espresso-mcp

An MCP server that finds great espresso cafes — and codifies what makes them great.

espresso-mcp is a Model Context Protocol server you can plug into Claude Desktop, Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Cursor, Hermes, OpenClaw, and any other standard MCP host. It ships with a curated database of 100+ specialty-coffee shops, 75+ specialty roasters, and a transparent scoring algorithm that captures why a shop is good — sourcing, freshness, equipment, training — and why a shop is bad (the heaviest negative signal: menus dominated by flavored syrups).

It is not a Yelp clone. The data is hand-curated, the scoring is explicit, and the philosophy is "if it's covering bad coffee with flavors, we don't want it."

The bias

espresso-mcp has an opinion. Shops that hide bad coffee behind flavored syrups are the failure pattern this tool is designed to filter out. The scoring algorithm gives syrup_emphasis the heaviest non-disqualifying penalty (−22) — heavier than any single positive signal. Mass-market chains (Starbucks, Dunkin', Costa, Tim Hortons, Peet's, Caribou) and "looks third-wave but tastes flavored" shops (the algorithm's flavor-led-specialty category) score in avoid or fair tier regardless of how good the signage looks.

Positive credit goes to the signals great shops actually invest in:

• In-house roasting, or named-partner sourcing from a known specialty roaster
• Single-origin espresso (not just blends)
• Roast date on retail bags (peak-freshness commitment)
• Espresso + pour-over both offered — the "complete program"
• Cortado on the menu — a confidence proxy; shops avoid small milk drinks when their espresso can't hold up
• Competition involvement / SCA-certified staff
• Equipment from the third-wave shortlist (Slayer, La Marzocco, Synesso, Decent, Victoria Arduino, Modbar)
• Recognition from authoritative rankings (World's 100 Best, SCA championships, Coffee Review 95+, Good Food Awards)

Every signal is documented at src/scoring/weights.ts and surfaced to clients via the score breakdown on every result — you can see exactly why a cafe is recommended.

See it in action

You: I'm near Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. Find me 3 great espresso cafes 
     within walking distance.

Claude: [resolves Brandenburg Gate → 52.5163, 13.3777]
        [calls find_espresso_near with radius_km=2]

  Found 3 specialty cafes within 2km of Brandenburg Gate, sorted by quality:

  • The Barn (Mitte)         — 0.8km — score 95 (world-class) — World's #61
    In-house roastery, single-origin focus, "never blends beans." Founded 
    2010, one of Europe's leading third-wave roasters.

  • Companion Coffee (Mitte) — 1.1km — score 83 (great)
    Curated multi-roaster with rotating guest beans. Tea + coffee crossover 
    in a quiet Mitte design space.

  • Westberlin (Mitte)       — 1.3km — score 82 (great)
    Iconic third-wave anchor since ~2010. Magazine + coffee concept; pours 
    The Barn and rotating European roasters.

What it does

Once installed in your MCP client, you can ask things like:

• "I'm at the Hotel Adlon Berlin — find me great espresso within walking distance."
• "I'm staying near the Brandenburg Gate. Recommend 3 cafes and rank by quality."
• "Search for cafes in Tokyo scoring above 80."
• "Tell me about Tim Wendelboe."
• "Score this cafe — they have a Slayer, in-house roasting, single-origin espresso, and no flavored syrups."
• "What are the world-class roasters in Denmark?"
• "What should I avoid in Chicago? Show me an anti-pattern example."

The model gets a structured score with reasoning, distance, awards, and per-signal contributions — enough to give you an honest recommendation rather than a popularity list.

Quick install

Recommendation: use @latest while the project is iterating

While we're still adding cafes and refining the algorithm, pin to the live npm tip:

"args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]

Once the data and scoring stabilize, you can drop @latest and pin a specific version for reproducibility.

Per-client configuration

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows). If the file doesn't exist, create it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "espresso": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The 🔌 menu should show 6 tools under "espresso."

Claude.ai (Browser MCP)

Claude.ai's web app supports MCP servers via OAuth and remote endpoints. For local installation, use Claude Desktop instead (above). To expose espresso-mcp to Claude.ai as a remote server, wrap it with mcp-remote (see the ChatGPT section below — same approach).

ChatGPT

⚠ Important: ChatGPT only supports remote MCP servers (HTTPS endpoints), not local stdio processes. You have two options:

Option 1: Use the hosted version (when available). If we publish a hosted endpoint we'll list it here.

Option 2: Bridge espresso-mcp to HTTPS via mcp-remote. Run a small bridge on a machine you control:

npx -y mcp-remote bridge espresso-mcp \
  --port 8080 \
  --token "your-shared-secret"

Then expose port 8080 via a tunnel (Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale Funnel, or a small VPS) and use the resulting HTTPS URL.

Enabling MCP in ChatGPT (Plus / Pro / Team / Enterprise plans only):

1. Settings → Connectors → Advanced → toggle Developer mode on.
2. Add a custom connector pointing at your bridge URL.

OpenAI's MCP docs have the latest connector setup.

Google Gemini CLI

Edit ~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "espresso": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Gemini CLI. It will auto-connect at startup and show "Connected" if successful. See Gemini CLI MCP docs for the full reference.

Hermes (Nous Research)

Hermes uses YAML, not JSON. Edit ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

mcp_servers:
  espresso:
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]

Optional: filter to just the tools you want exposed:

mcp_servers:
  espresso:
    command: "npx"
    args: ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
    tools:
      include: [find_espresso_near, search_cafes, score_cafe]

Restart Hermes — it auto-discovers MCP tools at startup. See Hermes MCP docs.

OpenClaw

OpenClaw uses standard stdio MCP config. Install OpenClaw if you haven't:

curl -fsSL https://openclaw.ai/install.sh | bash
# or: npm install -g openclaw@latest

Then add to your OpenClaw config (typically ~/.openclaw/config.json — check OpenClaw MCP docs for the current location):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "espresso": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "espresso": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code

VS Code uses a dedicated mcp.json file (not settings.json). For workspace-scoped config, create .vscode/mcp.json. For user-wide, run the MCP: Open User Configuration command from the Command Palette.

{
  "servers": {
    "espresso": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

Note: VS Code uses the key servers (not mcpServers) — this is the most common copy-paste mistake when migrating configs from other clients.

Generic stdio client

For any MCP-compatible host that spawns local processes:

{
  "command": "npx",
  "args": ["-y", "espresso-mcp@latest"]
}

The server writes JSON-RPC to stdout and logs to stderr only — capture stderr if you want startup messages.

From source (development)

git clone https://github.com/mattgierhart/espresso-mcp
cd espresso-mcp
npm ci
npm run build

# Point your client at:
#   command: node
#   args:    ["/absolute/path/to/espresso-mcp/dist/index.js"]

Or run the MCP Inspector against the local build:

npm run inspect

Travel & address-based queries

The most common real-world question is "I'm at X, where should I get coffee?" Here's the pattern in practice.

Hotel-based recommendation

You: I'm staying at the Hotel Adlon Berlin. Find me 3 great espresso cafes nearby.

[Claude searches for the Adlon's coordinates: ~52.5163, 13.3795]
[Claude calls find_espresso_near with those lat/lon]
[Returns ranked Berlin cafes within walking distance]