RR Recommended: Rahul Reddy's Favourite Coffee Places From Around The World

This August Robb Report India is turning the spotlight on the people and stories putting India firmly on the global map. Few names do this quite as convincingly as Rahul Reddy, the founder of Subko Coffee Roasters.

Subko began life in Mumbai in 2020, built around a rather lovely piece of wordplay. In Hindi, "Subko" translates loosely as "for everyone," but the name is in fact shorthand for "subcontinent," a nod to Reddy's ambition of creating a genuinely South Asian specialty coffee movement that could hold its own on the world stage. Reddy, who grew up in the United States and later worked as a development economist in Europe, returned to India determined to reframe the subcontinent's culinary identity for a new generation, much as chai and yoga have long been recognised internationally. What started as a single coffee-and-bread counter in Bandra has since grown into a multi-city specialty coffee and craft bakery brand with Subko Cacao chocolates following in 2023 and an outpost now open in Bengaluru, backed by investors including Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath.

Given how seriously Subko takes coffee at home, we were curious to know where its founder heads when he is travelling abroad. So we asked Rahul Reddy to name a handful of his favourite coffee destinations from around the world and here is what he told us.

The Barn, Berlin

Founded in 2010 by Ralf Rüller in Mitte, The Barn has grown into one of Europe's most respected craft-coffee institutions, now with more than a dozen outposts across Berlin. It is known for a light, Nordic-inspired roasting style, syrup-free cafés and an uncompromising focus on single-origin beans. The team works directly with farmers, paying premium prices to secure long-term relationships, and prints the name of the specific grower on every bag for full traceability. Beans typically come from Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya and Costa Rica and each batch is graded on an exacting eighty-six-point scoring system covering body, acidity, clarity and flavour.

Motors Coffee, Paris

Housed in a former travel agency, Motors Coffee is a compact, industrial-sleek space with a small amount of outdoor seating that would not look out of place in London or New York. Regulars return for the quality of the coffee itself which is expertly pulled espresso shots, impeccably served flat whites and a rotating selection sourced from some of the best roasters in the world, alongside special, higher-end pours for the more discerning drinker. The menu also runs to cold brew, espresso tonics and dirty chai, while the kitchen turns out its own cakes and cookies, plus an excellent Basque cheesecake and partners with Boneshaker for what are widely considered the city's best doughnuts.

Allpress Espresso, London

Allpress Espresso is one of London's best-known specialty roasters, distinguished by its signature hot-air roasting method and its role in popularising New Zealand-style flat whites across the UK's independent coffee scene. Its flagship Dalston Roastery, set inside a restored joiner's workshop, brings together a working roastery, a barista training academy and a community café under one airy, industrial roof with a further outpost in Farringdon.

THREE Coffee, Dubai

Founded in 2019 and based in Al Quoz, THREE Coffee is an award-winning specialty roastery built on ethical, direct-trade sourcing. Its most distinctive feature is a colour-tier system that sorts beans by flavour profile which is green for vibrant, floral notes; purple for berry and aromatic character; and brown for chocolatey, spiced cups. The roastery is also known for experimental, "funky" fruit-forward micro-lots produced through anaerobic fermentation and for maintaining direct partnerships with farmers across Africa, Central and South America, and Asia to ensure fair pricing throughout the value chain.

The Espresso Lab, Dubai

This is also based in Al Quoz, The Espresso Lab takes purism to another level as it is built around ownership of its own farm, Finca Rasha, in Volcán, Panama, which allows for complete traceability from seed to cup. The team regularly bids at prestigious international auctions such as Best of Panama to bring rare micro-lots to the UAE and roasts everything in-house, tailoring precise profiles to each origin. True to its philosophy, sugar is deliberately withheld so customers taste the coffee's natural character and the open, stone-built counters are designed to let visitors watch the extraction process up close.