College students everywhere are heavily addicted to caffeine. The need for a coffee fix stems from late night cramming followed by early morning classes. After all, coffee can be found on almost every street corner, from Dunkin to Starbucks. But for those who prefer a cup that doesn’t taste like river water or melted ice cream, here are some other options.
Phin Coffee House, located down the street from South Station, is a Vietnamese place that featured not only delicious coffee, but also banh mi, salads, teas and pastries. Once customers walk into the place, they can tell that Phin knows what they’re doing.
The minimalist decor provides a clean palette to enjoy the drink. Aside from the basics, they also offer specialty drinks, like their Boston cream latte, citrus espresso, coconut coffee, ca phe phin, and coconut water espresso. Phin Coffee House is definitely a must-visit for anyone in the area.
Next on the list is the Thinking Cup. Located in Boston Common, Back Bay and the North End, the Thinking Cup is a typical coffee spot, offering drinks and pastries, as well as breakfast and lunch. The coffee is great and not too pricey, as is usually seen in the area. All of their syrups are housemade, which shows through in the flavor.
This is a great spot to study, although they don’t have Wi-Fi, so a hotspot is necessary to get any online work done. However, the Back Bay location is right down the street from the Boston Public Library, so it’s easy to bring a drink there if Wi-Fi is needed.
Another place for coffee is Wells Coffee House in Downtown, right next to the Old State House. Wells is actually a unique place. It’s a nonprofit cafe that donates all its proceeds to charity. They select a “Nonprofit of the Month” to donate their proceeds. The current one is the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
Besides that perk, the coffee is great. They also have a ton of fun and unique flavors that aren’t found anywhere else. For example, some of their seasonal drinks are their apple pie chai, butterbeer latte and pumpkin pecan pancake latte. The flavors are as good as they sound, and they aren’t the overly watered down coffees that are usually found when there are fun flavors.
Fun flavors are also a staple at PS Gourmet Coffee. They have over one hundred flavors, which is insane. They don’t use syrups, but actually brew the coffee with the flavor. This place is definitely for those who prefer sweeter drinks, but they do have a couple options for those who don’t.
They are known for their iconic PS Special, an iced mocha with a cinnamon flavor. The inside doesn’t have any seating, so it’s more of a stop-and-go kind of place. They have locations in South Boston, Braintree, Roslindale and Dorchester.
For true coffee connoisseurs, Ogawa Coffee is the place to go. The prices are higher than the other places on this list, so it’s not exactly an everyday kind of place. The coffee is fantastic and from Kyoto, Japan, which is hard to find in Boston. Google reviewer, Lauren Renfro, said that her “London fog [was] one of the best [she] ever had” (1).
Hopefully, this article has provided some insight to Boston’s many lovely coffee shops, aside from the only place they are known for, Dunkin.
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