South Florida specialty coffee shops

Talk about your favorite cafes, local barista events, or plan your own get-together.
jbviau
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#1: Post by jbviau »

Since moving back down to South FL last year, I've struggled to locate what I consider good coffee outside of my home. Then again, due to limited free time and an abundance of family obligations, I haven't been able to *scour* the entire area. What I've found so far is that against the backdrop of the usual ubiquitous chains and generic Cuban coffee stands--all of which have their place--a few shops stand out. I want this thread to be about *them*, run by people leading the way in a specialty coffee scene that's poised to take off. My hope is that others might find the thread helpful and contribute their own experiences, so feel free to chime in, whether you're local or just passing through! It is, and will continue to be, a work in progress as I get my bearings here. I'll add more detailed mini-reviews of the shops mentioned before too long.

Note: though I hesitate to use the word "curate," I don't intend to maintain a comprehensive list. Members with some history here and without a commercial interest in the shops they recommend will find their opinions given more weight in terms of additions and updates to the main post.

Palm Beach County:

- Composition Coffee (West Palm Beach): Reopening May 2021. Serving Passenger.

- Crux Coffee (Jupiter): Serving their own roasts.

- Harold's Coffee Lounge (West Palm Beach): Serving Intelligentsia.

- Mane Coffee (Boca Raton): Serving multiple selections from a wide variety of roasters, including Sweet Bloom and Ritual.

- R1 (Boca Raton): Serving Intelligentsia at 17940 S. Military Trail.

- Subculture Coffee (West Palm Beach and Delray Beach): Serving their own roasts.

- The Seed (Boca Raton): Serving Counter Culture now after transitioning away from Wells. Chocolates featured: Minka.

Broward County:

- Brew Urban Cafe (Fort Lauderdale): Serving Wells. Chocolates featured: 24 Blackbirds.

- Calusa Coffee (Fort Lauderdale): Serving their own roasts.

- Circle House (Fort Lauderdale): Serving Panther.

- Cyth & Co. (Oakland Park; formerly Kith & Co.): Serving Counter Culture in the space formerly occupied by Switchbox.

- Grind Coffee Project (Fort Lauderdale; on indefinite pause, with Wells now taking over this location): Serving their own roasts + Kuma and assorted others. See here for feedback. Chocolates featured: Parliament.

- He-Brews Specialty Coffee (Coral Springs): Serving their own roasts.

- Henry's Sandwich Station (Fort Lauderdale): Serving Stumptown.

- Lady and the Mug (Coral Springs): Serving Per'La.

- M.A.S. Café (pop-up closed; shop opening in Fort Lauderdale TBD): Serving coffees sourced from family farms and roasted by Switchbox. Chocolates featured: Cacao Hunters.

- Lady Baker (Pembroke Pines): Serving Counter Culture + great pastries.

- The Alchemist (2 locations in Fort Lauderdale): Serving their own roasts.

- Warsaw Coffee (Fort Lauderdale): For more info., see here. Serving Counter Culture now after transitioning away from Argyle.

- Wells (2 locations in Fort Lauderdale, 1 of which used to be Grind Coffee Project): Serving their own roasts.

Dade County:

- Alex Coffee Roasters (Wynwood): Serving their own roasts.

- All Day MIA (Wynwood; closed on 11/12/23): Serving coffee from a constantly changing line-up of roasters, including Camber, Per'La, and Ruby. Chocolates featured: Dick Taylor, Omnom, Pump Street, and others.

- Blanca (South Miami): Serving Counter Culture.

- Box Coffee (Wynwood): Serving Per'La *cold*.

- Breezeblock (230 NE 4th Ave.): Serving Counter Culture in the space formerly occupied by Mockingbird Cafe.

- Brewing Buddha (Miami): Serving Relentless.

- Brothers and Brawlers (Wynwood): Serving Eastlick and Panther.

- Café Grumpy (Coral Gables): Serving their own roasts.

- Counter Culture training center (Little River): Offering weekly tastings of their own roasts on Fridays at 10 a.m.

- Deco Coffee (Allapattah): Serving their own roasts.

- House of Per'La (Coral Gables): Serving Per'La in the space formerly occupied by Cafe Curuba.

- Miam cafe (Wynwood): Serving Eternity.

- Miami.Coffee (Miami Gardens): Serving their own roasts and offering training through Coffea School.

