Happy Blogmas! I hope everyone is having a fantastic start to this busy month!
Today’s Blogmas post will conclude my Coffee Tour of St. Louis, where I tried all the top ranked coffeeshops in the city, in search for the best place. I used this list as my guide, and added another place that I frequented. One that was also highly rated that I didn’t try was Coffee Cartel, so if I ever return, I may have to try that!
After 3 months of research, here’s my list. I’m linking to my visits and initial impressions. I evaluated each place by ordering a decaf cappuccino, and scored based on taste, milk foam, ambiance.
- Blueprint. This was actually the first place I went, but it looks like I lucked out with my first! High quality coffee, and you can tell they know their stuff. In addition, a ton of other coffeeshops in this area brew Blueprint coffee, so you know it’s legit.
- Comet Coffee. High quality coffee and milk foam, and bonus for serving the coffee in a mug with a black cat.
- Living Room (ArtHouse Coffee). To be honest, I had the hardest time remembering this place at the end of my time here, but past Aurora ranked it pretty highly.
- Foundation Grounds: This one won in terms of ambiance. It was a cozy, bright shop and felt like the perfect place to curl up with a cappuccino and a laptop on a cold day.
- Rise. This was a solid cappuccino, and I wen there several times to study.
- Kayak Coffee. This wasn’t on the original list, but it was nearish to the zoo, and I went there a few times to study since the food was good. The coffee looked excellent, so I decided to try it out! I loved the presentation: served with sparkling water and a chocolate covered espresso bean. I also had a maple pumpkin latte here that was awesome.
- Mississippi Mud House. Good milk foam, quality coffee, really cook vibe. It’s at the front of an art gallery. My cappuccino was a little on the milky side, but it was high quality milk. I really enjoyed the drink but I’m docking a little bit due to deviation on style.
- The Mud House. I liked the coffee a lot, but I’m pretty sure my decaf was actually full caff which made me a little sick. The food was really good as well. I went there again on my last weekend for cheesy grits and kombucha.
- Sump Coffee. This coffee was really, really good. However, they didn’t offer decaf, and the neighborhood wasn’t the greatest (not dangerous per se, but I was a little worried about leaving my car parked on the street).
- Park Avenue Coffee. I didn’t really like the cappuccino, and the milk foam wasn’t great. However, they have some of the best gooey butter cake in the city (featured on Food Network) in a crazy variety of flavors. I can attest that it was delicious. Also, I didn’t try the original location, I tried the Hill location.
- Northwest Coffee Roasting Company. Not my favorite coffee, and no air conditioning which was little rough on an August morning.
There you have it! My full coffee rankings for St. Louis. Next up—San Francisco?
Where is your favorite coffee?
