White Rose Coffee is a tattoo parlor and an outstanding neighborhood coffee shop, with latte art that’s just as impressive as the tattoos happening in the back. The round tables and dialed-in espresso drinks make this an ideal spot for having intense conversations with friends. They're using locally roasted beans from Per'la, and they're very serious about their pour-overs. They time each one like a running coach on a race track.

Magdalena is an Edgewater coffee shop on a side street just off Biscayne. And while parking is a nightmare (just park on the other side of Biscayne), the coffee is excellent—everything from a basic espresso to an apple juice cold brew that surprisingly works. You’re coming here primarily to consume caffeine and relax, but there are some pastry options from the wonderful Caracas Bakery and a soft serve machine that pumps out a tart frozen yogurt.

The coffee at this Buena Vista bakery skews Italian, like cappuccino and shakerato. But unlike a Roman in a rush, you shouldn’t shoot back their espressos, hop on your Vespa, and leave. You should sit and savor it, which is why it’s served with a glass of sparkling water. They also have some nonstandard coffee specials, like a fluffy coconut cold brew and something with torched marshmallows that we haven’t been fortunate enough to try yet. If you’re hungry, this is the coffee shop to prioritize.

The Cuban coffee shop in Wynwood brews exclusively with their house-blend Arabica beans that pull a perfect espresso to pair with a salty chocolate chip cookie or vegan banana bread. It’s a nice place to have a chat. There’s a couch and a few tables, including one on a window display. Get a bombon with condensed milk if you want something sweet. Though really, you should try their ridiculously smooth coffee in its purest form first: black.

Emissary serves the kind of espresso you hear people describe as tasting like “blueberry and marmalade.” Thankfully, you don’t have to pretend to taste all that to appreciate this is objectively excellent coffee. They focus on the classics: cortado, cappuccino, americano. But there’s usually a seasonal beverage that’ll make you go “ooh” at the register. Emissary is also a great place to have a full breakfast. They have sandwiches, salads, egg things, and pastries from Flour & Weirdoughs.

No Signal is a coffee bar inside the lobby of a Wynwood coworking space that proudly claims to have “the slowest coffee in Miami.” That’s because they’re brewing all of their espresso with a manual espresso machine, which only lets you pull one shot at a time. While it’s a technique that lacks speed, it does make an incredible shot. With just a few stools and a small couch, there’s no room to lounge. So do like the Italians do: sip and run.

Drinking Navi’s house latte feels equal parts thrilling and heartwarming. Their espresso is pulled from the Porsche of espresso machines. It’s then flavored with cardamom, saffron, and rosewater. Order one and sit by the window with a slice of Persian pistachio cake while you watch the shop’s namesake (and owner’s mom) arrange lilies, tulips, and yarrows that you can buy as well. They also have drip coffee and teas ranging from classic breakfast to matcha lattes and a refreshing iced hibiscus.

Drinking coffee at Alto Tostado is very personalized. The only choice you don’t have at this coffee shop is where those beans are coming from: Bolivia. Everything else is up to you. Espresso, drip, cold brew, and pour-overs are all options. If you go the pour-over route, you can pick which single-origin beans you prefer (we like the Geisha beans) and then choose hand-pour, automated pour, or Chemex. These brews take time. Luckily, that gives you plenty of time to have a salteña.

Rutina makes very good coffee in a snug Edgewater cafe. You can make a light lunch out of the miniature baked empanadas and triangular focaccia sandwiches in the display case, but this is mostly a coffee shop. The not-too-sweet lavender latte is a great choice, but they also pull a marvelous espresso and do a pour-over that’ll please a coffee snob. They have a small number of free parking spots for customers in the garage behind the shop.

This Australian cafe makes a great flat white, as it should. But we like them even more for their Chemex-brewed cups and cold brew (you can see the glass towers they use to steep it). It's brewed drop by drop over 20 hours and produces a smoother, less acidic coffee. Threefold is also a cafe, which means you'll have a server who takes your order at the table. But it also has a coffee bar where you can just order a quick coffee and pastries for breakfast.

If you’re ever in need of a little inspiration, The Cafe At Books & Books in Coral Gables is the best place to go. This restaurant and local bookstore feels alive with creative energy. And also food. Their cafe serves soups, salads, and sandwiches with both indoor and outdoor seating. It’s a lovely spot to eat, read, or work while you attempt to absorb ideas through osmosis.

There are six Panther Coffee locations around Miami. All serve excellent coffee, but only two are good for getting work done: the Little Haiti and Sunset Harbour locations. We like Little Haiti best, because it’s big and usually not too busy. Sunset Harbour can get more crowded, but they’ve got a lot of seating—including a long communal table with plenty of power outlets in the center. The cold brew is strong enough to make you productive at either location.

