Coffee shops

This is a list of my favorite coffee shops, organized by city. In general, I like coffee shops that:

• Feature (or operate) independent roasters, especially local roasters
• Offer a variety of single-origin/single-estate coffees
• Specialize in bright, fruit-forward, acidic coffees, possibly with weird processing methods
• Offer pour-over
• Are nice to sit and read or do work in

If you like these things too, you will probably enjoy the shops on this list.

🏆 = this city’s champion

Charlotte, NC

🏆 Undercurrent Coffee

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

Part of the excellent Night Swim coffee roasting project. Really nice cafe space with indoor and outdoor seating.

New York City

SEY Coffee (Brooklyn)

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

The standard for specialtiy coffee roasting in NYC, in my opinion. They have a cafe in Bushwick, but you can also find their beans at Villager in Prospect Heights.

St. Kilda (Manhattan)

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots. Limited experience with this place, but I got a really fun peach co-ferment from them.

Loveless Coffees (Brooklyn)

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

Adorable cafe space in Bushwick. Haven’t tried a ton from them, but I’m excited to drink more.

Suited (Manhattan)

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

It’s often busy, and their cafe space is small, so I don’t stick around and drink coffee here. But they do stock coffees from lots of really exciting roasting projects. I find something different and exciting every time I’m there.

Oxford, UK

🏆 Brew

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

It’s just a room with an espresso machine in the corner. Last time I was there, the owner told me he only brewed single origins because they’re hard to do correctly, and this kept his employees on their toes.

Seattle, WA

🏆 Push x Pull on Union

Snootiness rating: 4/3 snoots, sure to impress even the snootiest coffee snob.

Push x Pull is quite possibly my favorite coffee shop on Earth. They always have an awesome variety of extremely bright, acidic, fruity coffees with all kinds of weird processing methods. The employees are, without fail, super knowledgeable about their coffee and delightful in general.

The original, affiliated location is in Portland, OR. I haven’t been.

Analog Coffee

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

Really cozy indoor space with vinyl records on aux. They share the space with b-side foods, who make really excellent and unique breakfast sandwiches.

Ghost Note Coffee

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

Often selling exciting coffees from roasters around the country. I’m not really into fancy espresso drinks, but theirs seem pretty sophisticated.

Cafe Vita

Snootiness rating: 2/3 snoots.

The flagship location in Capitol Hill has a gorgeous cafe space that is perfect to hang out in on a rainy day.

Washington, DC

Others Coffee

Snootiness rating: 3/3 snoots.

Last time I visited, they had just opened a physical store after previously operating as a pop-up. They have an adorable little cafe space, and they are doing a lot of fun design, roasting, and community building.