Local coffee shop places 15th in international competition

The Colombian, an Edmonton-based coffee company, recently placed 15th in the Americas for best specialty coffee company.

An Edmonton coffee shop has landed on a list of the world’s best 100 specialty coffee companies.

The Colombian entered The World’s Best 100 Coffee Shops competition along with 4,600 other java slingers from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It placed 15th.

The local roastery, which opened in 2017 and now has six Edmonton-area locations and one in Saskatoon, is one of only 14 Canadian shops to make the list and the only one from Edmonton.

Owners Kristin Panylyk de Lopez and Santiago Lopez say the award acknowledges the hard work of the people behind the coffee.

“It’s a plethora of pieces that actually make up a really good coffee shop, because it certainly is more than just the coffee,” Panylyk de Lopez told CTV News Edmonton.

The competition saw more than 200 industry professionals evaluate the entrants for their coffee quality, barista expertise, customer service, innovation, ambience, sustainability, food and pastry, consistency and community impact.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Curtis Goodrum