After touching down in Athens for a long weekend trip with my dear mama, checking into our hotel and getting ready to explore the Greek capital, we made Taf Coffee our first point of call. Located just a few blocks from Omonia metro station, Taf’s café HQ may seem a bit low key considering the weight that their name carries well beyond Greece’s borders.
Back in 2006, Taf founder Yiannis Taloumis was one of the founding fathers of the Athenian specialty coffee scene that, in recent years, has become one of Southern Europe’s most vibrant and exciting. Taf’s café is a friendly neighbourhood café that’s more about the quality of the coffee than the atmosphere but the service is as impeccable as their coffees.
Taf maintains direct trade relationships with many growers all over the world they take great care to invest in their customers as much as their suppliers. This has also earned them a spot in our July ’17 coffee box, alongside Colonna from Bath and Sloane from Bucharest.
Apart from the great work that Yiannis and his team have done to establish specialty coffee in Greece, Taf’s amazing people keep adding award after award to their repertoire, like Konstantinos Iatridis who became this year’s Greek Barista Champion.
There is no kitchen or cocktail bar at this café, unlike most other specialty coffee bars in the city, making Taf a place most suitable for a morning espresso while scanning the headlines or an afternoon filter coffee while resting your feet from sightseeing.
On a hot summer day, you may want to cool down your body temperature with a refreshing glass of cold brew that both energises and refreshes at the same time. And don’t forget to take with you a bag or two of delicious coffee beans to enjoy when you get home later.
