Mea Cuppa Coffeebar

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Mea Cuppa Coffeebar
Location visited: Capitol Market, Charleston, WV
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Every city needs a good local market. Philly has the Reading Terminal, Seattle has Pike Place and Charleston, West Virginia has the Capitol Market. Located in an old railroad terminal, the Capitol Market has been providing excellent food, produce and general good stuff to West Virginia since the late 1990s.

Quantum Bean Coffee

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Quantum Bean Coffee
Location: Morgantown, WV
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

One of my favorite types of coffeehouses are ones blooming deep in residential neighborhoods. There's something oddly appropriate about quality shops nestled in the thick of family dwellings; in my opinion, it puts the coffee in community.

Cafe Brio

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Cafe Brio
Location: Hillsborough, NJ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

New Jersey might be small in size but much like the small intestines or a thrift shop packed with treasure, there's a lot going on crammed into a tiny area. I am often reminded of this fact when I pass through towns and find brand new-to-me stuff overlooked in past travels.

Presta Coffee Roasters

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Presta Coffee Roasters
Location Visited: 1st Ave, Tucson, AZ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

One thing that often drops my jaw when I traverse the west is the number of aesthetically gorgeous coffee shops. Whether it's a reclaimed wood shop in Oregon or a coffee bar exquisitely situated inside a shipping container in San Francisco, it astounds me how relatively boring the east coast is by comparison.

Moxxee Coffee

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Moxxee Coffee
Location: Charleston, WV
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Everyone remembers their first interaction with West Virginia coffee (right?). For me, it was at a specialty coffee expo booth sampling some coffee for some forgotten reason, but realizing that the roaster was from the West Virginian capital, a place then completely uncharted on my map. It was that day I made the acquaintance of Moxxee Coffee and Charleston became a destination in my world.

PT's Coffee

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: PT's Coffee Roasting Co
Location Reviewed: Topeka, KS
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

I remember when I first got into quality coffee around 2006 that there were a few names well-known across the nation. One of those roasters of renown was PT's Coffee out of Kansas, a roaster I first sipped (and later reviewed) all the way back in 2008. Through the past decade, PT's has continuously impressed me with their excellent coffees yet a visit to Kansas to try them out on their home turf continuously eluded me.

TipTop

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: TipTop
Location: Thomas, WV
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Often I find myself in great towns purely because I heard there was great coffee there. Such was the case with Thomas, WV and the grand repute of local coffee oasis TipTop. I had been traveling northeast from Elkins and had planned a small detour for some mid-morning espresso and instead found a glorious small town full of interesting small businesses. In the midst of the multi-leveled streets dug into the hillside was my quarry, the illustrious TipTop.

Fourtillfour

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Fourtillfour
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Car aficionados love coffee, so it's only natural that Scottsdale, with its rust-free climate, would have a car-focused coffee establishment. Opened in 2016, Fourtillfour is a cozy garage-like coffee shop that not only boasts a superb patio, but also hosts monthly porsche nights as well as a similar night for off-roading vehicles.

Appalachian Coffee House

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Appalachian Coffee House
Location: Mt Nebo, WV
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Few mountainous places on the east coast rival the Rocky Mountains of the west, and one of the more breathtaking eastern vistas worth beholding lies in West Virginia's New River Gorge. Full of rugged beauty, interesting history and small town gems, the area should be a must-see for anyone even remotely close.

The Board and Brew

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: The Board and Brew
Location: College Park, MD
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

It often astounds me how few board game cafes I have come across in my travels. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but I can count on one hand the number of coffee shops and eateries that have boasted copies of Settlers of Catan and King of Tokyo, never mind full shelves of games unknown to even the nerdiest of poindexters. But fortune shined upon me one cloudy evening traveling through Maryland when I found a true diamond in the rough.

Green Engine Coffee

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject Green Engine Coffee Co.

