Substance Café — Restaurant in Paris

My brother in law and I were in town from the United States. We travel the world for coffee. Been to top roasters throughout Japan, London, Paris, Spain, USA, Colombia etc. We had heard about Joaqim’s shop through multiple websites and references. We were excited to spend time with him and blocked off 2 hours of our vacation to be in his shop on our last day of our 4 day trip. We arrived to door signage that said reservation only. When we booked our trip this was not on his website or Instagram. No website mentioned this. No other coffee roaster mentioned this we arrived and told our story. Multiple seats open. He would not let us sit down and enjoy an experience that we had traveled specifically for, and carved out time for. We left our wives halfway across town just to get to him. When we said we could come back later, he still would not accommodate us. It was the last day of our trip, and he has reservations open every single day so clearly there is not much demand. He is extremely snooty and stuck up, and this is not the way to treat people in the coffee community. As we left, he made a comment to the other patrons and they all had a laugh. I almost turned around and told him what the community thinks of him, which is that he’s a weird try-hard, and his coffee sucks. He thinks highly of himself, but he’s a joke in the coffee community. We heard he tries to be like a Michelin star chef for coffee. He is an impostor. Having been to many of the worlds top restaurants, they would not treat potential customers this way. Miki at Cocoon would not treat customers this way. Honestly no one should visit his place that looks like a small IKEA and is in a dirty alleyway with garbage trucks. This place is as garbage as the address, and he is a classless small d* wannabe. Don’t give this guy Joaqim any business. Go to Motors Coffee instead- Lovely people happy to have a great coffee convo and specialty experimental beans with a great team. Cheers Joaqim! M&M Response- You were so busy- the place was half empty and you wouldn’t let us sit. You have reservations open every day next week. No lies, all of what is said is true- when we booked you didn’t take reservs. It’s a fact you didn’t used to, so stop lying yourself. You should honor people who made effort to visit without knowing, not laugh and make laughing emojis. Also you just proved all my points with your whole response, which took you minutes to respond to. We tell you we left our wives for this, on our vacation, and you laugh and then laugh in a review. It’s a bad review, get some thick skin, deal w it, and do better. Maybe look up the definition of empathy. Hope other...

Substance is not your average coffee shop — it’s a full sensory coffee experience that you need to book in advance, usually about a week before, as they don’t allow walk-ins. And honestly, that exclusivity sets the tone for what turns out to be one of the most thoughtful and carefully curated coffee experiences I’ve ever had.

The barista is a true expert. He personally visits the farms where he sources his green beans, builds his own brewing water to achieve ideal mineral ratios, and roasts incredibly light to let the beans’ natural flavour and aroma shine. Even the glassware is chosen to complement the specific coffee being served — for example, enhancing the acidity in the pour over by using glasses with the right shape. Every element has intention behind it.

The experience isn’t cheap, but it’s worth every cent. The coffee of the day usually costs between €7 and €10, and more rare, competition-level beans are €20+. But you’re not just paying for coffee — you’re paying for technique, transparency, and flavour that rivals what you’d expect at a high-end wine tasting.

We tried their Badaye Ethiopian beans as a pour over, an espresso, and a macchiato with freeze-distilled milk. The pour over was incredibly complex but also so easy to drink — the kind of coffee you could sip for hours. The espresso was like a condensed version of the same profile: just as complex, but more intense and powerful. And the macchiato was something else entirely. If you enjoy milk-based drinks, it’s a must. The freeze-distilled milk adds a new dimension — it’s a process where milk is chilled until ice crystals form and are then removed, concentrating the sugars and proteins. This gives it a naturally sweet, velvety texture without needing any additives, and it’s a technique often used by competition baristas for good reason.

They also sell their beans, ranging from about €20 to €60+ for a 200g bag. We took home their Mulish beans and have absolutely loved brewing it at home both as pour over and espresso. But what really sets Substance apart is their transparency. Not only will the barista walk you through every step of the process in person — from farm to cup — but they also document their methods online, including detailed brew recipes, water formulas, and equipment used. It makes it easier to try and recreate that same experience at home, and it’s such a generous and rare thing in the coffee world.

Substance has quickly become one of the highlights of Paris for me — just as iconic as the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe. If you’re a coffee lover, it’s an...

My visit to Substance Cafe was one that I longed for, for a while now. I wanted to find the best place in Paris to explore new top notch coffee.

The experience that unfolded was severely unimpressive and border line insulting.

The quality of the coffee-making is undeniable, hence the 5 star rating for the product. The coffee was delicious and complex and met my expectations.

The thick of the issue was Joachim's service for many faults.

When you enjoy a quality coffee, you expect to have indeed an explanation of the product and its main aromas but as someone who has worked many a year in luxury, do not tell the clients which exact flavours they should taste and then refuse them to tell you that they sense something else.

Everyone has a different way to enjoy or taste coffee that perhaps is not exactly what is written on the packaging that you sell.

The incessant talking at overwhelming pace and loudness made the experience impossible to actually enjoy.

When you serve filters or soft, well-rounded and sweet coffee, please allow the clients a good moment to enjoy it without interrupting at them every sip unnecessarily.

When you boast from the beginning that you will be attempting to get as close as possible to their taste and the client informs you that this coffee was too light and wishes something more coarse/powerful, absolutely do not laugh at them and try to humiliate them by screaming "now that's something that is completely wrong and of bad taste".

I could not care less what your tastes in coffee are. When a client that pays quite a penny explains their wishes in simple words, it should be your ambition to meet that expectation, rather than to straight up turn it into ridicule.

This entire interaction plainly spoiled the experience and I find your tone and undue familiarity next to indecent.

Great coffee,...