Coffee Shop Reviews

A Look Inside Orchard Coffee in Waynesville, NC

October 8, 2021 By Michael Leave a Comment

Nestled in the Smoky Mountains, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more idyllic mountain town than Waynesville, NC. But what’s a quaint, mountain town without a community gathering place? It turns out Waynesville is not only blessed with incredible natural beauty but an exceptional café: Orchard Coffee, serving locally-roasted coffee from its sister company Steamline Coffee. Behind both companies is a man who needs no introduction to long-time readers of thecoffeecompasss.com, Cabell Tice. …

Cultivator Coffee Puts Down Roots in New Albany, Indiana

August 23, 2021 By Michael Leave a Comment

Cultivator Coffee Coffee is a fruit. Or, to be a little more precise, coffee is the seed of a fruit. Like any other fruit, the cultivar, or variety, of a given coffee has a tremendous impact on its flavor profile. I’m not sure if coffee cultivars were the inspiration behind Cultivator Coffee & Other Plants but it certainly seems an appropriate name for the New Albany, Indiana café….

A Look Inside Liturgy Beverage Company in Durham, NC

June 17, 2021 By Michael Leave a Comment

Liturgy Beverage Company More than a year after opening Litugry Beverage Company, Tim and TiLissa Jones can finally welcome dine-in guests to their café. It was a long time coming. It’s been over two years since we published this interview, when Liturgy was a pop up kiosk in a YMCA waiting for their space at the Durham Food Hall to be ready. Construction delays bled into a statewide lockdown, forcing Liturgy to navigate a pandemic in addition to new business struggles.

But they soldiered through and when I visited their café earlier this month, things were humming.

…

Stories Coffee & Wine Captivates in Tbilisi

April 21, 2021 By Michael 1 Comment

In recent years the country of Georgia has seen a rather unexpected tourism boom. Travelers came not only for its unspoiled natural beauty, but its fascinating cuisine and 6,000-year-old wine culture. And while it’s still qvevri-fermented natural wines that make Tbilisi a world-class beverage destination, if you find yourself in the Georgian capital, there’s good coffee to be had as well….

Dalston Coffee Brings A Bit of London to Barcelona

January 22, 2020 By Michael Leave a Comment

Dalston Coffee

Perhaps no city has been affected by overtourism more than Barcelona. Between the tour groups of clueless Americans, gap year backpackers, and poorly-chaperoned packs of students, it’s impossible to escape the hoards of tourists in Barcelona. I, of course, am part of the problem. When I visited Barcelona, I was one more foreigner with a camera gawking at the Gaudi architecture. That is, until I stepped inside of Dalston Coffee….

Quills Coffee Opens New Cafe In Groundbreaking Louisville Library

January 16, 2020 By Michael Leave a Comment

Kentuckiana roaster/retailer Quills Coffee first opened in 2007 under the name “Quills Coffee and Books.” The original Kentucky St. location in Louisville’s Paristown neighborhood– long since closed — featured an entire wall of new and used books. It’s where I bought my first Dave Eggers novel, years before I would work at Quills, first as a barista and later as the company trainer.

Perhaps it’s fitting that Quills’s seventh café also has books. Actually, it has over 100,000 of them, only they’re not for sale….

Vice City Bean Brings Madcap Coffee to Miami Food Hall

December 23, 2019 By Michael Leave a Comment

Vice City Bean

We live in the age of the food hall. All around the globe, property developers are converting old industrial spaces into massive temples of gastronomy. Pick a city, any city, and you’ll likely find a refurbished factory or warehouse, complete with a cheesemonger, French patisserie, and at least one “elevated street food concept.”

Miami residents need look no further than The Citadel, which claims to be the largest such food hall in South Florida. In addition to the usual food hall suspects, it’s home to the second location for local coffee company Vice City Bean. …

Where to Get Coffee in Nicosia, Cyprus

October 28, 2019 By Michael 1 Comment

Most visitors to Cyprus come for the Mediterranean island’s sunny weather and immaculate beaches. Nicosia, the country’s landlocked capital, rarely even gets so much as a stopover. With the international airport in Larnaca, most tourists have no incentive to make the trek to Cyprus’s largest city. But those who travel inland will find a bustling coffee scene well worth skipping a beach day. These were four of our favorite place to have coffee in Nicosia. …

Puzzle Café: Lyon’s Missing Piece

August 19, 2019 By Michael Leave a Comment

“Soy hot chocolate?”

I’ve only been to Puzzle Café a handful of times, but owner Thomas Audebert has already learned my order well enough to joke with me.

Not missing a beat, I reply “Of course.”

And sure enough, a delicious double espresso turns up at my table, just like it had the several days previous….

Montag Coffee Roasters Opens in Bomonti, Istanbul

July 18, 2019 By Michael Leave a Comment

“Good coffees is worth the stairs.” That’s the motto that’s helped make Montag Coffee Roasters a fixture of the coffee scene in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district. The original location occupies some prime real estate overlooking the fish market, and despite being a floor removed from street level, is almost always crowded. As such a pillar of the city’s Asian side, perhaps it was inevitable that Montag would expand to the more densely populated European side. But rather than opening up in specialty coffee hot spots, like Nişantaşı or Cihangir, Montag chose the up-and-coming Bomonti neighborhood….