Manchester’s specialty coffee arrived in a rush around 2013 and 2014, when a wave of cafés opened within a few streets of each other in the Northern Quarter, and the survivors of that wave still anchor the city. Two former rugby league players opened a café in a Victorian arcade; a roaster set up in a railway arch; an Australian brunch café became an institution. Roasters and bakers have joined those coffee shops in Manchester since.
Pot Kettle Black, Barton Arcade and beyond
Jon Wilkin and Mark Flanagan, former professional rugby league players, had the idea for Pot Kettle Black in 2013 and opened in Barton Arcade in October 2014 with coffee from Workshop. The mission has not changed: the best coffee and vibrant, easy-going food, with brunch that nods to the Antipodes. A kitchen followed in 2016, a bakehouse in 2018, and today there are six sites, among them the arcade original, Angel Gardens, a kitchen takeover at ASAP Coffee in the Northern Quarter, a counter at Airport Terminal 2 and the Half Dozen Other bakehouse in Red Bank. The Barton Arcade café is a soft industrial dining room with original oak flooring and vintage glass lighting, with seating under the arcade’s glass ceiling; it takes bookings, and walk-ins are welcome.
Idle Hands, Northern Quarter
Idle Hands was established in 2014, popped up on the approach to Piccadilly station in early 2015, spent sixteen months in temporary homes and settled at Dale House in the Northern Quarter. Idle Hands has no house roaster. Espresso and the brew bar rotate through roasters from around the world, and the kitchen makes pies, from vegan cherry and pecan to Biscoff, alongside brunch, natural wine and craft beer.
ManCoCo, a roastery and coffee bar in Castlefield
ManCoCo is a micro-roastery and coffee bar in a railway arch in Castlefield, where coffees from identifiable single-origin farms, estates and cooperatives are hand-roasted in small batches and served in its own coffee bar. The roaster also makes small-batch blends and sells loose-leaf teas. The Coffee Academy runs three-hour classes for four people, from brewing basics to latte art, each with a roastery tour and a bag to take home.
Federal Cafe & Bar, Northern Quarter and beyond
Federal started in Manchester in December 2014 after founder Claudio’s trip to Australia: an Australian-style brunch café, walk-ins only, with the aim of “great coffee, fresh food, and service that actually makes you feel welcome”. The Northern Quarter original came first; a second city-centre café followed in 2019 and a third at Circle Square after that, with Altrincham Market and Leeds beyond. Federal sells its own blend, made with Ozone Coffee Roasters: half Brazil with Nicaragua and Ethiopia, roasted medium-dark, with notes of milk chocolate, brown sugar and red fruit.
Ezra & Gil, Northern Quarter and the city centre
Established in 2014 in the Northern Quarter, Ezra & Gil is a brunch institution and a neighbourhood hang-out: coffee, provisions, brunch. A second city-centre café opened in 2021, and a Liverpool branch followed in 2024. The menus run from breakfast and brunch to lunch, every café is walk-ins only, and dogs are welcome.
Ancoats Coffee Co, a roastery café in Ancoats
Roasted fresh, poured daily: Ancoats Coffee Co has been an independent roastery and specialty coffee shop since 2013. It runs a Brew School through Eventbrite and celebrated ten years in 2023. The café counter has freshly prepared sandwiches and bagels, with pastries, cakes and breads from local bakeries, and the coffee comes as espresso, V60 pour-over or cold brew, with a decaf. There is free wifi, a glass-roofed atrium and a welcome for well-behaved dogs, and the café hosts public cuppings, latte art and home brewing workshops.
Just Between Friends, Northern Quarter and Ancoats
Just Between Friends keeps two Manchester cafés, one in the Northern Quarter and one in Beehive Mill in Ancoats, plus one in Wilmslow.
Siop Shop, a café and roastery in the Northern Quarter
Siop Shop roasts under a second name, siopTEC, on a Loring S7, with a focus on seasonal coffees, and the bags ship across the UK, the EU and further afield.
What you need to know about Manchester specialty coffee
Which Manchester coffee shops roast their own beans? ManCoCo, Ancoats Coffee Co and Siop Shop roast. Idle Hands deliberately has no house roaster; Pot Kettle Black serves Ozone, and Ezra & Gil’s retail bag is roasted by ManCoCo.
Where can you work with a laptop? Ancoats Coffee Co’s café has free wifi and a glass-roofed atrium.
Can you bring a dog? Ezra & Gil and Ancoats Coffee Co both welcome dogs.
Where is the brunch? Federal, Ezra & Gil and Pot Kettle Black built their reputations on it. Idle Hands adds pies.
Photo credits
Photographs belong to the businesses and are reproduced from their official websites with attribution.
