Copper + Straw is an independent coffee company founded in 2018, built on the idea that a coffee shop should bring people together and become part of its neighbourhood. In the Irish Restaurant Awards 2023 it was shortlisted among the top ten cafés in Dublin.

Bailies Coffee Roasters in Belfast is the house roaster, and a different guest roaster arrives every month. There are always three coffees on espresso: one for milk drinks, one served black and a high-scoring coffee from the guest roaster, with a guest coffee on filter as well. Over the years the cafés have poured more than 50 roasters, among them La Cabra, The Barn, Gardelli, Square Mile, Coffee Collective and Dublin’s own Sumo. The team talks about coffee “the way sommeliers talk about wine”, paying attention to taste, aroma, balance, mouthfeel and acidity.

The food is chef-led and made in the company’s own off-site kitchen: gourmet toasted sandwiches, pastries, baked goods and sausage rolls, on a menu that changes with the produce. The cafés also sell retail coffees, teas, brewing equipment and filter papers.

There are four cafés: on the quays in Smithfield and Temple Bar, in Palmerston Park in Dublin 6, and in the centre of Bray, County Wicklow.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Copper + Straw