Perfect Cup at Specialty Coffee Shop in Ljubljana

People might have noticed that the past several years have witnessed a notable transformation in coffee. It has achieved more popularity than a pick-me-up from your local restaurant or gas station.

Coffee has become an artisanal experience, with specialty coffee shops leading the charge. These cafés have changed our thinking about coffee, especially its growing and processing methods.

So, the specialty coffee shop scene in Ljubljana has become more trending with its unique way of brewing coffee and letting everyone enjoy its every sip. It has evolved as a worldwide cultural movement, redefining quality, community, and sustainability. 

What Is Specialty Coffee?

The Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) describes specialty coffee and decides its score and a holistic method of worth. This coffee type is characterized by sensory details, sustainability, texture, and its impact on the individuals who cultivate and appreciate it.

The description of specialty coffee combines the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) that assures a more inclusive, transparent, and standardized evaluation of coffee’s quality and importance.

The Sources of the Specialty Coffee Trend

Industry professionals understand the “Third Wave” of coffee as the source of the specialty coffee process. Let us comprehend this circle further and the essence of the specialty coffee trend. This will allow you to choose the best specialty coffee shop in Ljubljana.

First Wave

It rose in the early 1900s, with best-known brands buying large numbers of whole bean, instant, and ground coffee to the masses at affordable prices. This wave made coffee accessible and easy to prepare in appliances like vending machines or percolators. 

Second Wave

The second surge of coffee is celebrated with the rise of Starbucks. Also, this second-wave shop has brought Arabica into the mainstream dictionary. These beans were typically roasted very dark to better pair the coffee with milk or flavorings added to the beverages. 

Third Wave

 This surge refers to the current trend of coffee shops publicizing coffee to a site like wine, craft beer, or spirits. You can get such coffee at the R&B cafe, one of a few vegan and gluten-free breakfast places in Ljubljana. The third tide treats coffee like a pleasant wine that has gone through a specific growing and drying process. It considers terroir, processing, and brewing as a nuanced craft.

Reason for the Popularity of Specialty Coffee Shops 

We can consider several elements that define specialty coffee stores' popularity. 

Education and Awareness

Individuals focus and take more interest in becoming aware of the origin of their food and drinks. In specialty coffee shops, Baristas and roasters will be glad to share with them the origins of coffee, flavor notes, and processing of coffee that lead to specific aromas. 

Craft and Experience

Coffee drinking has become an experience that includes pour-over and siphon brews. So, some specialty coffee houses offer their consumers barista competitions, cupping lessons and latte art classes. These coffee houses provide craftsmanship that makes coffee an event and a conversation piece.

Sustainability and Ethical Sourcing

Consumers have become more conscious about their social and environmental impact through their choices. They choose specialty coffee houses that tend to work with conscientious importers. Such coffee houses buy beans directly from the growers to guarantee equitable pay and organic growing practices. 

Community and Culture

You can get social centers, co-workspaces, and community spaces with specialty coffee shops. These cafés have minimal aesthetics, hand-curated playlists, and local art showings. Each piece of art intends to help people become creative and connect with others. 

Technology and Innovation in Specialty Coffee

Specialty coffee houses have become leaders in innovation through their new brewing techniques. Each specialty coffee shop in Ljubljana has transformed the art of making coffee.

It has encouraged baristas to modify the extraction of the flavors with pressure-profiling espresso devices. For instance, some coffee shops use the nitro cold brew method, involving coffee infusion with nitrogen to get a creamy texture. Some use digital scales and refractometers that provide consistency in each cup, and some even have mobile ordering apps, enabling customers to customize their drinks with unprecedented accuracy. Moreover, most 3rd wave cafés now roast their beans, providing complete command over taste and freshness.

Barista’s Part in the Upsurge of Specialty Coffee Shops

The barista is a skilled craftsman in any specialty coffee in Ljubljana, who not only pours your drink, but also receives extensive training in brewing methods, frothing milk, sensory analysis, and even the history of coffee. These baristas have the enthusiasm and expertise to turn a casual customer into a coffee fan.

Challenges to the Specialty Coffee Shop Industry

The specialty coffee industry faces some challenges, even with its popularity. One such challenge is that coffee plants face climate change which affects them as they are temperature- and rainfall-sensitive. They can witness a threat to their quality and yields with growing global temperatures, which leads to price increases, like we have witnessed throughout 2024 and 2025.

Also, the number of specialty coffee roasters is increasing rapidly, raising the challenge in this industry. It has made every specialty coffee shop owner conscious of their innovation and quality to survive this competition. In short, specialty coffee has restrictions in its reach to the masses due to its higher price range.

Does Specialty Coffee Have a Better Future?

We can observe a bright future for specialty coffee with several changes in its trend. 

Fourth Wave Coffee

The coffee might have a ‘Fourth Wave’ of coffee with emphasized technology, scientific research, and data-driven brewing to attain perfection. This wave will focus more on the precision and consistency in preparing and serving coffee.  

Emphasis on Farmers

At R&B Cafe, we love to pair our vegan and gluten-free breakfast options with the best specialty coffees. We have striven in the last couple of years to bring to market differently processed coffees directly from farmers, so that you can enjoy various coffee profiles, either naturally processed, washed, or honey processed beans. 

Fermented and Experimental Coffees

Specialists redefine coffee tastes through processing methods like anaerobic fermentation and carbonic maceration. You can look for more experimental brews with wine-like complexity, for instance in our latest 2 Colombian coffee offerings from Jairo Arcila (Santa Monica fam) who adds wine yeast and green apples to coffee while the fermentation occurs, or from Arturo Ardango (El Paraiso Farm).

Decaf Reinvented

Decaf or decaffeinated coffee has become more popular with processing technology advances. You can get complete flavor without high caffeine and specialty decaf using sugarcane or Swiss water processing. 

Conclusion 

The popularity of specialty coffee shops has grown the passion for high-quality, wealthier knowledge, and a more excellent association. You can visit many specialty coffee shops in Ljubljana, which have become a location for artistic business, sustainability, creation, and community gathering.

At R&B Cafe, we invite you to not only grab your favorite coffee but also get to know more by taking advantage of our coffee tasting and roasting class or one of our latte art classes.