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Coffee and Travel
December 30, 2009 Posted by Chris Tingom Filed under Uncategorized
WanderingJustin.com has an interesting post about his challenges finding good coffee when traveling.
It made me think about all of the sites I’ve stumbled across that are about coffee. And frankly there aren’t many. Why is that? You’d think there would be more sites like this one, but in other states.
I know about a few: CoffeeRatings.com does a good job rating shops in San Francisco, and Milwaukee Specialty Coffee covers coffee in Wisconsin (and beyond), and Coffee City does a good job covering Seattle. A few other places to look are CupofNYC.com (for New York City), and the Forums on CoffeeGeek allow messages by country and state. If you happen to be visiting Denver, check out the infrequently updated blog MileHighBuzz.com. There’s a map on EspressoMap.com, and a great site for Melbourne, and some old posts about Portland. If you’re Swedish, give Kaffesnobben a try. In Vancouver, the (infrequently updated) Vancouver Coffee site may help you find a good cup.
There are other places you can find coffee reviews, for example try searching on Yelp or Barista Exchange. Lastly, the Arizona Coffee Forum is a great place to ask fellow coffee fans about coffee shops in other states. Numerous times I’ve mentioned I’m visiting a city and received suggestions.
What are YOUR favorite coffee shops out of state?
Chris Tingom says:
@hungryclone suggested: Wood Note in Kyoto Japan.
Isaac Weinhausen says:
West coast love…
Intelligencia (LA)
http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/
Ritual Roasters (San Fransisco)
http://www.ritualroasters.com/
Stumptown (Portland/Seattle)
http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/
O says:
SD: I enjoyed Cafe 976 in Pacific Beach and the Living Room on El Cajon Blvd near SDSU during my college years. Both were a hike from my campus but still great places to hang/study, with good coffee to boot.
SF: Philz, Blue Bottle, Ritual. I never went to Philz when I lived in SF because there were so many other coffeehouses closer to me, but I’ve gone on my last few visits back and they make a great cup of drip and some specialty drinks as well (their mint mojito iced coffee is awesome). They also carry a pretty great selection of beans. Really friendly owner and staff.
NYC: Not a coffeeshop per se, but McNulty’s in the Village is probably the only place I shop at when I’m in NYC. Awesome selection of beans from there. You feel like you’ve walked into that old apothecary place at the beginning of Gremlins when you first walk in.
Patrick says:
As a Seattle native, there are tons of places to recommend, but I will say my favorite is All City Coffee, particularly their Georgetown location by the airport. Good coffee, kind of a gritty, industrial neighborhood. Especially on a rainy day – it’s perfect.
Also worthy: Stumptown Roasters in Portland and Seattle is pretty tasty. And just for the eye candy factor, Cowgirls Espresso gets a vote. Coffee’s not that great, but that’s beside the point.
Chris Tingom says:
@gdickinson writes: Gimme! Coffee and 9th St Espresso in NYC are my current faves.
Chris Tingom says:
@fewerwords writes: Kopplins in St. Paul, MN! @kopplins
Psyd says:
Abe Carmelli has his favorite espresso joints in NYC.
I’ve been fond of both of the murky coffee jernts, the one on Pennsylvania Ave in DC, and the one across the river in Arlington.
Lessee, NC gets the Blue Bottle on Linden, for it’s great espresso and funky alley vibe, Santa Clara’s Barefoot is not to be missed and is worth the drive around the bay, Seattle is Victrola, Vivace (a tie) then Monorail, again for it’s funky alley, hole-in-the-wall-you’re-not-that-special vibe. Calebria in Sand Diego, with a jaunt down to the Big Kitchen to watch Judy-the-Beauty-on-Duty make me eggs, Pick and Intelli shop in Chicago, but downtown fer sher.
Keane’s if you ever get stuck in Orange County’s rich neighborhoods (the one in Newport Beach is da bomb), La Muse East Village Cafe and Modica’s Deli for Cappu and Crepes and lunch respectively (although, it’s La Muse for coffee) if you happen to be in Orange Counties less affluent neighborhoods, like Long Beach.
I have friends call me form all over to ask where to get coffee. I steer them there, and charge ‘em a pound of whatever’s fresh roasted on their return.
Last one netted me two pounds of SO Guatemalan from Barefoot!
Chris Tingom says:
Psyd, I fixed the URL. To insert a link inline, you can either just paste the link as part of your message, or use normal html.
Example code:
<a href="http://www.google.com/">Visit Google!</a>
dave p says:
When I’m headin’ somewhere in AZ I always check the map for someplace to go when visiting. Otherwise, it’s google and search and look for websites.
As the calibration point, my fav here is Lux, since their latte always grabs the senses, taste, touch, sight, smell, and if you’re speaking to those behind the counter, sound.
While traveling, only a few stand out to me.
Crema in Portland, – great latte.
Cafe Dawn in Salida, CO – great latte, great view, great cookies, pretty much everything sold there is CO local.
Stone Cup in Lyons, CO has good lattes, but great cookies.
Kind Coffee in Estes Park, CO has good lattes, but absolutely phenom views.
David says:
Favorite spots outside AZ:
* Blue Bottle Coffee (San Francisco)
* Nostalgia Cafe (Salt Lake City, UT)
* Stumptown (Portland, OR)
Wandering Justin says:
With Stumptown getting all these votes, I’ve really gotta check it out. Thanks, everyone!
Steve says:
Chicago (outside of the inevitable) Uncommon Grounds.
NY (Mnhatn) Grumpys
Tom Maegdlin says:
Chicag0-Intelligentsia (Randolph/Mil. Park)
Milwaukee-Alterra Coffee (Prospect Ave.)
Seattle-Victrola
Kathy says:
If you ever find yourself on the east coast check out High Rise Cafe in Boston or A&E Coffee Roastery in Amherst New Hampshire. Two of my favorite spots.
Victor says:
Surf City Coffee in Aptos……….off the beaten path for sure.
Ryan says:
Best Latte in Columbus Ohio, Luck Bros’ Coffee House
Ryan says:
Best Coffee Shop in Columbus Ohio, Espresso Yourself Music Cafe