First edition · Brussels · Antwerp · Amsterdam · Paris

The quality label for specialty coffee shops.

For this first edition, three independent inspectors visited each of 59 specialty coffee shops in Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Paris, as ordinary customers. The first distinctions will be announced on Friday 6 November.

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Results revealed · 6 November · 21:00 CET

Be notified of the results Discover the method

IncognitoInspectors pay like any customer
Three inspectorsFor every coffee shop
No application, no feeNobody can buy a distinction

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Incognito visits

Three inspectors walked into each of these 59 coffee shops. Nobody knew who they were.

59Coffee shops selected

177Mystery visits · 3 per shop

12Independent inspectors

04Cities in the first edition

Explore

How the first edition works.

IThe methodThe three drinks every inspector orders, the details they watch, and how the scores add up.Read the method → IIThe distinctionsWhat one, two or three Golden Cups mean, and the two categories: Coffee Shop and Coffee Shop & Food.See the levels → IIIThe resultsThe distinguished shops in Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Paris, published on 6 November at 21:00.Go to the results →

Partners, press, future inspectors: the next edition starts now.

Get involved →

An initiative of Brussels Coffee Show

With the support of

The method

How a Golden Cup is earned.

No application, no fee, and nobody knew when the inspectors walked in. Each coffee shop is measured against the same grid, not against the others. An announced inspector would see a place at its best. A mystery visit shows what any customer gets, on an ordinary day.

The order

Every inspector orders the same three drinks.

Mandatory

Single-shot espresso

The simplest drink on the menu, and the hardest to hide behind.

Mandatory

Flat white with oat milk

Chosen on purpose. The ratio is tight and oat milk shows every mistake in the milk texture. A barista who gets this one right has usually mastered the rest.

Inspector's choice

A filter coffee or the signature drink

V60, AeroPress, batch brew, or whatever the house is proudest of.

Then they look at everything else: the welcome, the advice, the room, the bar, and yes, the toilets.

The details

The small things say a lot.

Is there a glass of water with the espresso? A spoon?
The inspector stirs the crema three times and watches whether it comes back.
Is the cup a real choice, or just the one that was on the shelf?
Can the barista tell you about the coffee in the cup: the origin, the farm, the process, the aromas? That question counts three times.
The inspector takes a table facing the counter, to watch the barista work.
Did anyone ask if everything was okay?
Clean toilets, with paper and soap. Yes, that counts too.

Every visit comes with a receipt and photos of each drink, so the panel can check what the inspector saw.

Three visits per shop

Every coffee shop was visited by three different inspectors.

One good or bad day shouldn't decide a distinction. So each shop got three visits, on different days, from three inspectors who don't know each other and never saw each other's scores before the closing meeting. We keep the average of the three.

1

First inspector

Visit 1

2

Second inspector

Visit 2 · a different day

3

Third inspector

Visit 3 · a different profile

= 1

Final result

The average of the three visits

What is assessed

From the welcome to the last sip.

More than 50 criteria, more than 70 with food. Each one is scored from 0 to 5, and the ones that matter most count double or triple.

01Welcome & atmosphere
02Coffee menu & guidance
03Espresso
04Flat white
05Signature drink or filter coffee
06Environment & hygiene
07Inspector's overall experience
+Food offer (Coffee Shop & Food only)

The calculation

Two scores. Both have to be high enough.

We average the three visits and look at two numbers: the coffee score, and the total score, which adds the food section for Coffee Shop & Food. A beautiful room can't make up for a weak cup.

Where the points come from 352 points for a Coffee Shop

249 Coffee
68 Environment & hygiene
25 Arrival & atmosphere
10 Inspector's overall experience
+101 Food, for Coffee Shop & Food (453 in total)

Distinction	Coffee score	Total score
1 Golden Cup	60% or more	65 to 79%
2 Golden Cups	75% or more	79 to 91%79 to 92% with food
3 Golden Cups	88% or more	91.2% or more92.1% or more with food

For three cups, the espresso on its own has to score above 75%. Miss the espresso and the top level is out of reach.

