Recommended coffe shops in Rio

certainly not in copacabana or ipanema

There's the rub... the thing is that coffee is thought of more of a get up and go, working day-type ritual, and not as much of a "go to the beach and relax" type thing. These are tourist areas inhabited by a lot of foreigners, Brazilians with second homes, and people who work elsewhere. That said, there are still plenty of great coffeeshops and in those neighborhoods: http://www.armazemdocafe.com.br/secoes/page/8/Nossas-Lojas

It's also worth pointing out that a lot of people drink their coffee at places that might look like outdoor bars as most of them also serve it (though generally not the gourmet stuff).

its been too hot to really drink coffee anyway.

Never! :D Anyway, it's actually gotten a bit nippy lately with a few chilly, rainy days. Of course, as soon as is dips below 20° C, the locals all start saying "Ai meu Deus!" and claiming they're about to freeze to death! Perfect coffee weather in any case...

I do see locals grabbing a quick cafe or cafezinho at the corner juice bar or store. Thats the ritual there. I haven't seen too many. And when I asked others about it, never got a response. Good to find out there is but.

20 degrees in winter....so cold. How do you guys cope with such cold temperatures? You must have to wear beanies and scarfs....

Found this old article (2007) on the Rio coffee scene. It confirms some posts here that the good stuff are exported.
NY Times article

That said, it also listed a few coffee options, which most have mentioned in their posts.

All movie theathers in Malaysia (where I am from) are very cold ... we are talking maybe 16deg on the AC thermostat :).
The only person wearing a sweater in our office building is an English expat :) That's our obsession with low AC temperatures.

Good article with some nice tips, going to check out Cafe Rubro tomorrow... Definitely from a while back though, sad to read about that past era when you could catch the tram up to ST and back down to the center.

"sad to read about that past era when you could catch the tram up to ST"-- oh enroute, hahaha. The NYT article quite correctly described the "bonde" (tram) as rickety, but it was hardly in "the good ol' days." It has been running quite regularly until just a couple of years ago when it derailed, killing several people, and exposing the outdated conditions that required an upgrade. The renovations to the street cars and the tracks are nearly completed and the tram will be back up and running "soon." And I say soon in the Brazilian sort of way. Which is to say: "Don't hold your breath, but it is coming..." Here is an article about the incident in 2011.

Soon....so possibly after the olympics? Or shall I not hold my breath on that either...

It should be up and running before the Olympics. That would be REALLY delayed. Ha - not impossible, but we hope for better. The neighborhood residents have been really inconvenienced by the shut down and there is pressure for the tram to get up and running ASAP. They are almost done fixing it, or at least that is what they keep telling us. It has only been nearly THREE YEARS! Ahhh -- Brazil....

The renovations to the street cars and the tracks are nearly completed

Depends on your definition of "nearly," but from what I'm looking at it's going to take quiiiiite a bit more oomph. There are promises of later this year, but it seems pretty unlikely. Several streets are currently torn up and in limbo. There are a couple busses that go up (007, 006, 014) but they're hardly convenient. Taxi drivers usually hate making the trip!

On a lighter note, just last night they finally finished painting the Lapa arches white. It looks pretty striking actually, but with the rains some parts already got streaked... the bit they saved for last was the one arch that people stay up all night under playing samba and smoking and it must've taken extra effort to get it all clean looking. Now that that's done, guess they can start finally fixing the bonde to put on top of it...

Sadly, as has been indicated, most of the good coffee is bought up by the U.S. and then some of it sold back to Brazil via the likes of Starbucks. If you want good coffee in the Western sense, Starbucks is where to go and that does not sound very exciting does it.

Brazilians mostly drink cafezinhos. Not necessarily from an expresso machine, just strong dark coffee. You will often find it is complimentary on the way out of a kilogramma restaurant.

You can find luxury brands packaged in supermarkets. I haven't come across any that are that remarkable compared to what I drink when not in Brasil (including Brasillian coffee bought elsewhere). But a lot is cultural. Most places won't know what a latte is. Starbucks are taking off in some cities partly because (I suspect) they offer free wifi.