Coffee Circus opened its first café in Malta in 2018; the espresso machine arrived hours before the doors opened. Connections followed in 2019, built largely by hand, then a mobile van in 2020, rescued from a rural village and restored over six months. By 2023 there were cafés across the island, and one in Vilnius. In 2024 and 2025 the business set up its own roastery, and every bag is now roasted there, in Valletta, every fortnight, in small batches.

Each café has its own theme. Lisboa sits in a basement in Valletta, with Portuguese-inspired tiles and a Portuguese-inspired menu with Maltese touches. Porto is a marina café in Ta’ Xbiex with pastéis de nata and vintage roasting equipment. Connections, by the sea in Marsaskala, serves breakfasts, homemade cakes, craft beer and a Kinnie Amaro cocktail alongside flat whites and V60. China, at Pretty Bay in Birżebbuġa, is family-run with an Asian-inspired menu and is dog-friendly. Riviera is an upcycled beach kiosk by the bay in Mellieħa, and Joy is a café full of natural light in Marsalforn, on Gozo. Bebbuwx, a small truck wrapped in old newspaper pages, is parked at Buġibba Jetty for the people heading to the Gozo and Comino ferries. Piano, in the old town of Vilnius, is built around a big red piano that anyone may play.

The range is mostly single origins roasted to a medium level, with Latino Blend, a Brazil, Colombia and Kenya house espresso, and a Coffee Lovers subscription.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Coffee Circus