Enjoying Great Lakes Coffee

National Coffee Day was Sunday, September 29th. My favourite coffee moment happens when I am back at my parents’ home in Maidstone – I get up really early with my Dad, and while I quietly turn the pages of my magazines and he delicately swipes the screen of his iPad, we sip on coffee. In the winter, he warms the mugs on the fireplace first, and in the summer we are fine to let it cool as we sit outside on the front porch. Around 8:30 a.m. my Dad presses play on Natalie Cole’s “Coffee Time,” and slowly peeks around the bedroom door to where Mom is still tucked in bed. Then the three of us are quietly reading while casually waking up.

I am now settled into a home in Cleveland, but before that I have lived in two other apartments, in two different towns. Each time my parents have visited over the years, on weekend mornings my Dad has enjoyed going for a walk to get coffees. I do have a French press and a Bialetti, and keep fresh beans on hand, but my Dad enjoys the stroll, the discovery, and the potential conversation with the owner of a local coffee shop.

In Ann Arbor one of the first strolls my Dad and I took was over to Washtenaw Dairy, where my friend and neighbor Elnian told us we could get delicious donuts. Actually, everyone in Ann Arbor will tell you to eat the donuts here. Glazed, powdered, sprinkled or sugared, they are still warm in the early morning. We walked to get a bag full, and three tall, simple drip coffees in large Styrofoam cups. Perhaps it can go without saying, but we have enjoyed Zingerman’s coffee at the Deli’s Next Door Coffeehouse, and at the Coffee Company’s Coffee Bar, at Downtown Home & Garden and at Zingerman’s Roadhouse during brunch. It is good, and there is never a disappointment. Comet Coffee is a little place that took us a while to discover, although it is a destination that many Ann Arborites are devoted to it. The best whole beans I have purchased to date are from this café, and we loved sitting at the high-bar window, looking out at passersby in the alleyway. My most recent go-to in Ann Arbor is RoosRoast and its new café spot, RoosRoast Coffee Works. Here there are hand-pulled espresso drinks, locally roasted beans to-go, and a gorgeous collection of hand crafted ceramic mugs, a part of RoosRoast’s Perfect Mug Series, which I now covet. And, the best place to drink coffee while waiting outside for a table at breakfast? Northside Grill. I don’t remember what the coffee tasted like, but I know we were thrilled that a carafe was sitting out next to paper cups, there in the crisp autumn air.

Stratford, Ontario is currently my favourite cute little town. I loved living there, and moved there because I was smitten by it. Working at Your Local Market Co-Op allowed me the chance to discover many local roasters (we carried quite a variety), and while I most often drank a decent self-made latte each morning, since I was practicing the espresso machine, when Mom and Dad would come into town, we would pick up coffees most often at Balzac’s Coffee Roasters (my Dad’s early morning walks.) If Zach and I wanted some time to relax with a coffee we would spend time at Revel Caffé. Balzac’s is a busy café, with an outdoor patio in front and one out back (I used to busk in the early mornings next to the front patio and play French tunes for people as they sipped their cappuccinos) and as you wait in line for your latte made with Ontario organic milk, there is a row of glass cake stands showcasing an array of plump, gooey, chocolatey and fruit-filled breakfast goods. Revel recently changed locations, and the new space is open, and calm, and light-filled. There is a spot for each scene – whether you want a quiet chat with a friend or want to meet with a large group for knitting or book discussions. Revel sells KeepCup’s great line of reusable cups, and the baked goods are phenomenal – cookies, croissants, biscotti, pain au chocolat. Recently, a new shop has garnered my coffee allegiance. The owners of Your Local Market Co-op opened a new cafe called Slave to the Grind, and with some renovations they cleared out the back space turning it into a cozy room with a wide window view of York St. and the Avon river. Warming up between sets while playing at this past year’s outdoor Savour Stratford, I felt cuddled up and intimate. I enjoyed knowing that Katelyn Veer’s baked goods from Your Local Market Co-op, such as the bestselling Bakewell Tart, were merely steps away, and a hand-pulled latte from coffee connoisseur Heather Walker, was within reach.

And, here I am now in Cleveland. There is so much positive energy in this city. Cleveland is burgeoning and changing and it’s not a facelift, it’s not an overhaul, it’s a renewal and rediscovery. So many Clevelanders are taking part in small-business ventures, and without a doubt, cafés and local coffee roasters are flourishing. There are many cafés and roasters I have not yet found or experienced, but in the few months that I have been here, here is my list of recent discoveries. Let’s start with my Dad’s morning walk down our main street in Euclid to Lake Shore Coffee House. It is similar to the Styrofoam-cup light roasts at Washtenaw Dairy, but with gluten-free muffins in lieu of donuts. This local coffee shop is a gem for us, with “Coffee with a Cop” nights, art get-togethers and open mics. Rising Star Coffee Roasters made the best Vietnamese coffee I’ve had yet, and the variety of pours and coffee servings is an absolute science. This coffee stop-through and roasting facility consistently has five star reviews because their coffee and processes are concentrated on and perfected. I stopped in Gordon Square the other week to pass some time before a dance class, and I spent the time at Gypsy Beans & Baking Co. Sitting at the long stretch of wooden bar, I felt comfortable for hours. There are sandwiches, sweets, soups and salads on the menu, like chocolate tartlets and cheesy flatbreads. Zach and I have a weekly routine that involves Phoenix Coffee. This is the coffee we served at our wedding, and it is also the roaster whose beans we keep in stock in our pantry. We have a Phoenix Coffee tin can, which we refill every Wednesday. And, on Wednesdays, I fill up our KeepCup reusable mugs with a daily dark roast for myself, and an iced coffee with caramel for Zach; a mid-week treat.

I heard a woman at work this morning saying to a co-worker, “Ok, sounds good. But, let me just go get my morning coffee.” Coffee is a ritual many of us take part in, and take comfort it. While often people feel they need it to get through their mornings or afternoons, I do like to think that we can also enjoy the relaxation that comes with the routine of talking over coffee, making a coffee, ordering a coffee, sitting and reading with a coffee, or letting our minds wander while enjoying a coffee by ourselves or alongside a coffee-drinking companion.

I hope you share your favourite coffee shops below, so we too can visit those as we travel around.