spring break: coffee
I am obsessed with coffee, I could be considered an amateur snob. When I travel I love to find new and quality coffee shops around the world. I feel like you can really get to know a city by shipping those trips to Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. I believe in taking a risk! Try some coffee or tea shop that has some local roots!
My boyfriend, Jason, and I took a little road trip up to Vancouver, B.C. for our Spring Break. We had a fantastic time biking around the city, enjoying the sunshine and eating tons of delicious food I'll post mark about it soon. The two best cups of coffee we had were from Revolver in Vancouver and Onyx Coffee Bar in Bellingham, WA. Both are third wave coffee shops, specializing in single origin coffee and a have a few similarities.
Revolver Coffee Shop, not only features fantastic coffee, but is a fantastic space. WIth a beautiful exposed brick wall, beautiful wood bar and a beautiful display of nerdy coffee equipment. One unique feature of this shop? Their rotating menu of coffee beans, featuring beans roasted from all over the world. If your in Vancouver, it is definitely worth a visit. From Cappuccinos to single origins their coffee is definitely made with care and will make your morning or afternoon!
Their current coffees: Phil & Sebastian (Calgary), Sightglass (San Francisco), Heart (Portland), Matchstick (Vancouver), Handsome (Los Angeles), and Bows and Arrows (Victoria).
Onyx Coffee Bar on the other hand is only open on Saturdays, but if you luckily find yourself in Bellingham while the little coffee bar is open it is definitely worth a visit. If you are looking for a good cup of speciality crafted coffee, this is your place but don't expect there to be milk or sugar or an espresso machine. Onyx is primarily a tasting and training lab, the owners source green coffee beans from primarily South America for a variety of different roasters and features those roasters coffees in their shop.
On the day we happened to go in the coffee selection was all from Heart in Portland, OR. Jason and I decided to try two different coffees. I chose the Ethiopia Yukro and Jason the Colombia Perla del Sur. Two extremely different coffees but each was dialed in so perfectly, that each had amazing flavor profiles. Not to mention I'm in love with their coffee cups! Onyx coffee bar featured not only good coffee but a wonderful environment with great conversation and a laid back style. It is worth the venture off of I-5 on a Saturday.
There's more to come on our Spring Break adventure in the next few days!