At the beginning of Hilary, I set myself two goals: turn all my essays in on time and visit every coffee shop in Oxford. Although I didn’t quite achieve the former, the latter, which I had assumed would take me at least through Trinity to complete, was exceedingly — perhaps embarrassingly — successful. By Friday of Week Seven, I could truthfully boast: I have been to every single coffee shop in Oxford.

This article is the result of seven weeks of americanos, flat whites, and asking for the Wi-Fi password. My ranking was determined by the taste of coffee, conduciveness to working, and, to a lesser extent, atmosphere. I excluded coffee shops in Cowley, Summertown, and other suburbs away from the city centre; if a place serves coffee but is not obviously a coffee shop, I included it only if it’s a viable study spot; and I omitted chains. Don’t take this ranking too seriously, especially if your favourite spot is ranked low: there’s a reason to go to each and every coffee shop in Oxford, and I find myself at several of the lower-ranked spots frequently. Sometimes, the “taste of coffee” is not what matters most.

1: Jericho Coffee Traders

One of the smallest, busiest, and best coffee shops in Oxford is Jericho Coffee Traders, located in the middle of High Street. However, it’s nearly impossible to find seating, so it is unfortunately not a good place to study. Despite this, I ranked it #1 for one simple reason: Jericho Coffee Traders has the best coffee in Oxford.

2: Tree Artisan Café

Unlike Jericho Coffee Traders, this spot is actually in Jericho. Although known more for its incredible latte art, Tree Artisan Café also has outstanding coffee. It’s also great for working, with two reservations: it is common for every seat to be taken, and half of their tables have laptop-free signs.

3: Colombia Coffee Roasters

There is little separating #2 and #3 on this list: similarly high-quality coffee, similarly impressive latte art, and a similarly good but flawed work environment. Although it’s easier to find a free table at Colombia Coffee Roasters, the tables are not inside the coffee shop itself, so working here means working in the middle of the Covered Market. While some may have no issue with that, I find it is not conducive to a lengthy study session.

4: Maya’s Stores Oxford

Although small and in Westgate, Maya’s Stores Oxford is surprisingly good for working. It’s not too busy, and more importantly, the coffee is excellent, though not quite on par with the first three.

5: Edge Coffee Jericho

Also known as 101 Coffee, Edge Coffee Jericho is good (but not exceptional) for working, has good coffee, and arguably has the best vibes in Oxford.

6: Brew

Brew has very high-quality coffee and usually multiple open (though not the most comfortable) seats, but it’s unusually expensive for Oxford, and it does not have mugs—only to-go cups.

7: The Paper Boat Café

This coffee shop is genuinely lovely: it’s situated on the river, it’s good for working, and the coffee is pretty good. However, I would argue that this is the first coffee shop on the list in which the coffee is not “great.” The first six all have relatively comparable high-quality coffee; from this spot onwards, there is a noticeable downturn in the actual taste of espresso.

8: Coffeesmith Oxford

The coffee is good, but not outstanding. It has a lot of seating and is relatively quiet; there’s just nothing special about it.

9: Missing Bean Turl St

Once again, the coffee here is good but noticeably inferior to Oxford’s best. It can be a wonderful spot to work, with a few qualifications: it’s hard to find a seat, it’s loud and busy, and it has the type of environment that can make you feel bad about staying too long.

10: CAMELIA

CAMELIA, the newest spot on the list, is ranked highly more due to its work environment than its coffee. It’s spacious and cosy, and there’s a sign outside inviting people to stay and work. The coffee still tastes good; it’s just not great.

11: Saint Clair Valentine Patisserie

Although it is more of a bakery than a coffee shop, this place is awesome for working and is therefore included. In my opinion, it’s also the cutest spot—the combination of mugs and decor is delightful. The actual coffee is certainly not bad, but it’s also not amazing.

12: Theo’s Café

This is the first of several coffee shops on the list with two shared characteristics: substandard coffee and an upstairs or downstairs area that’s incredible for studying in. Theo’s Café has a downstairs room that is entirely dedicated to people doing work, and the coffee isn’t terrible.

13: Opera Café

Opera Café is really cute inside, and the atmosphere in general is warm. The coffee is sufficient, and there’s both a secluded patio and a downstairs area great for doing work—it gets busy, but there’s always a seat.

