Two Denver coffee shops named among top 100 in North America
Apr 17, 2026, 4:54 PM | Updated: Apr 22, 2026, 11:48 am
The Pacific Northwest may get all the love for having the best coffee, but Denver isn’t too shabby in that department either…
Two Denver-based coffee shops have been named among the 100 best in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, earning a spot on a prestigious international ranking unveiled last week at the World of Coffee trade show in San Diego.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters landed at No. 43, and Queen City Collective Coffee came in at No. 61 on the regional list compiled by The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops, a recognition program developed by NEODRINKS in official partnership with the Specialty Coffee Association, the world’s largest coffee trade organization.
The two Denver shops were selected from more than 4,600 coffee shops evaluated across the region. Both the public and a panel of specialty coffee experts voted on nominated shops, with judges’ votes accounting for 70 percent of the weighted total. Criteria included coffee quality, barista expertise and sustainability practices.
Queen City Collective, founded in 2016, has grown to seven metro Denver locations. The company sources directly from producers and emphasizes single-origin beans, with its Five Points café featuring a focused pour-over program highlighting individual coffee growers and a creative seasonal espresso menu.
Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters, which operates three shops, is known for its “Seasonal Sweet Spot” sourcing commitment, through which the company selects coffees at their peak harvest and roasts them for optimal freshness. Founder Andy Sprenger started Sweet Bloom in 2013 after a decade in the specialty coffee industry.
The North American regional list is a subset of The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops global ranking, which was announced in February in Madrid. Onyx Coffee Lab of Rogers, Arkansas, claimed the No. 1 spot worldwide, followed by Oslo’s Tim Wendelboe and San Salvador’s Alquimia Coffee.
The recognition adds to a wave of national and international attention for Denver’s food and drink scene. Last year, Denver’s Tokyo Premium Bakery — a Platt Park café and bakery that opened in 2018 — landed on Yelp’s Top 100 Coffee Shops in the U.S. Denver also placed 17 semifinalists on the 2026 James Beard Awards list earlier this year, and three Colorado restaurants made Yelp’s Top 100 U.S. Restaurants for 2026.
