, Koppi, La Cabra and Coffee Collective have all been in the line-up, a mix of Danish and Nordic names that gives the bar a different set of coffees to work with every few weeks. Ask what is on before deciding, because the answer genuinely changes the cup rather than the label on it. The espresso side has been central from the start; the café began around a single La Marzocco Linea Mini and the ambition to serve the best coffee in the city, before it grew into several addresses. Staff are happy to talk through what is on the grinder, which is the practical benefit of a shelf that keeps moving.

Croissants from Alice, bread from Brød, buns from the back

The food is a mix of bought-in and made-in-house, and it is more developed than a coffee bar strictly needs. Croissants come from Alice, other pastries from Democratic Coffee, bread from Bageriet Brød, and some of the baking happens here. The sweet list moves with the season: brioche buns, elderflower and cardamom buns, and a semla when the calendar allows for one. Savoury means toasts, again seasonal, built on things like miso-roasted mushrooms, gooseberry chutney, cheesy béchamel and charred kale. That is enough to make the place a breakfast or lunch stop rather than only a coffee one, and it is the reason people stay longer than they planned to.

A corner room set up like an apartment

The room is arranged more like a flat than a café, with nooks for reading and working, window seats for watching the street, and a sunny corner position in Nørrebro that does most of the work on a clear morning. The house line is that it is your local living room serving world-class coffee and seasonal goodness, and the layout backs that up rather than merely claiming it. Expect a place to stay a while: a rotating coffee list, a pastry case worth checking twice, and enough variety in the seating to suit either a laptop or a newspaper. Darcy's has also turned up on the World's 100 Best Coffee Shops list, which is unusual for a neighbourhood room of this size.