Deon Jackson famously sang that love makes the world go round, but we all know he was full of shit: It’s coffee. Many say that D.C. is in the midst of an artisan coffee renaissance, while others argue that its always been a good town to grab a damn fine cup of joe. Whichever the case, one thing is for certain: You don’t have to look far to find good coffee. Below, DCist writers highlight their favorite coffee shops in the D.C. area.
Photo by Kevin H.
BAKED AND WIRED: Proof that Georgetown is more than just a fancy shopping mecca, Baked and Wired’s funky little outpost serves carefully crafted coffee drinks and a drool-worthy selection of sweet and savory pastries. They say that good things come to those who wait, and Baked and Wired is no exception. The baristas take their time here, but you’ll be duly rewarded with a smooth cup crowned with delicate latte art. On the first and third Wednesdays of the month, the shop hosts coffee and tea brewing demos for those wishing to expand their beverage knowledge. — Alicia Mazzara
Baked and Wired is located at 1052 Thomas Jefferson Street NW.
BLIND DOG CAFE: Blind Dog Cafe started as a pop-up a couple of years ago at Darnell’s Bar at 944 Florida Avenue NW, but hey liked the setup so much they never left. Since then, they’ve sold coffee, small-batch bakery items, and sandwiches in the living room-esque space during the day, before it turns into a bar in the evenings. Their java is sourced from local micro-roaster Vigilante Coffee—which is excellent—but I’m particularly a fan of the many homemade sodas, with flavors like blood orange and passion fruit. — Josh Novikoff
Bling Dog Cafe is located at 944 Florida Avenue NW.
CHINATOWN COFFE: Chinatown Coffee is like a breath of fresh air amid a wasteland of chain restaurants and stores. The interior is sparse and industrial, and the chairs are unabashedly uncomfortable. Yet people linger, and it’s not just for the free Wi-Fi: Chinatown Coffee serves up single-origin brews from the likes of Counter Culture, Intelligentsia Coffee, and Heart Roasters. You won’t find any watery, burnt brews here, but carefully crafted coffee drinks with tasting notes “dark chocolate and brown sugar” and “apple fritters.” For the non-coffee drinkers, there’s also a nice selection of loose leaf teas and a carefully curated list of beer, wine, and absinthe. Come for the delicious coffee, stay for the spectacle of the absinthe fountain. — Alicia Mazzara
Chinatown Coffee is located at 475 H Street NW.
KAFE BOHEM: Kafe Bohem has all I want from a local cafe: Good coffee, fair prices, great food, a cozy atmosphere, friendly staff, and enough seating that I’m never nervous that I’ll show up and be seat-less. I stay pretty basic with my coffee, so I can’t speak for the fancy stuff, but they do advertise some specials, like their current Maple Mocha, which are tempting. Their food menu is more elaborate than a lot of strictly-coffee shops, including a handful of sandwiches (I’m a fan of the cucumber sandwich and the portabello banh mi), pastries, rotating soups (jalapeno and cucumber gazpacho = yum!), and salads. The food is quite good and not heavy—perfect for a working lunch or client meeting. Bonus: The staff will often whip up special pastries and muffins, which make nice surprise additions to the menu. — Lynne Venart
Kafe Bohem is located at 600 Florida Avenue NW.
FILTER: Perhaps known to the uninitiated as “The Place That Banned Laptops in Foggy Bottom,” Filter’s two locations provide quality service and quality coffee with beans from Ceremony Coffee. The flat white? Arguably the best in the city. The long black? Superb. But you can’t go wrong with a simple cup of French press. —Sarah Anne Hughes
Filter is located at 1916 I Street NW and 1726 20th Street NW.
LA COLOMBE: Nestled in Shaw’s Blagden Alley and sharing a wall with RJ Cooper’s Rogue 24, Philadelphia’s La Colombe has already made a name for itself in just the few short months its been open. With a beautiful exposed brick build-out and large windows to bring in a soft light, the rowhouse cafe is a convenient walkthrough spot in a neighborhood for those on-the-go, but has the aesthetics to keep someone sitting in comfort with savored cups of joe for hours on end. Along with their own single-origin roasts and blends, the shop carries baked goods from neighborhood pastry purveyor Frenchie’s to satisfy that sweet or savory tooth. With no official menu, La Colombe displays its wares to entice and relies on your coffee-inspired desires to order whatever form of imbibing you want. Cappuccinos play with a wonderful floral bouquet on the nose, and notes of caramel and pecan linger as a delicate acidity dissipates on the tongue. Darker roasts like their Corsica blend hint at cocoa and a pleasant complexity while still being assertive. Regardless of your beverage of choice, you’ll be thinking it is a damn fine cup of coffee. — John Fleury
La Colombe is located in Blagden Alley at 924 N Street NW.
