Speciality coffee roastery, Birch, on the Isle of Skye, has been recognised in the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026.
The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2026 were revealed on Monday, 16th of February at a ceremony at CoffeeFest in Madrid – one of Europe’s most influential coffee gatherings. The news comes following Birch’s listing in the Best Coffee Shops UK 2025, announced earlier this year.
Birch was founded by Skye local, Niall Munro, in 2020. Inspired by trips to coffee mecca, Melbourne, Niall wanted to replicate the Melbourne café style back in his hometown, but with beautiful, locally sourced products from the Scottish Highlands and Islands, and with a firm focus on speciality coffee, roasted on the island. They have two cafes – one in Portree on the Isle of Skye, and the other in Inverness.
Placing at #50, Birch was one of just two coffee shops in the UK to make the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list for 2026.
Niall Munro, founder of Birch, says:
“To be recognised in this way means the absolute world to us. Since day one, Birch has been an absolute labour of love, and that’s always been at the forefront of everything we do. We’ve worked really hard over the last five years to create a unique experience at Birch – through our Isle of Skye roasted coffee, our curated pour over menus, speciality house-made Viennoiserie and our delicious brunch, made with ingredients from our home here in Skye. I’m so proud of the whole team who have made this possible.”
To determine this prestigious list, 15,000 coffee shops from around the world were first nominated, then the public voted for their favourite shops, and finally, scores from the public vote were then combined with jury scores from 800 judges worldwide. The coffee shops with the highest combined scores from public and expert votes have been honoured as the World’s Best Coffee Shops, with the final results presented as a ranked list from 1 to 100.
The full list will be available to view here and can be found on Instagram @theworlds100bestcoffeeshops.