Chiang Rai – both a city and a province in northern Thailand – has long served as a gateway of sorts. It lies between the larger, more celebrated site of Chiang Mai and the Lao capital of Luang Prabang, with the celebrated Mekong River forming the border along the way. However, Chiang Rai is increasingly becoming a destination city in its own right, home to world-famous temples, unique cuisine and a proud home-grown coffee culture.
The true meaning of farm-to-cup is shown here as most coffee shops have direct interactions with their suppliers. Doi Chang, a mountainous area southwest of Chiang Rai, is one of the most crucial coffee growing regions in Thailand, providing the country with the highest quality Arabica. The region’s proximity to the city creates an effortless route for farmers to sell coffee to roasters and producers to then distribute it throughout Asia. café owners and roasters regularly visit farms to monitor quality and ensure that production and processing meet their demanding standards. Where conventional methods intersect with up-to-date preparations, numerous opportunities open up to enjoy electrifying, cutting-edge cups.
Many of the city’s best cafes are located some distance from the city center, hidden behind fields or on inconspicuous streets. Exploring Chiang Rai for coffee requires purpose and curiosity, but patience and discovery will be richly rewarded. Because owners have a very hands-on approach to their supply chain, they’re usually cheerful to talk about the process behind how the cup ended up in your hands and why they’re so excited about it.
Local coffee
This charming roastery and café is located just a ten-minute drive from downtown Chiang Rai. You may feel like you’re lost for a while; yes, the cafe is just behind the vegetable path. Promoting locally grown coffee is a key feature here, expertly roasted from northern growing regions and sold in the café next door.
The glowing, open and inviting room is filled with enthusiastic conversation. Coffee focuses on hand pour, but delicious espressos are also available, all with a lighter roast. You can buy colorfully packaged coffee here, all of which comes from nearby farmers. It truly is a local coffee experience.
Hobby coffee makers
You’ll find a renovated car garage that smells of everything other than diesel Hobby brewers. Instead of roasting coffee, they prefer to rotate the beans so that their regulars can have a novel experience every time they visit. Their specialty drinks are a combination of the aromas of fresh fruit and coffee. “Lady Pink” and “Shot Lemon Smash” are very popular with local guests.
For filter coffee lovers, they brew a wide range of South American and African coffees. Since the location is a bit out of town, there is also a dessert menu with waffles and cakes to aid keep your blood sugar levels high. The baristas here are quite advanced in the art of the latte, so if you’re craving a flat white coffee with a unicorn design, this is the place to come.
22 grams
22 grams brew the best espresso in the north of Thailand. Prideing itself on presenting locally grown coffee, the shots featured here are bold, sturdy and have a syrupy aftertaste. Depending on the season, the customer has access to a rolodex with the offer of northern regions.
Whether you come here for an espresso or just a latte, you can be sure that you are tasting an integral part of the local culture and the evolution of Thai coffee into what is now a very promising product. Thanks to better growing methods and processing knowledge, coffee here in Thailand has come so far and so quickly, and this coffee shop is one of the best places to experience it.
Roja Smoking Room
Local coffee lovers in Chiang Rai recommend visitors try this coffee Smoking room. Roj Pongpijit is praised by many as the person who introduced third wave coffee to the area. Before he opened The Roastery, Chiang Rai was served by commercial coffee chains and local places brewing sweet Thai coffee. Before opening his café, Pongpijit spent time learning baking techniques and establishing relationships with local farmers, growers and producers. Since then, it has become a staple of the rapidly growing coffee community in northern Thailand.
Visitors are greeted by a gigantic wooden shop where over 10 local filter coffees and espressos are available, mostly airy roasted, both washed and naturally processed. The extensive menu also includes milk-based coffees, meals and coffee-free drinks. As you might expect from a roastery profession, the shelves are lined with shopping bags. They don’t limit themselves to Thai coffee and roast a selection of beans from all over the world.
The roastery is a real temple of caffeine, and every visit to Chiang Rai is not complete without paying a fee.
Alexta coffee
Perfect for a double dip if you head to Local Coffee, Alex it’s across the street, a hundred meters away. This café is very popular with locals who look for high-quality espresso drinks. The cafe is divided into two parts with a separate overflow area next to the glass doors behind which the coffee is roasted.
Alexta roasts their beans a bit darker, so they go well with cappuccinos and Americanos, but if you prefer filter coffee, they have a gigantic selection of local beans. Blue Matcha and Sullied Latte seem to be very popular among the local population. Their filter coffee is mainly flavored with berries and wine, so if those are the flavor profiles you tend to gravitate towards, you’re in luck.
Remote workers will find this coffee shop conducive to productivity because it is very peaceful. Apart from a narrow food menu (mainly croissants) the atmosphere is relaxed and balmy.
Alio free bar
Selling only beans grown on our own farm in Doi Chang, Alio free bar serves as a downtown focal point for their coffee plantation. Visitors can take a tour of the farm itself and grab a coffee at the bamboo-floored cafe, but if you’re miniature on time, they recently opened a cafe in Chiang Rai.
A miniature walk from the clock tower, this atmospherically lit bar serves a variety of non-coffee roasted drinks and is renowned for its amiable service. Homegrown beans are presented in gigantic glass jars, ranging from processed blends with black honey, natural and medium roast. This is the true meaning of “farm to cup” when you can talk to the owner about the history and traditions of the family at a nearby farm.
Agape
Huge windows allow for a constant flow of natural airy into the main room at ul Agape. The atmosphere is perfect for a few friends to share delicious cakes or desserts and sip expertly roasted coffee. Thanks to its location in the city center and closer to Alexta and Local Coffee, there is a serene atmosphere that encourages books and reflection.
The city center location is steps away from an award-winning vegan burger restaurant, Kundawhich is a great stop for lunch. With a wide range of coffees, capsules and bags for purchase and fridges filled with all kinds of temptations, it really is a paradise in which you can spend a nice morning. The biggest attraction of Agape is coffee made from local beans.
Cups for couples
Your typical neighborhood coffee shop, with wide windows for people-watching, diligent baristas staring at your brew, all kinds of to-go cups flying out the door for eager delivery people, couples chatting outside, cars driving by, electrical wires hissing in the midday sun, and curious onlookers wondering what all the fuss is about.
Cups for coupleswith the prettiest branding in town, it’s a minuscule cafe specializing in good coffee and a cozy atmosphere. You come here for specialty coffee and the extremely popular Mango Sticky Rice cheese cake (a variation on the celebrated Mango Sticky Rice dessert). Perhaps more focused on desserts than other places mentioned in this guide, that doesn’t mean they neglect coffee. You can get a delicious tincture from a variety of rotating roasteries, prepared airy and delicious.
The location makes it one of the more accessible in Chiang Rai.
