Pure Coffee Blog

The Bake Shop

2026-03-31T23:35:00.072-04:00

Subject: The Bake Shop
Location: Williamsburg, VA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Growing up around Philadelphia, there were always bakeries people would rave about. And as I got into good coffee, I noticed that it was rare for a good bakery to also have a good coffee set-up. But every now and then, I found a gem that made great breads or confections alongside a solid cup of coffee.Read more »

Alchemy Coffee

2026-03-30T23:03:00.002-04:00

Subject: Alchemy Coffee
Location visited: 21st St, Philadelphia, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Some days I get to be the valet for a family member. Whether it's to usher someone to a sporting event or to drop a gaggle of relatives at the ballet, I get picked because "I like Philly." Sadly, they are right. I will often take the burden of driving and parking if it means I get some time to wander around and visit coffee shops.

Crossroads Cafe

2026-02-28T23:12:00.005-05:00

Subject: Crossroads Cafe
Location: Quarryville, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

I love driving around the area surrounding Lancaster. The city itself has its charm, but the countryside that is home to corn mazes, Bible story theater and chicken-filled smorgasbords holds a fabled loveliness that few regions can rival.

Jiva Java Cafe

2026-02-28T22:59:00.016-05:00

Subject: Jiva Java Cafe

Location: Bartonsville, PA
Rating: 5+ [see key]

The Poconos region has mixed memories for me. On the one hand, its natural beauty often suffers due to poor infrastructure design and inexplicable hoards of tourists. On the other hand, the area has lots of local gems that, if sought out, can be found on roadsides and random back roads aplenty.

Ace Outpost

2026-01-31T22:57:00.052-05:00

Subject: Ace Outpost

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

The city of Philadelphia boasts magnificent architecture, history and lovely parks. But when you're walking through the streets of the city, there's a particular look for the storefronts below that screams Philadelphia which is increasingly had to find as landlords trade out that 80s grit for fancy facades. One trip south of South Street brought me to a rare, gorgeous example of this fading Philly look at a coffee shop/vintage clothing store called Ace Outpost.Read more »

Union Coffee

2026-01-29T00:18:00.001-05:00

Subject: Union Coffee

Location: Lambertville, NJ
Rating: 6+ [see key]

The two towns of Lambertville, NJ and New Hope, PA are inexorably tied and yet have two very different dynamics. New Hope is far more the tourist-centered borough, with its cute main street and attractions, but a few visits expose its congested footprint and surprising lack of public (or private) bathrooms. Whereas Lambertville first appears far more of a sleepy village, but repeat exposure shows this is the town with far more quality, hidden gems.

De Fer Coffee & Tea

2025-12-31T23:56:00.054-05:00

Subject: De Fer Coffee & Tea
Location visited: Strip District, Pittsburgh, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Pittsburgh in summer remains a favorite destination, especially if I have business/destinations to visit in the city that give the necessary motivation to seek out good coffee.

Pleasant Valley Dairy

2025-12-30T23:13:00.012-05:00

Subject: Pleasant Valley Dairy

Location: Middletown, DE
Rating: 5+ [see key]

I love Amish markets, especially in (seemingly) random spots scattered across the land. In traveling south for a little recent Christmas cheer in Delaware, I happened upon such a market in Middletown, poised for a morning cup of coffee in the early afternoon. Usually I would have stopped at a shop in the Wilmington area prior to heading down, but I found myself outside the (archaic) early afternoon cutoff for many shops and my last hope for a possible cup of something other than convenience coffee stood this market before they closed their doors at 4 PM that Saturday.

Faire Cafe

2025-11-30T23:28:00.011-05:00

Subject: Faire Cafe
Location: Wilmington, DE
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Wilmington is an odd area. For a city that seems to have a lot of different types of neighborhoods, the land has a quite a decent amount of good coffee relative to its size. Read more »

Culture Coffee

2025-11-30T22:25:00.001-05:00

Subject: Culture Coffee
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Lewisburg was an unknown place to my young mind when I was looking for university jobs twenty years ago. I applied to work at Bucknell, got rejected and then Lewisburg faded from my thoughts for over a decade. When the city next resurfaced, I was passing through on a local trip and I had need of a good cup of coffee.Read more »

Fellow Mountain Cafe

2025-10-31T23:48:00.004-04:00

Subject: Fellow Mountain Cafe
Location: Hunter, NY
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Having traveled much of New York state, I am always astounded how much more of it I still have not seen. One section I had yet to peruse was the area around Jewett. Next store to it is a quaint towns called Hunter and that town had what I had hoped; a really good coffee shop.Read more »

Pennie's Bake Shop and Espresso Bar

2025-10-31T22:43:00.014-04:00

Subject: Pennie's Bake Shop and Espresso Bar
Location: Butler, PA
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Western Pennsylvania has a variety of hidden gems strewn about its small towns. While I don't often get the chance, when I'm in the area, I treasure the opportunity to mine them out.Read more »

UPDATE: Goodbye WIFI

2025-10-31T22:37:00.003-04:00

TLDR: I am no longer going to notate whether a cafe has WIFI in my posts.

In reflecting these past years, I realized that I tend to assume that WIFI exists in coffee spaces. Part of that comes down to the fact that the wireless internet feature has become a ubiquitous facet, one that I only really notice when a shop points out their specific policy or lacks internet entirely. Thus, what was once a new and exciting feature (like back in 2009), free WIFI has now become business as usual.