Little River’s Imperial Moto sells motorcycle apparel—but if you’re not interested in souping-up your hog, it’s also a solid spot to grab a coffee, an empanada, and outline that novel. There are some couches in the front of the space and a handful of tables. Thankfully, we’ve never seen this place get too crowded for us to find a comfortable spot to take advantage of their strong wifi. Except on Saturdays and Sundays, when they host a burrito pop-up with a cult following.

Surry Hills is an Australian coffee shop by way of Argentina in Little River, though it doesn’t feel distinctly informed by any of those places. It will feel familiar to anyone who’s ever ducked into a vaguely trendy coffee shop in another country while hunting for wifi. There are also plenty of seats ideal for solo diners, and servers who won’t shame you with eye contact for staying too long. The coffee is fine, and the brunch menu’s usual suspects get the job done.

This coffee shop is located near Downtown (don’t mistake it for their other location inside The Citadel, or the one in a Brickell hotel lobby). Even if it’s crowded, one of the stools by the window will probably become available before your espresso tonic is ready. The coffee here is good, but Vice City’s value comes from the fact that it’s located in an area that’s a bit of a coffee shop desert.

“Calm” and “secluded” are words that apply to Brickell about as well as “affordable” and “old-fashioned.” However, I Think She Is, a small coffee shop and cafe on the northern edge of Brickell, is actually both those things (at least by Brickell standards). The coffee shop is probably the neighborhood’s best option if you want to get work done in a relatively chill and comfortable space.

The white walls and stainless steel furniture make this Downtown coffee shop feel like a place where you’d get a medical procedure instead of a cortado. But at least the staff is friendly, they roast their own beans, and the double espresso is served with a glass of sparkling water. The chairs aren’t comfortable enough to camp for hours, but it does the trick for an extended lunch break or a Zoom meeting.

While Cafe Demetrio doesn't have the best coffee in Miami (their claim to fame is chocolate lattes), the historic building feels like an old European coffeehouse, and the giant banyan tree in the back patio deserves a hug. You can sit inside at one of many small wooden tables and enjoy a grilled chicken sandwich while you type away. Or relax outside under the shade of that tree—where there’s a surprising amount of outlets—and wait for a brilliant idea to fall out of the sky.

Kujo makes for a fun weekend coffee run, provided you’re not in a rush and you thoroughly enjoy slurping up cereal milk. Wait times for their tres leches iced lattes and strawberry shortcake matchas can hit an hour on a Sunday. But if you’re patient, the Hialeah coffee trailer makes unique iced lattes with flavors like Lucky Charms, french toast, and s’mores. Follow them on Instagram to stay up to date with their latest location.

At Tinta Y Cafe, you have a choice between having a typical ventanita experience or relaxing inside, where it feels more like a cool library. The Cuban coffee is everything you’d expect: strong and filled with loads of sugar. The food leans more Cuban-American than Cuban. It includes light breakfast plates, croissants, salads, prosciutto sandwiches, and some of Miami's biggest (and best) croquetas. But they also have tostadas, pastelitos, and their version of a cubano with mortadella.

It’s said that Versailles invented ventanita culture, and for the most quintessential Cuban coffee experience in Miami, we’re sending you here. We can see how their chaotic ventanita can be intimidating to a cafecito novice from Omaha, but it’s not as complicated as it looks at first glance. Memorize this phrase: “Una croqueta de jamon, un pastelito de guayaba, y una colada por favor.” That’s your order. And the number one rule is: always share your colada with strangers.

Enriqueta’s is one of the best old-school Cuban spots in Miami. The casual restaurant is on the outskirts of Wynwood, sitting next to a high-rise apartment that probably wasn’t able to successfully negotiate for Enriqueta’s lot. This is good news for us since we still go to their ventanita for a great colada and an affordable pan con bistec.

Sergio’s has tried robot servers, keto dishes, and attempted to go viral with guava foam iced lattes. All that is to say, this isn’t a classic Cuban cafeteria (anymore). But there are tons of locations in Miami and we do still love their ventanita. You order at one window and pick up at the other. All of the typical ventanita fixings are there: a big cooler of free cold water, Cuban political arguments, and the occasional cigar smoke. Their excellent croquetas haven’t changed either.

El Pub is a common stop on Little Havana food tours, where guides in guayaberas strapped with microphones pass out cafecito at the ventanita to Wisconsinites. Not only is El Pub smack in the beating heart of Calle Ocho, but it makes a proper colada. That’s why you’ll still find a few locals bumping elbows with Cuban viejitos unironically wearing guayaberas and sharing coladas after domino games. After all, it’s been part of their daily ritual for the last 30 years.