Coffee Anthology | A Heavyweight Stop in Brisbane, Ranked No. 8 in the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops

 The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops ranking is often regarded as the “Michelin Guide” of the global coffee industry. In the 2025 list, Australia once again secured an impressive number of spots. Among the cafés that made it into the top ten, Toby’s Estate in Sydney claimed the No. 1 position, while Proud Mary—my very first stop after landing in Melbourne—ranked fourth.

Today, I want to talk about the café that took eighth place: Coffee Anthology, located at 155 Charlotte St, Brisbane City QLD 4000. If you’re planning a trip to Brisbane and you genuinely love coffee, this is an absolute must-visit.

A CBD Icon with a Multi-Roaster Philosophy

Coffee Anthology sits right in the heart of Brisbane’s CBD. It’s best known for its multi-roaster collaboration model, offering a rotating selection of beans from both Australian and international roasters. On top of that, the café serves excellent food and pastries, making it a true one-stop destination for both coffee and dining.

They open daily at 7:30 a.m. and operate until 3:30 p.m., with earlier closing times on weekends (2:00 p.m.). Even so, the place is constantly packed. No matter when you arrive, there’s almost always a long line at the bar—something that’s actually quite rare to see in Brisbane. And honestly, it’s kind of exciting.

Finding the Café (and Being Blown Away by the Space)

One nice thing about Brisbane’s street-facing buildings is that the street numbers are huge and easy to spot. Coffee Anthology is housed inside a classic white building, and there’s barely any obvious signage outside. But once you find No. 155, don’t hesitate—just walk in.

The space is massive. Half of the ground floor belongs to the café, while the other half serves as a public walkway, subtly divided by lush greenery acting as a natural screen. Inside, the café is split into three separate bar areas, each with its own brand and menu. Depending on whether you’re ordering coffee or food, you’ll need to choose the appropriate counter.

Three Bars, Three Experiences

• Front Bar – Coffee Anthology
  This is the main coffee bar, where you order espresso-based drinks.

• Middle Bar – The Whisk
  This is where you order food and pastries, with seating nearby.

• Back Bar – Fika
  A takeaway-focused guest coffee bar featuring rotating international roasters.

Coffee Anthology regularly invites well-known roasters from around the world, and the Fika bar becomes a true “guest coffee station.” For coffee lovers, this is one of the best ways to explore the global specialty coffee scene in a single visit.

A Design That Truly Impresses

This was my first time visiting a café with such a large, open, tiered architectural layout—and I was genuinely stunned. Once you understand the design logic, the flow makes perfect sense. The movement of people is carefully guided within the space, creating the feeling of three independent cafés coexisting within one large structure—connected yet distinct.

Since I was already there, I obviously had to try all three bars.

Espresso at Coffee Anthology

At the front coffee bar, the design beautifully echoes the building’s arches. The high ceilings create an open, relaxed atmosphere that instantly puts you at ease.

For this rotation, the espresso menu featured four different options. If you like to plan ahead, Coffee Anthology regularly updates their bean list on their official website.

Their house roasting brand, The Maillard Project, supplies the café’s standard blend. This blend combines Brazil, Nicaragua, and Papua New Guinea, aiming for classic chocolate and caramel flavors while maintaining cleanliness and balance. It works well for both black coffee and milk-based drinks.

I ordered a flat white, and I loved that dine-in orders use a single cup size—perfectly suited for a flat white. The integration was excellent from the first sip to the last. The milk texture held beautifully, temperature control was spot-on, and the flavor delivered rich milk chocolate notes with a smooth, creamy mouthfeel. Toward the finish, a gentle caramel sweetness emerged. Incredibly satisfying.

A Bright and Juicy Long Black

I also ordered a single-origin Ethiopian natural Aricha, roasted by Offshoot Coffee from Perth. Founded in 2018, Offshoot is a highly respected Australian roaster known for sourcing rare and distinctive coffees while maintaining clean, consistent results. They roast on a Loring S15 Falcon, which uses hot air as the primary heat transfer method—known for its stability and precision.