This leads to my secondary reason to not bother noting the WIFI on this blog. Over the years, I have come to gradually support the hypothesis that cafe work culture seems to slowly poison a coffee shop, often contributing to its eventual demise. A coffeehouse can find strategies to stave off the atrophy of an all-day squatter subsisting off a $5 beverage, but even then, the WIFI seems to support the backbone of falsely-held customer entitlement to extended lodging in an establishment that really can't afford to support it.

So in short, I am not remaining perched on a WIFI soapbox (shops can do what they want), but given the wide availability of wireless internet and that I no longer see it as a valuable feature to a shop, I shall henceforth wipe the question of "WIFI?" from my future posts.

2nd Wave Coffee

2025-09-30T23:34:00.068-04:00

Subject: 2nd Wave Coffee
Location: Berlin, MD
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

Driving south through Maryland, there's a always a nugget or two to unearth. One of my last times, I came upon the town of Berlin, a cozy borough with a nice downtown and a promise of good coffee.

J5 Coffee

2025-09-30T23:12:00.009-04:00

Subject: J5 Coffee
Location visited: Hwy 2, Leavenworth, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Quite often, I am amazed coffee shops can afford large buildings. Whether it's my northeast roots where I'm used to high rents or my love for intimate coffee experiences, I feel most at home in smaller shops (though I do love a good cavernous warehouse). Thus when I pulled into Leavenworth with it's Bavarian ambiance, it was no wonder that I gravitated to a cozy coffee stand of a local roaster called J5.Read more »

Mela Coffee

2025-08-31T23:20:00.086-04:00

Subject: Mela Coffee Roasting Company
Location: Wenatchee, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

When people think of Washington, most folks think Seattle and the lush green lands of the Pacific Northwest. Yet it's hard to believe that on the other side of the Cascades, but two or so hours away, the very same state offers a dry, sometimes barren landscape.Read more »

Farmer and Co

2025-08-30T22:24:00.017-04:00

Subject: Farm and Co
Location: Unionville, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 5+ [see key]

I have driven to Longwood Gardens frequently in my many years living near the giant horticultural display but in all that time, I managed to overlook Unionville nearby. A small bucolic town, it hit my radar with the discovery of a coffee shop located in an old farm house called Farm and Co.Read more »

Ebru Coffee

2025-07-31T00:16:00.059-04:00

Subject: Ebru Coffee
Location: Audubon, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Driving through the lands west of Philly bring you through a variety of towns. It's fascinating how the landscape shifts between rich suburbs, farms and old towns, but the tapestry always unearths news gems.

Cloud City Coffee

2025-07-30T22:48:00.060-04:00

Subject: Cloud City Coffee
Location visited: Seattle, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Seattle on a warm sunny day is the stuff of legends. In the few times I have visited, I have been fortunate to experience many a sunny outing in the city known for its rain. On one recent outing I had some spare time to grab some coffee before a trip to the park and made my way to a coffee roaster called Cloud City Coffee.Read more »

Mayday Coffee

2025-06-30T23:31:00.060-04:00

Subject: Mayday Coffee

Location visited: West Chester, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Driving through the Philadelphia suburbs looking for good coffee is a bit like working a spent diamond mine; there's not much in terms of good coffee but when you find a gem, it's worth it.

Bar Francis

2025-06-30T23:00:00.077-04:00

Subject: Bar Francis

Location visited: Olympia, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Washington weather really colors your perceptions. My first trip to Olympia was a soaking wet side quest that put me 2 hours out of my way, giving me a glum and bleak impression of the city. But my second visit proved to be a sunny saunter west with no real rush, fully changing my perspective of the state capitol.Read more »

Drumroaster Coffee

2025-05-31T23:57:00.082-04:00

Subject: Drumroaster Coffee

Location visited: Cobble Hill, BC
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

Driving north from Victoria, I found Vancouver Island to be a fascinating part of Canada. The dense forests and unique towns definitely made for a relaxing respite. Read more »

Discovery Coffee

2025-05-31T23:36:00.103-04:00

Subject: Discovery Coffee
Location visited: Discovery Street, Victoria, BC
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

The early weekend morning of a city is often a blissful landscape. Most still slumber at the usual rush hours, with only folks required to be awake wandering about. One delightful morning in Victoria offered me a delightful experience and my path through Chinatown brought me to the doors of my coffee destination, Discovery Coffee.Read more »

Rhythms Coffee

2025-04-30T23:06:00.045-04:00

Subject: Rhythms Coffee
Location: Olympia, WA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

The music scene is what originally drew me to coffee houses. I recall back in high school, going to different open mic nights on weekends to hang with friends, not caring all that much for the quality of my drink, just that I could easily afford $1.50 for drip coffee. Sadly, few coffeehouses carry on the tradition of live music these days, never mind stay open past 2 PM on a Friday night.

Collage Coffee

2025-04-30T22:55:00.068-04:00

Subject: Collage Coffee
Location visited: Mercer, PA
WiFi?: yes
Rating: 6+ [see key]

It is not often I get to western Pennsylvania, but when I do I manage to always pass a sign advertising Grove City. Maybe it's that my wife points it out because she visited the town when she was looking at colleges with her father and sister back in the day, but regardless the reason, it wasn't until recently that I was finally able to make a visit.Read more »