The short answer
Marrakech drinks mint tea first, but coffee has its places. Order a nus-nus, half coffee and half milk, at Cafe Les Negociants in Gueliz, open since 1936. Bacha Coffee in the old Dar El Bacha palace offers more than 200 Arabica coffees. Blue Ribbon and Mazel Café serve specialty coffee, and Azalai offers plant-based milks.
In more detail
The local order is nus-nus, which means half and half: a coffee cut with milk, served in a glass. Cafe Les Negociants, the oldest café in Gueliz, has an art deco hall, black-vested waiters and a terrace facing the tourism office on Avenue Mohammed V, where regulars still order it.
In the medina, Bacha Coffee occupies a wing of Dar El Bacha, the former Pasha's palace. Founded in 1910, it offers over 200 Arabica coffees from 35 countries, and has a glass-roofed courtyard and a light lunch menu. Mazel Café on Place des Ferblantiers in the Mellah pairs a specialty coffee counter with falafel and salads.
Gueliz has the widest choice. Blue Ribbon, a bakery and coffee counter in a renovated art deco arcade, serves 100% Arabica coffee with produce from its founders' own permaculture farm. Azalai Urban Souk makes coffee with plant-based milks. Cactus Cafe stays busy with local regulars for breakfast, crêpes and fast wifi, and Café Lobo in the Carré Eden mall does juices and coffee all day. In Hivernage, Cappuccino on Avenue Echouhada is a long-standing terrace for coffee.