13: New Ground Coffee Oxford

Just like Theo’s Café and Opera Café, New Ground has okay coffee, a downstairs area, and an advantageous environment for studying; however, it is busy enough that it’s possible to not find a seat, and the atmosphere is oddly off-putting.

14: Gulp Fiction

Like Colombia Coffee Roasters, Gulp Fiction is located inside the Covered Market. While the seats are in the actual shop, it’s still not amazing for working for lengthy periods because—and this is also what makes Gulp Fiction unique and worth visiting—it’s also a bookshop, so it gets a lot of foot traffic. The coffee is okay.

15: The Independent Café

The coffee here isn’t great, but it’s an excellent study spot with many seats, though it’s often so packed that there’s no free table. If you sit by the window, you’ll get a lovely view of Christ Church.

16: Artisan Café

Although Artisan Café is small, its decor and general atmosphere are very charming. If you can find a seat, it can be good for working, but the limited number of tables and the fact that it’s a food-centred shop means it’s not the kind of place to stay for a while. The coffee is mediocre, but not bad by any means.

17: Horsebox Coffee Co

This is an entirely outdoor spot operating out of a permanent cart, though there are a few tables and chairs nearby for customers. The coffee is decent; this spot probably has better coffee than several of the spots ranked higher, but the seating situation dissuaded me from ranking it higher.

18: The Coffee Guild

The coffee here is just fine, but as a study spot it’s more than satisfactory. It has a separate downstairs area that you could truly stay in for hours. It’s also geared towards groups playing board games, so be warned that it’s often noisy.

19: Society Café

The coffee is okay, but it’s relatively good for working, especially because it has a downstairs area. It’s one of Oxford’s most popular coffee shops, so it can be hard to find a seat, and it’s usually loud.

20: Barefoot / Barefoot Jericho

Both locations have adequate coffee and are good for working. If you can find a seat, the original North Parade location is a more ideal study spot, but, in my opinion—though there’s no logical reason for this to be true—the Jericho location has slightly better coffee.

21: Vaults & Garden

This is a spot strongly geared towards food, but it still serves decent coffee. The downstairs area tends to be empty, making it in most circumstances a suitable study location—but it does have a no-laptop policy from 12:00 to 2:00.

22: The Jericho Café

Like Vaults & Garden, this spot is more of a restaurant. The coffee here isn’t great, but it’s acceptable. It can be a good study spot, especially because of the spacious downstairs area, but the environment makes it uncomfortable to stay long, and it’s laptop-free on the weekends.

23: Art Café

Art Café, another spot primarily for food, also has a no-laptop policy during lunchtime. Otherwise, working is possible, but the environment is not conducive to studying. The coffee is fine.

24: Fantastea

Despite the name, Fantastea is also a coffee shop. It’s a good place to work since it has many empty seats and it’s quiet. The coffee, however, leaves much to be desired.

25: The Rose Oxford

It’s empty enough that it’s a comfortable place to take out a laptop, and it’s cosy inside. The coffee, once again, is fine.

26: @Café 108

The coffee is not bad, but it’s not a great study spot for a fairly unique reason: the shop is so empty at all times that it’s intimidating to stay there for too long.

27: Il Botanico

Il Botanico is more of a bakery than a coffee shop. All the seating is upstairs, and it’s an awesome study spot. By contrast, this is the first spot on the list that I consider to have genuinely bad coffee.

28: Queen’s Lane Coffee House

Queen’s Lane is a cool coffee shop to visit: the atmosphere itself is pleasant, but more importantly, it claims to be the longest continuously serving coffee house in Europe…though it only appeared on High Street in 1970. Disappointingly, the coffee itself is pretty terrible. It’s not a bad spot for working, but it isn’t suited for a long study session.

29: Endorphins Dessert Café

Of every coffee shop on the list, I would argue that this is the best study spot; it has a spacious and largely empty upstairs section. Unfortunately, the coffee itself is horrendous.

30: The Ashmolean Café

A wonderful study spot! It has many tables, it’s quiet, and there’s something special about getting work done in a museum. The coffee, however, can only be described as vile.

31: The Golden Cup

The Golden Cup is an outside-only coffee shop. It does have mugs, as well as a large seating area, but because it’s on Oxford’s busiest street, studying here is not comfortable. Like the previous four spots, the coffee is, sadly, bad.