Istanbul’s Nişantaşı district occupies a unique place in the social strata of the city. Equal parts West Village and Upper East Side, it’s home to the older, upper crust, but also writers, academics, and expatriates. It’s a cosmopolitan neighborhood where you you might spot a soap opera star ducking into a boutique wine shop, but you can still buy fresh artichoke hearts from a street vendor. The district almost functions like it’s own village surrounded by the city. With some of the city’s best parks, restaurants, and schools, Nişantaşılılar need not leave their little oasis hidden in the hills between bustling Taksim and Beşiktaş. With a café like Petra Coffee in the neighborhood, we don’t blame them. …
Coffee Shop Reviews
Balat Coffee and Guide Offers More Than Coffee in Istanbul’s Jewish Quarter
Coffee shops have long been the cultural informants of their neighborhoods. When traveling, you can usually count on a barista to know the best restaurants, which tourist traps to avoid, and some hidden gems off the beaten path. Balat Coffee & Guide takes that role to another level….
Three Great Cafés in Upstate South Carolina
South Carolina’s Low Country has been on the culinary map for some time now. The live oaks, Spanish moss, and colonial era houses have captured the imaginations of both chefs and food television executives. Meanwhile, upstate South Carolina has been largely overlooked, unless it’s an honorable mention of their unique, mustard-based barbecue. But a coffee renaissance is happening in the Greenville-area. When we visited, we discovered a passionate, growing coffee community that’s attracting coffee professionals from around the nation. Here were three of our favorite cafés.
Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse
American coffee shops are starting to figure out what Australian cafés mastered a long time ago: your food needs to be as good as your coffee. Being served an exquisite single origin microlot next to a cellophane-wrapped pastry is more than a little disappointing. And if we had to pick a top-five meal we’ve had in a coffee shop in the past year, our crepe at Tandem Creperie and Coffeehouse in Traveler’s Rest might be in the top spot. The coffee is provided by Durham, North Carolina’s Counter Culture and brewed with expert precision. Coffee gear nerds will geek out about Tandem’s Mahlkönig EG43, which they use to mill their own flour.
Methodical Coffee
If there’s any café that’s responsible for bringing national attention to Greenville’s coffee scene, it’s Methodical Coffee. In two short years Methodical has earn accolades as prestigious as Imbibe magazine’s coffee shop of the year. Methodical only recently began roasting their own coffee, but can already be found in places as far afield as Los Angeles. We also were excited to discover that Methodical had launched a natural wine program since our last visit.
Due South Coffee Roasters
If there’s a café to keep your eye on, it’s Due South Coffee Roasters in Taylors. The roaster/retailer recently brought in outside talent from as far away as Miami and Bali, Indonesia to take their program to the next level. Their close connection with local coffee importer Ally Coffee ensures they have access to premium greens. A new location is in the works, but we loved their industrial chic vibe in a repurposed textile factory.
Three Coffee Roasters That Make Us Glad to Live In San Francisco
Although Seattle is widely considered America’s coffee capital, if there’s any city that gives it a run for its money it’s San Francisco. The City by the Bay has been known for locally roasted coffee at least since Peet’s introduced European espresso culture in the 1960s. Today, the number of coffee roasters is staggering, and that’s without even counting Oakland. It could take weeks of intentional effort to get to every good café in the city. Here’s three of our favorites.
Andytown Coffee Roasters
Most tourists don’t make it to San Francisco’s Sunset neighborhood, but the low (for SF) rents make it an attractive neighborhood for budget conscious baristas/software engineers who don’t want to commute in from Oakland. Perhaps the best reason to live in the Sunset is Andytown Coffee Roaster’s newest retail location. We always enjoy the espresso here, but the real star is the Snowy Plover, a slightly-sweet espresso float made with a generous scoop of Andytown’s house-made whipped cream. Throw in one of Andytown’s gluten-free cornbread muffins– ours was still hot from the oven — and you’ve got a breakfast dreams are made of. There’s not much in the way of seating, so we recommend taking that coffee to nearby Ocean Beach.
Ritual Coffee
There’s perhaps no more iconic symbol of San Francisco coffee than Ritual’s bold red, Soviet-inspired logo. Ritual Coffee was an early third-wave pioneer, but has managed to stay on the bleeding edge with an array of trendy retail spaces in some of the city’s hottest neighborhoods. We grabbed a pour-over of their Ethiopia, Duromina at their Hayes Valley location. This repurposed shipping container is located next to Patricia’s Green, a popular park and art space, which makes for some prime people watching on those rare sunny days.
Saint Frank Coffee
Saint Frank, like San Francisco, is named for Saint Francis of Assisi. Taking a queue from the 13th century friar, Saint Frank has a penchant for roasting coffees that have a social impact on the communities that produced them. Whether or not you believe in altruistic capitalism, you can believe you’ll be served some delicious coffee with some of the best service we’ve had in the city. Coffee nerds can skip straight to the tasting flight, which features an espresso, cortado, filter coffee, and iced coffee. We took our drinks to the second floor, where we admired the baristas’ clean and efficient bar flow.
Perfect Coffee and Eggs at Miami’s All Day
I hate drinking coffee on an empty stomach. Most mornings, if I had to choose between a cup of perfectly brewed Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe and two eggs over medium, I wouldn’t even hesitate, though I would likely find myself longing for the floral aromatics of my favorite coffee origin as I licked the last bits of runny yolk off the plate.
Thanks to All Day, residents of Miami don’t have to choose between a good breakfast and good coffee. …
Come for the Doughnuts, Stay for the Coffee at General Porpoise Doughnuts
Rodgers and Hammerstein. Martin and Lewis. Riesling and Thai food. Some pairs are timeless. And yet no duo is so ubiquitous as that most quintessential of American breakfasts, coffee and doughnuts. General Porpoise Doughnuts in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood might have perfected that pairing.
In a city with a specialty coffee shop on every block, it helps to have a concept that sets you apart. General Porpoise’s concept is succinct and to the cream-filled-point: a small selection of house-made yeast doughnuts and a simple but perfectly executed coffee menu….
Cafe Review: Nemesis Coffee in Vancouver
Read any most-livable city list and Vancouver is near the top, and for good reason. Between its breathtaking panoramas, copious green spaces, efficient public transportation, and excellent social safety net, it’s a city with few equals. But if you ask us, the real reason to live in Vancouver is the great coffee shops. One of its best cafés also happen to be one of its newest: Nemesis Coffee in Gastown….
Two Don’t-Miss Places to Get Coffee in Warsaw
There’s few things that make us want to break out our passport and hop on the next flight overseas than hearing about a good coffee shop. Today, guest contributor Andy Cenci returns with his top coffee picks for Warsaw, Poland.…
Coat Check Coffee Opens In Indianapolis
Kurt Vonnegut. David Letterman. The Indy 500. President Benjamin Harrison. Indianapolis is home to a lot of famous people and things. Not as famous, but just as noteworthy in our humble opinion, is Indianapolis’s growing specialty coffee community. Although long eclipsed by larger markets in neighboring states, the coffee scene in Indianapolis is refreshingly passionate and non-partisan. The latest addition to this burgeoning community is Coat Check Coffee, a small lobby café already punching well above its weight class.
Located in the actual coat check of the historic Athenaeum building, …
Five Great Coffee Shops in Chicago
Against all odds, the Chicago Cubs are the 2016 World Series Champions. But when it comes to coffee, Chicago has been a champion for a long time. On our most recent trip to the Windy City these five coffee shops stood out amongst a slew of great options….