A few basic barista checks on the espresso and the flat white also have to be passed.

The calendar

From the first visit to the results.

Before 15 April
Selection
59 specialty coffee shops in Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Paris.
15 April to 30 September
The visits
177 incognito visits by 12 inspectors, three per coffee shop.
October
Deliberation
The panel cross-checks every report, score and photo.
6 November, 21:00
The results
Published here, city by city.

The distinctions

One, two or three cups.

1 Golden Cup

A very high level.

2 Golden Cups

Remarkable, worth a detour.

3 Golden Cups

Exceptional, worth the journey.

A shop has to meet all three

1
No disqualifying gesture. Six basic barista checks, on the espresso and the flat white. Three misses and the shop is out, whatever its score. One or two go to the inspectors' closing meeting.
2
A minimum coffee score. Welcome, menu and advice, espresso, flat white, environment and hygiene.
3
A minimum total score. The coffee section, plus the food section when the shop serves food.

Two categories

Coffee Shop

For places built around coffee: a careful coffee selection, espresso, filter and specialty drinks, and extraction that stays consistent.

Coffee Shop & Food

For places that serve a real food offer next to the coffee. We assess the food too, and how well it fits with the coffee.

Special trophies

Three trophies, on top of the cups.

The cups reward a coffee shop as a whole. The trophies single out one thing done better than anywhere else, across Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Paris. They come from the same three visits: no extra jury, no separate tasting.

Best Espresso
The highest score on the espresso section: the single shot itself, the cup, the crema, the balance, the aftertaste, and the barista's work at the machine.
Best Flat White
The highest score on the flat white with oat milk: milk texture, temperature, coffee and milk balance, latte art and the cup it comes in.
Best Welcome & Experience
The welcome on arrival, combined with each inspector's overall impression of the visit. The trophy for the place you most want to go back to.

Every score is the average of the three inspectors. Only coffee shops holding a Golden Cup distinction can win one. If two shops tie, the higher overall score decides.

The results

Revealed city by city on 6 November.

From 6 November at 21:00, the distinguished coffee shops will be listed here, city by city. There's no ranking, only distinctions. Each address is assessed on its own, so two shops with the same name can receive different distinctions.

Special trophies

Three trophies, across all four cities.

Beyond the cups, three trophies go to the coffee shops with the highest scores on a single part of the visit, averaged over the three inspectors. How the trophies are decided.

An initiative of Brussels Coffee Show

With the support of

An initiative of Brussels Coffee Show

With the support of

An initiative of Brussels Coffee Show

With the support of

Insights

What 177 visits told us.

Twelve inspectors, 59 coffee shops, 531 drinks ordered and noted. Beyond the distinctions, the visits say a lot about how specialty coffee is served today. Here is what we saw, without naming anyone.

First figures

A few questions, answered one by one.

We publish a new answer here every few days until 6 November. The full picture, city by city, follows after the results.

Figures based on 177 incognito visits to 59 coffee shops in Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Paris, between 15 April and 30 September 2026.

After the results

The full picture, city by city.

On 6 November, once the distinctions are out, this page opens up: what separates the best, how consistent coffee shops really are, and how Brussels, Antwerp, Amsterdam and Paris compare.

Next: Golden Cup 2028

This is the first edition. The next one starts in February.

Visits from February 2027

More than 100 coffee shops, three incognito inspectors each, the same method as this first edition. Coffee shops still can't apply: the inspectors decide where they go.

New cities

More cities in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, and new countries too. We're looking at places like Copenhagen and London.

The first printed guide

The 2028 results come with the first Golden Cup guide in print: every distinguished coffee shop, city by city, for people who plan their trips around a good cup.

An initiative of

Brussels Coffee Show

With the support of

Partners don't see any evaluation, score or result before the announcement, and no partnership can change a distinction.

Partnership enquiries

Get involved

The Golden Cup is just starting.

A first edition, four cities, and plenty still to build. If you want to support it, write about it, inspect for it or point us to a great coffee shop, this is where to start.

