6 Cafes with the Best Coffee in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Are you ready to learn about where to find the best coffee in Chiang Mai, Thailand?

It might not seem obvious at first, but Chiang Mai, Thailand has an incredible coffee and tea culture. While the city is known for its beautiful temples, elephant reserves and vibrant street food, Chiang Mai is also full of unique and interesting coffee and tea cafes. Even better, most of them have free wifi. So if you’re a digital nomad, there are plenty of places in Chiangmai to stay caffeinated and connected!

I recently got to experience Chiang Mai’s coffee culture first hand, when I was there for work. I was directing an episode of the popular HGTV show, House Hunters International. With long days of filming on the docket, my crew and I always have one request, the best coffee to keep us going. And boy did Chiang Mai deliver!

Of course, we would not have found any of these Chiang Mai cafes with the best coffee without our local fixers there to help. They are the ones who truly knew where to find a cold brew coffee or a perfectly made macchiato. They also turned us onto the cafes with the coolest aesthetics and design, something that’s important to us when we’re also looking for locations where we can film.

So now that our local fixers have hooked us up and shown us all of the best Coffee and tea cafes in Chiang Mai, I want to share my knowledge with you. If you make it to Chiang Mai, these 6 unique coffee spots should 100% be on your list!

The 6 Best cafes for Coffee in Chiang Mai

RISTR8TO

Hands down, one of the best coffees we had while filming in Chiang Mai was from Ristr8to. Located in Nimman, a neighborhood popular with expats, this café was started by Australians. The pared-down design of the space allows you to focus on what’s most important, the coffee! The baristas here are known for their latte art, having won multiple international competitions. (Yes, I had no idea, but apparently, that’s a thing!) Leave your credit cards at home because they only accept cash and prepare to leave this place with a full-on caffeine buzz! 

Roxpresso

My all-time favorite café for the presentation of both tea and coffee is Roxpresso. I ordered a rose-infused herbal iced tea and was blown away by the detailed platter they presented to me with a personalized plaque that had my name on it. This place elevates the serving of tea and coffee to an art form. I guess it makes sense since their tagline is “The art you can drink!”

The presentation was so precise, I almost didn’t want to put my lemon and rosemary block of ice into the glass of tea. I highly recommend a visit here to see these beautiful presentations for yourself. Keep in mind that the prices here reflect the amount of work that goes into the presentation, and the drinks are on par with prices in NYC, not Chiang Mai.

Fun Fact: We were so impressed with this space we ended up filming a scene here!

Rustic and Blue

Rustic and Blue is the kind of casually chic café that you would expect to find in a  hip neighborhood in NYC. Instead, it’s in the heart of Nimman, a popular Chiang Mai neighborhood for ex-pats and tourists. I loved everything about this café, from the Instagram worthy design aesthetic to the healthy yet tasty food.

But the one thing I remember most about this café, (and ok, maybe dream about!) is their cold brew coffee. Talk about incredible branding. The coffee comes in a sleek, glass bottle with a bright blue label. (I actually kept the bottle and brought it home with me. Yes, I’m a bit crazy!)

While the branding is great, it’s the coffee that I still can’t forget. Their cold brew is literally the best I have ever tasted. It was fragrant and bright with no acidity or bitterness. I seriously want to figure out a way to import this coffee to the States. Does anyone want to help me?! If I had to pick, I would say that this cafe has the best coffee in Chiang Mai.

Fern Forest

If you’re looking for a tranquil setting amongst the chaos of Chiang Mai, head to Fern Forest. It’s a full-service café that serves food and scrumptious desserts as well as coffees, teas, and fruit juices. I loved the idyllic charm of the café and could have easily spent the afternoon there drinking lattes and writing in my journal or working on blog posts. And with a full range of coffees on the menu, you have plenty of options to get on your caffeine buzz.

Ming Mitr Coffee

You can’t really go wrong with a coffee bar that has a neon-yellow, lit-up sign that says “the Friendly Coffee Bar.” Indeed, Ming Mitr place delivers on that sentiment. The baristas go out of their way to make sure you choose the right coffee or tea, and there are plenty of options. While my husband stuck to his usual iced latte, I opted for a matcha green tea blended beverage. It was the perfect antidote to the heat and humidity. My only regret is that we couldn’t spend more time here!

Le Meridien 

We might be a bit biased because we were staying at the Le Meridien Hotel, but they actually make great coffees at the bar here. It’s also a very cool lobby to hang out in, with inviting white sofas and chairs to lounge in plus plenty of AC to cool you down from Chiang Mai’s heat and humidity. And an added bonus, if you’re staying at the hotel, you get a voucher for one free latte or espresso per person, per day. Now that’s a deal I can get behind!

Are You Ready to Try the Best Coffee in Chiang Mai?

Whenever I find a local spot that I love, I want to share that intel with you, so I hope this list of 6 unique coffee and tea cafes in Chiang Mai is helpful!

Now I’d love to hear from you. Are you planning a trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand soon? If so, did you find this list useful?

Don’t forget to check out my other blog post about the best places to eat in Chiang Mai.

And if you’ve already been to this city and you feel I left a great coffee spot off of this list, please comment below. I’m always looking to add more great spots to my list.

As always, happy travels!