The best coffee in Birmingham

The best coffee in Birmingham is at Faculty in Piccadilly Arcade off New Street, open from 7.30am on weekdays. It has no sofas, on purpose. After that, the city's good cups are spread along Colmore Row, St Paul's Square in the Quarter, New Street and Temple Row West, with a Vietnamese detour to Bearwood. Here is where to go, and what to order.

Faculty, Piccadilly Arcade

Geoff Lam opened Faculty in 2014, and it is still the specialist's coffee bar: small, focused on the coffee and the people making it, with an industrial interior and nothing soft to sink into. It opens 7.30am to 5pm on weekdays, 9am to 6pm on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays, and there is a brunch service now too. Order a filter, ask what is on, and drink it there.

200 Degrees, The Grand, Colmore Row

200 Degrees is a chain, but its shop in The Grand on Colmore Row is one of the best rooms for coffee in town. The house blend, roasted by the company itself, is Vietnamese robusta with Colombian arabica, which stands up well in milk. There is plenty of seating and the wifi holds up, so it is the one for an hour with a laptop, and the sandwiches rotate.

Saint Kitchen, St Paul's Square

Saint Kitchen sits on the corner of St Paul's Square, the prettiest square in the Jewellery Quarter, at Unit 2, 61a. Flat whites and filter for the coffee, single-origin hot chocolate for everyone else, and a brunch and lunch menu where the sauces and cakes are made in-house. It opens 8am to 5pm on weekdays, 9am on Saturdays and 10am to 4pm on Sundays. It is cashless and does not take bookings, so at the weekend you wait. There is a second Saint Kitchen on Pershore Road in Stirchley.

Medicine, New Street and the Ikon

Medicine is the bakery Birmingham queues at for a cruffin. The New Street cafe does brunch and lunch from 8.30am to 5pm every day: pain au pistachio, cinnamon buns, Turkish eggs, tiramisu French toast. There are branches in the Mailbox and Selfridges, and one in the Botanical Gardens pouring locally roasted coffee. The calmest is at the Ikon Gallery on Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, where entry to the gallery is free and the cafe stays open until 7pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Damascena, Temple Row West

Damascena has cafes on Alcester Road, Harborne High Street, Warstone Lane in the Quarter, Hagley Road and at 5-7 Temple Row West in town. Skip the flat white here and order the Turkish or Arabian spiced coffee, brewed in a traditional dallah, or mint tea in a tall glass, with a square of handmade baklava. The city centre branch opens until 9pm in the week and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it the rare coffee shop for after dinner. Bookings are for four or more only.

Wayland's Yard, Bull Street

Wayland's Yard at 42 Bull Street is a brunch cafe with coffee roasted in Bristol and an all-day breakfast every day of the week. The Turkish eggs are the order, and there is plenty for vegans and vegetarians, with produce sourced locally. It is the good choice at the Snow Hill end of town when Colmore Row is full of suits on laptops.

Oak Ca Phe, Bearwood Road

Just over the border at 614 Bearwood Road, Oak Ca Phe pairs coffee with Vietnamese food: pho, bo xot vang, goi cuon prawn rolls and cake. It is the place for a coffee and a bowl of noodles at the same table.

For home: Quarter Horse

Quarter Horse roasts in the West Midlands and sells its beans online, with single origins from £11 a bag and a blend made with Jorja Smith from £15. If you have a grinder at home, this is how to drink Birmingham coffee without leaving the house. They also run espresso and latte art masterclasses.

Know before you go

Most of these close by 5pm, so this is a morning and lunchtime list; Damascena is the late exception. Saint Kitchen and Faculty are small and fill fast on Saturday mornings. Saint Kitchen takes cards only. If you are working, 200 Degrees and Medicine at the Ikon are the two with room to spread out.