I would like to preface this by saying that I don’t totally hate the taste of coffee, I just like it with a certain level of sweetness that a lot of avid coffee drinkers would call “tasting like pure sugar.” I have tried everything from plain iced lattes with no cold foam or sweeteners to my dad’s at-home coffee with a weird mix of creamers to the coffee at First Watch that tasted sweeter than a milkshake. So without further ado, I would like to introduce you to my top coffee shops.

Sidecar Coffee

I didn’t even know that Sidecar existed for a very long time, but I had some friends tell me about it and we went as a Bible study and I haven’t turned back since. The first time I went, I got a brown butter iced latte and I think it might have been the best coffee I have ever had. It was sweet and creamy without being too bitter or too sweet. Now, my “too sweet” may be completely tasting like sugar to someone else, but I still want it to taste like coffee. I like it to be sweet so that it cancels out the bitterness, but I like the taste of coffee as long as it is faint. And that’s exactly what I got with this coffee. The perfect amount of sweet and coffee that tasted perfect. The only issue is that it was off of their fall seasonal menu, so I haven’t been able to get it since October. I’ve also had their peppermint mocha latte and red velvet latte which were also both delicious, however, I haven’t had something measure up to the level of that brown butter latte.

Starbucks

Starbucks is always and has always been a classic. What I’ve learned with Starbucks coffee, though, is that I almost always need to add cold foam so that I can just get that little bit of extra sweetness. It is a little bit less sweet than Sidecar, but it only took me one try to figure out what I needed to add to get it to be just slightly sweeter for me to enjoy it more. They get bumped up because they have the addition of having good coffee, tea, matcha, and refreshers. I haven’t had a refresher that I haven’t liked from Starbucks and I hear very highly of their other teas.

Dunkin’

I have only had coffee from Dunkin’ a couple of times: one of the times it was absolutely disgusting, and one of the times I loved it. This past summer, I tried one of my friend’s Dunkalattes and I was impressed to say the least. The next time I went to Dunkin’, it was no longer on the menu and I was very sad. I ordered an iced latte with French vanilla syrup instead, and when I tasted it I wanted to spit it out. It was absolutely one of the worst sips of coffee I had ever had in my life. Now, this is most likely just because I don’t like the taste of unsweet coffee, but I absolutely hated it. It was so bitter to the point that I didn’t even believe that they put any vanilla syrup in it. The third time I had coffee there, I ordered a cookie butter cloud latte which was so good that I drank the whole thing. I will say it could have been a bit sweeter and I probably would have enjoyed it more, but compared to the normal iced latte it was pretty good. I will definitely be getting the Dunkalatte now that it is back, but never again will I be getting a plain latte.

Summit Coffee

Disclaimer, I didn’t get coffee from here, but what I did get scarred me. I got an iced chai latte, which was my favorite drink at the time. When I got it, there were chunks floating around in it, which I have never had in a chai before. It was almost too milky, but then the flavor of chai was awful. I also tried my friend’s matcha, and it was equally as bad. I have heard that the hot chocolate from there is good, but I don’t think I will ever be going back to try it.

I have had a couple of bad experiences with coffee, but when I find a good coffee that I like, I don’t shut up about it. I am eager to try something from 7brew and Dutchbros eventually, but there aren’t any close enough for me to go on a normal basis. But for now, I’m going to stick with what I know and get coffee that I know I will enjoy. Wish me luck on all of my coffee endeavors!