I chose this bean as a long black, and wow—instant wake-up call. The cup opened with extremely bright stone fruit acidity, followed by a surge of sweetness that pushed the profile toward a jammy character. Acidity and sweetness danced together throughout, with absolutely no bitterness. It was refreshing, vibrant, and incredibly clean—almost like a very full-bodied pour-over disguised as an espresso drink. I was hooked.

The other two espresso options on the menu included a washed Guatemala Santa Clara SOE from Primary Coffee in Sydney, and the Maverick Blend from Brisbane’s Cavalier Coffee Roasters, a Costa Rica–Ethiopia–Brazil blend. Discovering new roasters through a single café visit is always a pleasant surprise, and this front bar truly feels like a coffee “blind box”—you never know what you’ll get next time.

Food at The Whisk: A Benedict Like No Other

Moving on to the middle bar, The Whisk handles all food orders. One important thing to note: dining is not allowed in the coffee-only areas, so once you order food, you’ll be seated nearby and assisted by staff.

As someone who absolutely loves Eggs Benedict, I almost always order it when it’s on the menu. And I can confidently say this is the most creative and memorable Eggs Benedict I’ve had so far.

Here, the dish uses a flaky pastry shell as a hidden “container.” Once you break into the two perfectly runny eggs, the experience is already incredibly indulgent. But there’s more underneath: thick-cut mushrooms (with optional bacon or smoked salmon), followed by layers of spinach and braised leeks. Somehow, it even carried a hint of wok hei—a surprising but delightful touch. The hollandaise was also unique, infused with dill, adding a fresh and aromatic twist. Absolutely delicious.

Mushroom on Toast (For Fellow Mushroom Lovers)

I also ordered the Mushroom on Toast, because yes—I’m unapologetically a mushroom lover. This dish features a house-made waffle with truffle butter, a special coffee-infused cream sauce, forest mushrooms, and a runny fried egg. Every bite was deeply satisfying, with rich layers of flavor and incredibly juicy, tender mushrooms. Comforting yet refined.

The Guest Coffee Bar: A True Hidden Gem

Finally, let’s talk about one of the biggest highlights of the entire café—the guest coffee bar at the back. I like to think of it as a “curated roaster blind box.” Every visit brings a new lineup.

This time, the featured roaster was Calendar Coffee from Ireland, founded in 2018. I’ve been a long-time fan of Calendar, and many specialty coffee lovers are already familiar with their work. I chose an Ethiopian Guji Buku Abel, a natural heirloom variety—one I’ve enjoyed many times back home as well.

The barista who brewed my coffee happened to be Chinese, and after chatting in English for a while, we naturally switched to Mandarin—an unexpectedly warm moment. The brewing experience felt very intimate: freshly ground coffee was offered for smelling before brewing, and the slow conversation with the barista made the large space feel like a small neighborhood café.

The dry aroma was explosively sweet and juicy, bursting with tropical fruit notes. In the cup, it was vibrant and refreshing, with bright citrus and berry acidity, exceptionally clean and crisp. Honestly, the perfect summer pour-over—and one I absolutely loved.

Sustainability Matters

If you order takeaway coffee from the back bar, there’s one more meaningful detail worth sharing. Coffee Anthology participates in the Simply Cups program, Australia’s first and largest paper cup recycling initiative. Millions of cups have been diverted from landfills and given a second life. Near the entrance, you’ll find a dedicated recycling station where used cups are collected and transformed into new sustainable products.

Final Thoughts

This visit to Coffee Anthology was truly a standout experience. I spent an entire morning there, completely immersed in food and coffee. It felt less like visiting a café and more like attending a curated exhibition—from espresso to brunch to pour-over.

The success of a café isn’t just about consistent quality. It’s also about how well it integrates its upstream and downstream resources, building strong collaborations and creating reasons for customers to return again and again. Coffee Anthology does exactly that—and in doing so, it energizes the entire local coffee ecosystem.

If you ever find yourself in Brisbane, don’t miss it.