Guido Coffee is a Romanian specialty coffee roaster based in Bucharest that has combined roasting, retail, and coffee education from the very beginning. It was founded at a time when the Romanian specialty coffee scene was just taking shape, and it helped customers discover that coffee doesn’t have to be just bitter and heavy. Their approach is practical, easy to understand, and focused on flavor, so it appeals to both experienced coffee lovers and those who are just getting started with specialty coffee.
Behind Guido is Adrian Simion, who didn’t come to coffee through the traditional route of gastronomy. For a long time, he associated it mainly with bitterness, until an experience abroad showed him just how different high-quality coffee can taste. In 2014, he opened Guido in Bucharest together with Floriana Vlaicu, a prominent figure in the Romanian coffee scene who brought her experience from barista competitions and education to the project’s early days. The first location on Mihai Eminescu Street served as a roastery, a coffee and equipment shop, and a school where people learned to prepare and perceive coffee in a different way than before.
Guido’s philosophy is based on the careful selection of origins and the search for a profile that allows the natural character of each coffee to shine through. The team operates on the principle that a good result isn’t achieved solely through roasting, but throughout the entire chain—from the green bean, through post-roast resting, to proper preparation. In addition to the coffee itself, Guido has long been developing courses and support for both customers and professional establishments. Their goal is not to make coffee more complicated, but to show how much it can change when attention is paid to every step of the process.
Guido Coffee has earned respect not only through its roasting but also by being at the forefront of Romania’s specialty coffee scene from the very beginning. At the time the brand was founded, Floriana Vlaicu was already an experienced competitive barista, the Romanian champion in Coffee in Good Spirits, and a finalist in the world championship in that discipline. From its earliest years, Guido has thus combined entrepreneurial drive, competitive experience, and a commitment to educating customers in a country where the language of specialty coffee was still taking shape. It is precisely this combination that makes it one of the most important brands in Bucharest’s coffee culture.