Location: Haverford, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Sometimes it amazes me how many coffee shops fall short on the basics, whether it be the quality of their coffee beans, the skills of their baristas or the lack of atmosphere. In traveling through different towns, I aim to try out as many different shops as I can afford, and in my experience there are approximately three subpar coffeehouses for every great one.  

Trenton Coffee House and Records

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Trenton Coffee House
Location: Trenton, NJ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Having passed through Trenton many times, I have often yearned for a well-placed coffee shop to afford me a cafe worthy of braking. Finally at some point in the past year or so, Trenton Coffee House and Records opened their doors on Cass Street and my longing finally came to an end.

The Coffee Box

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: The Coffee Box
Location: Plainfield, NJ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

The thick suburbs of northeast New Jersey possess countless places that peddle coffee, but surprisingly offer few shops where the coffee is worth the stop. Fortunately for many North Jersey-ites, great coffee has become more readily available each month, with new spots slowly emerging in the lands surrounding New York City.

Rustic Cup

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Rustic Cup
Location: East Prospect, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

The more I drive around the country, the more I appreciate small towns. While cities still cradle a chunk of my heart, there's nothing like a tree-lined boulevard, easy parking or finding a great coffee shop on a country road. 

Herman's Coffee

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Herman's Coffee
Location: Philadelphia, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

As many entrepreneurs have now proven, auto garages make excellent coffeehouses. Maybe it's the rough-and-tumble aesthetic or maybe it's because people like large garage doors, but either way I've seen cafes successfully set-up shop across the country in similar concrete shells, each one offering a great community hub, especially in the summer.

Bird in Hand

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Bird in Hand Coffee and Books
Location: Baltimore, MD
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Some of my favorite memories involve drinking coffee while perusing through a bookstore. Though some booksellers sadly refuse to embrace the calling of serving excellent coffee, there have been many establishments that do a wonderful job weaving the written word and the well-roasted bean. One such literary oasis new one to my eyes emerged during a recent trip to Baltimore, when I found that Artifact Coffee and The Ivy Bookshop had created a beautiful space adjacent to Johns Hopkins campus in Charles Village called Bird in Hand.

Ohmies

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Ohmies Coffee Bar + Yoga Studio
Location: Roselle, NJ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Coffee pairs well with a lot of things in life. Chocolate, cake, long nature walks, mornings, chocolate cake, late nights and fruit are all things I think go well with a quality cup of coffee. Thus why not exercise? Aside from the risks of vigorous movement with a hot beverage, the coupling makes sense, especially since many people have come to accept black coffee as a delicious, healthy drink. Thus when I found a coffee bar and yoga studio in my travels through Roselle, I was surprised that I had not found such a place sooner.

Germantown Espresso Bar

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Germantowan Espresso Bar
Location visited: Philadelphia, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Two decades ago, I would argue that Philadelphia really only had a handful of neighborhoods worth traversing. Now in 2018, there exists so many vibrant parts of Philly and yet, many breathtaking portions of the city are still overlooked or missed by most people. One such area is Germantown, a neighborhood as old as the Revolution (the site of the Battle of Germantown in 1777) and full of charming architecture and beautiful homes. Currently riding a rejuvenating wave of local improvements, there are many reasons to detour out to Germantown to sample the changes.

The Coffee Bar

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: The Coffee Bar
Location visited: 1201 South St NW, Washington DC
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

While seasonal rain is welcome for purposes of irrigation and staving off drought, downpours during a day in the city sure make the day a little more challenging. Fortunately when recently I ran into this dilemma in DC, I had planned a visit to the African American Civil War Memorial Museum and a highly-reputed coffee stop nearby called The Coffee Bar.

Black Swan Espresso

Part of the Fill in the Coffee Map Series

Subject: Black Swan Espresso
Location: Newark, NJ
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Having driven through Newark hundreds of times this past decade, it has been a constant pang of grief that the city possessed little (if any) in the way of great coffee. Yet despite my fruitless searches, I never gave up searching for a long-lost caffeinated diamond in the rough, and finally after ten years of combing the internet, I found Black Swan Espresso.