A Carioca
Rua da Misericórdia, 9
Lisbon, Portugal
Lisboetas loves coffee, and one of the best places to get fresh coffee beans in Lisbon is from A Carioca, a beautiful wood-paneled, art-deco store that is literally filled wall-to-wall with coffee beans, teas and candies. A Carioca is in the trendy-yet-historical Chiado neighborhood, near the most famous cafe in all of Lisbon, A Brasileira. You may note that both of these historic coffee venues have Brazil-themed names, a “Carioca” being an inhabitant of Rio de Janiero. Though Brazil is now the number one producer of coffee in the world, the coffee industry there did not take off until the 1930s.
You can get coffee beans at A Carioca by the gram in a variety of flavors – vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate – as well as single origin coffees and blends from all over South America, Asia and Africa. Note the very friendly-looking bright red coffee grinders (there is even a larger red coffee grinder in the front of the store). Despite looking like antiques, they are still put to use every day. In addition to coffee, A Carioca has sort of an old-time candy store feel, with glass jars of traditional penny candy. Tea is also on offer, including the only tea produced in Europe, Gorreana tea from the Azores.
Eating The World 