5 Awesome American ‘Coffee Culture’ Cities
What are the best cities for a cup of joe and who has the strongest coffee lover culture? Here are some of our picks for our favorite coffee loving metropolises in America…
We love coffee. Our Cafecito Coffee & Cocoa Nibs flavor is our love-letter to the drink. And we’re not alone! The U.S. is one of the top ten coffee drinking nations in the world. Since the 90’s, coffee culture has moved away from freeze-dried instant coffee toward freshly brewed espresso and into artisan, fair trade single source beans as a common obsession. With that in mind, let’s take a look at our five favorites. Have a different opinion? Disagree with our list? Comment below!
So in no particular order…
San Francisco
The City by the Bay actually has the highest number of coffeeshops per square mile at a whopping 8.3. That’s almost double the closest runners-up of Miami and fellow California locale Berkeley. Although you could almost call Berkeley part of San Francisco’s coffee culture since it lives just across the bay from Fog City. Blue Bottle Coffee is one of the city’s premiere local coffeeshop chains that has spread beyond SF. And of course like everything in the city, innovation is the watchword with roasters like Trouble, Ritual Coffee Roasters and Andytown Coffee Roasters.
Seattle
You can’t make a list of coffee culture cities without including Seattle. The city’s coffee culture in the form of Starbucks sparked the coffee shop awakening in the country during the 90’s. The original store near Pike’s Place Market is still there and maintains the original logo and boho vibe. And while Starbucks is the Emerald City’s most famous export, legendary coffeehouses like Tully’s Coffee, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Stumptown Roasters all hail from there. Beyond coffee shops, we’ve seen espresso stations everywhere from parking garages to ferry docks here. Despite being just the 18th largest city in America, it has the fourth highest number of coffee outlets.
Miami
You know we had to put it on the list. And it’s not just because this is our home base. You can read the article here for an ode to the beauty of Cafecito. But suffice it to say, the spirit of Havana has infused this metropolis with an appreciation of and wealth of coffee. Coffee culture here is one of the beating hearts of the city. And it’s not just the old-school Cuban style. Artisan roasters who take advantage of the city’s proximity to and affinity with South America have led the charge in curated selections of direct-from-farm coffee that goes beyond fair trade. This includes the legendary Panther Coffee Roasters, as well as outlets like Pasion del Cielo, La Perla and Great Circle Coffee Roasters.
Los Angeles
Let’s face it: L.A. is a cultural capital for a lot of things. The way California goes, very often the rest of the country follows a few years later. Remember the pesushi’s explosion in the 80’s?
While L.A. isn’t the absolute pinnacle of coffee culture, it has a huge advantage in the cultural diversity that makes up the city. The result is coffee-loving traditions from around the world being represented. Persian, Armenian, Vietnamese and more have all brought their unique coffee cultures to American shores in Los Angeles. So whether you’re looking for Turkish Coffee or Vietnamese drip, the city has you covered. A notable L.A. coffee shop export is Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
Portland
This is a hipster foodie city and well-known for artisan producers of everything from meats, cheese and sausage to — you guessed it — coffee. Even smaller than larger Seattle to the north with only the 25th highest population, Portland nevertheless is number eight in the number of coffee shops. And like everything else in the city, there is a wealth of artisan makers for coffee — Crema Coffee, Tov Coffee & Tea and Never Coffee Lab.
Why isn’t New York City on the list? This is a question we know will be inevitable. The Big Apple is so well known as a cultural and culinary powerhouse in the U.S. that the idea of the city not being among the top coffee culture cities may be disconcerting (and I would suspect none more so to New Yorkers themselves). Part of the reason is purely statistical — while tops in the sheer number of coffee shops due to its enormous population, NYC isn’t even in the top 50 for number of coffee shops or roasters per square mile or per capita. The other reason is cultural. While there are many awesome coffee shops in the city, as one New Yorker expressed “for us [in NYC] coffee is utilitarian — it’s fuel and energy to wake up and keep going, but not something we obsess or linger over.”
So there you have it: our picks for our favorite coffee culture cities. Of course, these aren’t the only five and each place has it’s own unique twist. From the chickory coffee of New Orleans to Intelligentsia Coffee Roasters in Chicago and beyond. What’s your favorite coffee culture city? Chime in below!