LE CAPRICE: Le Caprice in northern Columbia Heights claims to have the best croissants in the city. Without sampling them all, we can’t know for sure, but those and the rest of their baked goods are pretty damn tasty. Opened by a French émigré who wanted French-style baked goods in the city, they also have fantastic breakfast sandwiches—I’m a big fan of the egg, cheese and tomato on a delicious, slightly sweet roll, to which you can also add bacon. Their coffee selections are pretty straightforward—the usual espresso drinks and black coffee—but it’s a nice spot to read the paper or sit on the patio and people-watch on 14th Street while enjoying some boulangerie-ness. — Andrew Wiseman
Le Caprice is located at 3460 14th Street NW.
M.E. SWING’S: M.E. Swing’s has been cranking out freshly roasted beans for nearly 100 years, making it something of a D.C. institution. In the last few years, the unassuming G Street storefront (located just blocks—blocks!—from the White House) has undergone a transformation into a serious coffee bar, and they recently opened a second cafe and roastery in Del Ray. On any given weekday morning, it’s not uncommon to see a line of suits snaking out the door, waiting in anticipation for a cup of single-origin coffee or one of Swing’s signature blends. — Alicia Mazzara
M.E. Swing’s has locations at 1702 G Street NW or 501 East Monroe Ave in Alexandria, Va.
Peregrine owner owner Ryan Jensen uses a pour through method to brew his shop’s grounds. Photo by Aaron Morrissey.
PEREGRINE ESPRESSO: The line is always near the door at Peregrine’s Eastern Market location and it’s not just because of how busy that area is on the weekends. Peregrine takes brewing coffee seriously and it shows in the final product. Using Counter Culture Coffee beans and sourcing other items locally, the baristas know what they’re doing and have the
Peregrine is located at 660 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, 1718 14th
Street NW, and inside Union Market (1309 5th Street NE).
QUALIA COFFEE: The employees of this Petworth spot don’t take their role of roastmaster lightly. There are usually around nine types of beans on display in front of the register at all times and they actually offered an internship (or, if you look at it another way, on-the-job training) so that no new employees would be left alone and clueless with their machinery. Unsurprisingly, the coffee is fantastic. But over and above that, Qualia is a true neighborhood gathering space. They have Wi-Fi for the teleworking and studying crowds but they also turn it off the last weekend of every month to foster conversation amongst their customers. For an extra bonus, try the quiche. — Valerie Paschall
Qualia Coffee is located at 3917 Georgia Avenue NW.
SIDAMO: Since 2007, Sidamo has been providing H Street NE with extremely fresh, organic coffee roasted daily on-site. Owned by Kenfe Bellay and Yalemzwed Desta, the nicest husband and wife team you’ll ever meet, Sidamo is a cozy little shop that offers Wi-Fi and has a good selection of sandwiches. But it’s the coffee—the rich, dark, strong, delicious coffee—that’s worth the trip. With SOVA gone (and missed every single day), Sidamo is the go-to coffee spot on H Street NE. —Sarah Anne Hughes
Sidamo is located at 417 H Street NE.
THE COFFEE BAR: Confession time! I stopped drinking coffee over a year ago. Though I indulge in the occasional mocha (OK, almost daily)—which is essentially adult hot chocolate—I’m primarily a tea guy. That being said, I don’t need to try it to know that the coffee at The Coffee Bar in Shaw is excellent. The steady stream of people coming in and out every minute they’re open says enough about the quality of its coffee. That being said, I am a firm believer that, in addition to serving quality caffeinated beverages, a good coffee shop is a place you can post up in for hours. That much is true with The Coffee Bar, as it feels like a communal reading room. It’s the true definition of a great neighborhood coffee bar: welcoming, friendly staff, and always super packed. — Matt Cohen
The Coffee Bar is located at 1201 S Street NW.
TRYST: It is, admittedly, with mixed feelings that I bring up my love-hate relationship with Tryst. The coffee and tea is legit, the food selection is great for a coffee shop, and they will let you linger on a creaky antique couch and be a Wi-Fi-leaching hobo for hours on end. Add in the wall of windows that they open on nice, humidity-free days, live music, and cocktails in the evening, and you’ve basically got a recipe for the ideal coffee shop. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to agree: The place is almost always clogged with self-aware scenesters on laptops, especially on the weekend. Sometimes it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. — Alicia Mazzara
Tryst is located at 2459 18th Street NW.
