Singapore’s Apartment Coffee ranks sixth on World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list
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Apartment Coffee's (from left) founder Yeo Qing He, studio manager Agnes Cheu and head of coffee Ashley Chan. The coffee studio is the only Singapore coffee shop to make the Top 100 list this year.
PHOTO: APARTMENTCOFFEE/INSTAGRAM
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SINGAPORE – Apartment Coffee, a local coffee studio and roastery, has been named Asia’s best coffee shop and clinched sixth place globally on the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops 2025 list.
The inaugural ranking was determined by a panel of international experts and over 60,000 public votes, according to an Instagram post by Apartment Coffee on Feb 22. The Instagram account for the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops posted the results on Feb 20.
The home-grown joint wrote: “As a small independent coffee studio, we are beyond proud to be recognised for the work that we do, as well as to put Singapore on the map alongside some of the best coffee shops in the world.”
Toby’s Estate Coffee Roasters in Sydney, Australia, took first place, while Onyx Coffee Lab in the United States secured the second spot.
Three coffee shops from Malaysia also made the list: Story Of Ono (No. 9), Ome By Spacebar Coffee (No. 56) and Sin See Tai (No. 73).
The list was first announced during CoffeeFest Madrid, an international coffee exhibition and summit which took place in Spain from Feb 15 to 17.
Mr Yeo Qing He, 34, the Singaporean founder of Apartment Coffee, told The Straits Times that the team was invited as guests to the event alongside the coffee shops in the top 100 list. He added: “We honestly did not have many expectations when we went to Madrid for the official gala, but we couldn’t be more proud of the hard work of the team.”
Founded in 2018 and located at 139 Selegie Road, Apartment Coffee is the only Singapore coffee shop to make the Top 100 list.
This accolade comes after the studio made waves locally, finishing second at the 2022 Singapore National Brewers Cup and clinching the Singapore Roasters Forum Champion title in 2019.
When asked what gave Apartment Coffee an edge over other local coffee shops, Mr Yeo said the details of the coffee menu; the shape, material, weight and colour of the drinking vessels; as well as the hospitality and design of the space were carefully considered to highlight the coffee experience.
“This focus on experience is also why we don’t do takeaways at our coffee studio,” he added.
“We believe there are also plenty of other exceptional coffee shops in Singapore and we hope that they will also be recognised for their work.”
