ÖSS Kaffe

ÖSS Kaffe is one of the most committed brew bars in South America. Architect and scenographer Fernando Iglesias Molli first encountered specialty coffee on a business trip to Oslo and came back to Buenos Aires with a vision: recreate that Nordic obsession with method and craft in his own neighbourhood. He took the family home's 20-square-metre garage in Bajo Belgrano and turned it into a 10-seat coffee bar.

The menu is the giveaway. Almost no other room in the city offers Chemex, V60, AeroPress, Clever, Siphon, Cold Drip and French Press together — at ÖSS, the entire manual-brewing canon is on the wall, and the staff are trained to walk you through each. The beans come from Puerto Blest, a serious Argentine importer, and lean toward the low-acid, full-bodied profiles of Brazil and Peru. Food is simple and family-made: pão de queijo, sourdough toast, cocadas — there to complement the coffee, never to lead it.

The space itself is tiny and Nordic-minimal. There's no restroom, all seating is on the sidewalk, and the street is quiet — which is part of the appeal. ÖSS hosts regular tastings and classes, and the room functions almost as much as a community lab for the BA specialty scene as it does a café. It's not a place to plan around. It's a place to make a pilgrimage to.