For decades, drinking Cafés El Magnífico meant a takeaway cup from the Born or a bag of beans to brew at home. Their newest shop, on Rambla de Catalunya, finally gives the 60-year-old roaster a proper bar to sit at – and brings coffee and tea under one roof for the first time.
The centerpiece is a La Marzocco Modbar, the first pour-over system of its kind installed in Barcelona. Built into the counter rather than looming over it, it strips away the usual barrier between barista and customer: you sit across from the person brewing and watch a filter coffee dialed in, cup by cup, with the precision the method asks for. The idea is simple – let people taste the range the house spends its year sourcing and roasting. Order off the classics that made the name or the monthly rotating origins, and ask questions; that’s the point.
Sharing the space is sister house Sans & Sans, the Barcelona tea firm the family has run since 1993. Pioneers of the pyramid tea bag here and of the city’s tea-bar format, they bring a sensory selection from prestigious gardens – the Atelier collection of pure teas and infusions among them – for anyone who’d rather steep than sip espresso. Pour-over, beans, tea and a stool to enjoy it all from. About time.