- Panther Coffee (5 locations in Miami): Serving their own roasts. Gear alert: the Coconut Grove location has a BKON machine.

- Sabal Coffee (Miami, in the St. Roch Market): Serving Counter Culture.

- Salty Donut (Wynwood and S. Miami): Serving Intelligentsia.

- Small Tea Co. (Coral Gables): Serving tea, of course, and also Per'La coffee.

- Taquiza (Miami Beach): Serving Parlor espresso. Seriously awesome tacos.

- Threefold Cafe (2 locations in Miami): Serving Panther mostly.

- Vice City Bean (Wynwood and Little River at The Citadel): Serving Madcap, Onyx, and Great Circle. Chocolates featured: Cao, Castronovo, and Raaka.

- White Rose (Miami): Serving Per'La.

Monroe County:

- Baby's Coffee (Key West): Serving their own roasts.

- Glazed Donuts (Key West): Serving Red Buoy.

--------------------------------------------------

Other local roasters of interest:

- Abra (Miami)
- Argyle (Fort Lauderdale)
- Delirio (coming soon to Jupiter)
- Eternity (Miami)
- Great Circle (Miami)
- Palm Coffee Roasters (Hollywood)
- Palmar (Miami)
- Per'La (Miami)
- Pumphouse (Jupiter)
- Relentless (Miami)
- Strongpull (coming soon to Miami)
- That Coffee (Miami)
- With Coffee (Miami)

Other info:/resources:

- Consider following Andrew Giambarba's Now Brewing Coffee Instagram account for the latest news on monthly meet-ups and more.
- In addition, consider following David Imber's soflocoffee Instagram account for news.
- New: Dose, "A digital magazine uncovering the stories behind coffee and the people who brew it."
- Archived HB thread on "good coffee in S. FL": There is good coffee in South Florida
- New Times list of independent coffee shops in Broward and Palm Beach Counties: http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/clean ... _beach.php
- Thrillist's "best of" list: http://www.thrillist.com/drink/miami/fr ... ffee-shops
- Giambarba's article for MIAbites on specialty coffee in Miami: http://www.miabites.com/home/2016/4/21/ ... lty-coffee
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

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Javier
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#2: Post by Javier »

Anaya Coffee (Melbourne, Florida) uses a Londinium L1 and a Londinium L2 lever machines. Although I have not been there (yet), it might be worth the visit....
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jbviau (original poster)
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#3: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

Thanks for the suggestion. Melbourne is further north than I'd planned to cover in this thread, but maybe I should reconsider given that there are also a few notable shops in Orlando, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Gainesville, Jacksonville, etc. We'll see.
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

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#4: Post by [creative nickname] »

Is Sarasota within your intended scope of coverage? If so, I'd give a very strong recommendation to Perq.
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Larz
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#5: Post by Larz »

A HUGE +1 on Perq in Sarasota.

jbviau (original poster)
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#6: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

Right, I've heard nothing but good things about Perq. Would love to make a trip over there and visit.
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

pShoe
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#7: Post by pShoe »

South Florida was desolate of good coffee shops for a while, but things are luckily changing. I love the atmosphere at The Grind Coffee Project. I definitely endorse checking it out for locals or people visiting.

Threefold Cafe in coral gables serves up Panther Coffee. If you are looking for a place to eat, and want a decent espresso afterwards it is worth checking out.

I guess you could consider adding Alaska Coffee Roasting (Miami) to the "Other local roasters of interest" but I'd understand if you didn't. I'll leave it at that.

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jbviau (original poster)
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#8: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

Thanks, Paul. I added Threefold based on your recommendation. Have you been to Cafe Curuba near there?

Updated the Brew Urban listing (Fort Lauderdale) to reflect changes in the roasters they feature based on a tweet from them today.

I need to decide what's best to do with Alaska, Kaña, and other local roasters who seemingly appeal more to the "best by" crowd than to hardcore coffee enthusiasts...
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

cmin
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#9: Post by cmin »

I don't think Brew Urban has their other location anymore, the one near Las Olas on Hirmarshee closed awhile ago. I liked that one much better then the one off Federal. Unless they opened another one somewhere?

jbviau (original poster)
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#10: Post by jbviau (original poster) »

I think there's still the one location off of Federal and another in C&I Studios that I haven't visited. See Yelp, for example. Let's check?! Their website is down, which is odd.
"It's not anecdotal evidence, it's artisanal data." -Matt Yglesias

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