De Fer Coffee & Tea

Subject: De Fer Coffee & Tea
Location visited: Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Pittsburgh in summer remains a favorite destination, especially if I have business/destinations to visit in the city that give the necessary motivation to seek out good coffee. 

Pleasant Valley Dairy

Subject: Pleasant Valley Dairy

Location: Middletown, DE
Rating: 5+ [see key]

I love Amish markets, especially in (seemingly) random spots scattered across the land. In traveling south for a little recent Christmas cheer in Delaware, I happened upon such a market in Middletown, poised for a morning cup of coffee in the early afternoon. Usually I would have stopped at a shop in the Wilmington area prior to heading down, but I found myself outside the (archaic) early afternoon cutoff for many shops and my last hope for a possible cup of something other than convenience coffee stood this market before they closed their doors at 4 PM that Saturday.

Faire Cafe

Subject: Faire Cafe
Location: Wilmington, DE
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Wilmington is an odd area. For a city that seems to have a lot of different types of neighborhoods, the land has a quite a decent amount of good coffee relative to its size. 

Culture Coffee

Subject: Culture Coffee
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Lewisburg was an unknown place to my young mind when I was looking for university jobs twenty years ago. I applied to work at Bucknell, got rejected and then Lewisburg faded from my thoughts for over a decade. When the city next resurfaced, I was passing through on a local trip and I had need of a good cup of coffee.

Fellow Mountain Cafe

Subject: Fellow Mountain Cafe
Location: Hunter, NY
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Having traveled much of New York state, I am always astounded how much more of it I still have not seen. One section I had yet to peruse was the area around Jewett. Next store to it is a quaint towns called Hunter and that town had what I had hoped; a really good coffee shop.

Pennie's Bake Shop and Espresso Bar

Subject: Pennie's Bake Shop and Espresso Bar
Location: Butler, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Western Pennsylvania has a variety of hidden gems strewn about its small towns. While I don't often get the chance, when I'm in the area, I treasure the opportunity to mine them out.

2nd Wave Coffee

Subject: 2nd Wave Coffee
Location: Berlin, MD
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Driving south through Maryland, there's a always a nugget or two to unearth. One of my last times, I came upon the town of Berlin, a cozy borough with a nice downtown and a promise of good coffee.

J5 Coffee

Subject: J5 Coffee
Location visited: Hwy 2, Leavenworth, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Quite often, I am amazed coffee shops can afford large buildings. Whether it's my northeast roots where I'm used to high rents or my love for intimate coffee experiences, I feel most at home in smaller shops (though I do love a good cavernous warehouse). Thus when I pulled into Leavenworth with it's Bavarian ambiance, it was no wonder that I gravitated to a cozy coffee stand of a local roaster called J5.

Mela Coffee

Subject: Mela Coffee Roasting Company
Location: Wenatchee, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

When people think of Washington, most folks think Seattle and the lush green lands of the Pacific Northwest. Yet it's hard to believe that on the other side of the Cascades, but two or so hours away, the very same state offers a dry, sometimes barren landscape.

Farmer and Co

Subject: Farm and Co
Location: Unionville, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

I have driven to Longwood Gardens frequently in my many years living near the giant horticultural display but in all that time, I managed to overlook Unionville nearby. A small bucolic town, it hit my radar with the discovery of a coffee shop located in an old farm house called Farm and Co.

Ebru Coffee

Subject: Ebru Coffee
Location: Audubon, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Driving through the lands west of Philly bring you through a variety of towns. It's fascinating how the landscape shifts between rich suburbs, farms and old towns, but the tapestry always unearths news gems.

Cloud City Coffee

Subject: Cloud City Coffee
Location visited: Seattle, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Seattle on a warm sunny day is the stuff of legends. In the few times I have visited, I have been fortunate to experience many a sunny outing in the city known for its rain. On one recent outing I had some spare time to grab some coffee before a trip to the park and made my way to a coffee roaster called Cloud City Coffee.

Mayday Coffee

Subject: Mayday Coffee

Location visited: West Chester, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Driving through the Philadelphia suburbs looking for good coffee is a bit like working a spent diamond mine; there's not much in terms of good coffee but when you find a gem, it's worth it. 

Bar Francis

Subject: Bar Francis

Location visited: Olympia, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Washington weather really colors your perceptions. My first trip to Olympia was a soaking wet side quest that put me 2 hours out of my way, giving me a glum and bleak impression of the city. But my second visit proved to be a sunny saunter west with no real rush, fully changing my perspective of the state capitol.

Drumroaster Coffee

Subject: Drumroaster Coffee

Location visited: Cobble Hill, BC
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Driving north from Victoria, I found Vancouver Island to be a fascinating part of Canada. The dense forests and unique towns definitely made for a relaxing respite. 

Discovery Coffee

Subject: Discovery Coffee
Location visited: Discovery Street, Victoria, BC
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

The early weekend morning of a city is often a blissful landscape. Most still slumber at the usual rush hours, with only folks required to be awake wandering about. One delightful morning in Victoria offered me a delightful experience and my path through Chinatown brought me to the doors of my coffee destination, Discovery Coffee.

Rhythms Coffee

Subject: Rhythms Coffee
Location: Olympia, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

The music scene is what originally drew me to coffee houses. I recall back in high school, going to different open mic nights on weekends to hang with friends, not caring all that much for the quality of my drink, just that I could easily afford $1.50 for drip coffee. Sadly, few coffeehouses carry on the tradition of live music these days, never mind stay open past 2 PM on a Friday night.

Collage Coffee

Subject: Collage Coffee
Location visited: Mercer, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

It is not often I get to western Pennsylvania, but when I do I manage to always pass a sign advertising Grove City. Maybe it's that my wife points it out because she visited the town when she was looking at colleges with her father and sister back in the day, but regardless the reason, it wasn't until recently that I was finally able to make a visit.

Habit Coffee

Subject: Habit Coffee
Location visited: Chinatown location, Victoria, BC
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Traveling through the streets of Victoria, the city offers a lot of sights and wonderful distractions. As I was wandering through the Chinatown neighborhood, I emerged from Fan Tan Alley and found myself hankering for a good coffee respite. Lo and behold, so stood a Habit Coffee location, offering a perfect respite for me and my party. 

Otherside Bagel

Subject: Otherside Bagel
Location visited: Bellingham, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

In my experience, most shops that make their own bagels usually don't have great coffee. Especially when wandering around the east coast, most places that specialize in bagels don't put the same effort into their coffee. But in Bellingham, I found the fabled unicorn of an operation that makes great bagels and offered a solid coffee experience.