Partners

Become a partner

The 2028 edition covers more than 100 coffee shops in more cities, and comes with the first printed guide. Partners can give their name to a trophy, appear on every results page and receive the full Insights report for professionals: what owners, future owners and suppliers can learn from the visits. They never see a score before the announcement, and no partnership changes a distinction.

Request the partner deck →

Press

Key figures, logos, photos and the people behind the Golden Cup. Results stay under embargo until 6 November at 21:00. After that, every distinguished coffee shop and every trophy is yours to cover.

Ask for the press kit →

Inspectors

Become an inspector

Baristas, roasters, trainers and serious coffee drinkers. Our inspectors visit anonymously, order the same three drinks everywhere and follow a strict brief. Visits for the 2028 edition start in February 2027, and we need people in new cities.

Apply to inspect →

Suggestions

Suggest a coffee shop

Coffee shops can't apply, but you can tell us where you would send a friend. Every suggestion is read before the 2028 selection, in the four cities and beyond.

Suggest a coffee shop →

Or write to us directly: hello@goldencup.coffee

Privacy

Your data, kept short.

We collect very little, and only to tell you about the Golden Cup. Here is all of it.

Who we are

Golden Cup, based in Brussels, Belgium. For anything about your data, write to hello@goldencup.coffee.

What we collect

Your email address, when you sign up to hear about the results. Nothing else is asked, and you don't need an account to use the site.

If you accept cookies, Google Analytics counts which pages are read, roughly where visitors come from and what device they use. It doesn't tell us who you are.

To stop spam, the server keeps a scrambled trace of your IP address for ten minutes after a sign-up, then deletes it.

What we do with it

We send you the results when they go live, and a few emails a year about the Golden Cup. Brevo tells us whether an email was opened and which links were clicked, so we know what interests you. We don't sell your address or share it with partners.

Analytics show us which pages work and which don't. That's all we use them for.

Who handles it

Emails are sent with Brevo, a French company whose servers are in the European Union. The site is hosted by OVHcloud, in France. Analytics are provided by Google, which may process data outside the EU under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which means your browser contacts Google's servers. The maps of the coffee shops come from Google Maps and only load if you accept cookies or click Show the map.

How long we keep it

Your email address stays until you unsubscribe. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link, and your address is removed from our list. Google keeps analytics data for 14 months at most.

Cookies

Google Analytics cookies are only set if you click Accept on the cookie banner. If you refuse, nothing is set and the site works exactly the same. We use no advertising cookies.

Your rights

You can ask to see, correct or delete your data at any time by writing to hello@goldencup.coffee. If you think we got something wrong, you can also contact the Belgian Data Protection Authority (dataprotectionauthority.be).

Last updated: October 2026

How the first edition works.

How a Golden Cup is earned.

Every inspector orders the same three drinks.

Single-shot espresso

Flat white with oat milk

A filter coffee or the signature drink

The small things say a lot.

Every coffee shop was visited by three different inspectors.

First inspector

Second inspector

Third inspector

Final result

From the welcome to the last sip.

Two scores. Both have to be high enough.

From the first visit to the results.

Selection

The visits

Deliberation

The results

One, two or three cups.

1 Golden Cup

2 Golden Cups

3 Golden Cups

A shop has to meet all three

Two categories

Coffee Shop

Coffee Shop & Food

Three trophies, on top of the cups.

Best Espresso

Best Flat White

Best Welcome & Experience

Revealed city by city on 6 November.

Three trophies, across all four cities.

What 177 visits told us.

A few questions, answered one by one.

The full picture, city by city.

This is the first edition. The next one starts in February.

Visits from February 2027

New cities

The first printed guide

The Golden Cup is just starting.

Become a partner

Press

Become an inspector

Suggest a coffee shop

Your data, kept short.

Who we are

What we collect

What we do with it

Who handles it

How long we keep it

Cookies

Your rights

Be the first to know.Stay in the loop.

Be the first to know.