A man prepares coffee in a cafe in Paris. It is famous for its sidewalk cafes, but Paris has lagged behind other cities as a destination for drinkers of fine coffee, until now. Francois Guillot / Agence France-Presse

PARIS - It's famous for its sun-kissed sidewalk cafes, but Paris has lagged well behind New York, London and Sydney as a destination for connoisseurs of fine coffee - until now.

Gourmet coffee bars and small-batch roasteries are popping up in the French capital, introducing locals to thick rich espressos, artful lattes and the idea that a cup of Joe can be savored like fine wine.

"Coffee is a big part of the culture" in Paris, said Tom Clark, co-owner of the Coutume Cafe, which recently became the city's newest coffee bar and specialty roaster when it opened its doors on the Left Bank.

"It's just that it's not been respected ... It is a living product. It has to be handled with care."

Driving the trend is an entrepreneurial network of young expats like Clark, an Australian living in France for three years who grew up on artisanal coffee, and well-traveled French contemporaries like his business partner Antoine Netien, a champion roaster in Melbourne before his return home.

"Before I went to Australia, I was drinking coffee with no idea how it was made," said French bartender-turned-barista Thomas Lehoux, who now mans the coffee machine at Eggs&Co, a hip Left Bank brunch spot.

"Most French people don't have any idea that coffee can be like wine."

Take an espresso, for instance.

Unlike the Italian original, "un petit cafe" is typically made with cheaper, lower-grade Robusta beans that are not always fresh or perfectly roasted, and with little if any attention given to the coffee machine behind the counter.

The result is often a thinner, less flavorful brew which, coffee aficionados say, leaves something to be desired. "Most of it tastes like cat piss," said barista and art student Britney Bachmann, from Canada.

David Flynn, an American who honed his barista skills in Washington, attributes this state of affairs in part to the fact that, in Paris, a cup of coffee entitles customers to linger at a cafe for as long as they wish.

"The majority of people take coffee after a meal, or because it's the cheapest thing on the menu and they want to sit outside," said Flynn, who brews shots at Le Bal, a Right Bank art gallery and coffee bar.

If the Parisian coffee revolution has a birthplace, fans agree it is the Cafeotheque, a cozy hole-in-the-wall by the River Seine, founded two years ago by Gloria Montenegro de Chirouze, a former Guatemalan ambassador to France.

Patrons weave their way past a shining brass roasting machine and stacks of burlap bags full of aromatic beans from Africa, Central America and South America to reach the tasting bar and salon at the rear.

The Cafeotheque trains baristas, too, with 30 hours of professional-level tuition available for 1,200 euros ($1,700) for those who desire a career in coffee.

Taking coffee culture to the next level, Flynn and Lehoux last year founded a monthly coffee-tasting where baristas also compete to create the most delicate designs in latte foam.

The venue changes every month, but the coveted prize remains the same - a white cup with a frog on top, donated by an Australian artist.

Agence France-Presse