Best Coffee in Ann Arbor
16 articles
Ann Arbor takes coffee seriously in a way that not every college town does. Roos Roast on Rosewood has been roasting its own beans since 2008. Hyperion on Fourth Avenue opened to immediate acclaim. Lab on State Street is the downtown anchor. Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea has the footprint. The Zingerman's Bakehouse supplies pastry to much of the city's café scene.
Below is Plate & Press's coffee coverage — independent shops, roasters, and the places worth sitting in when Ann Arbor weather gives you a reason to stay inside.
The Grind: RoosRoast
Entry 1. Twenty years of roasting in Ann Arbor, and the Lobster Butter Love is still the one.
The first entry in The Grind visits RoosRoast at 1155 Rosewood St, where the Lobster Butter Love espresso sets the benchmark and the room earns every return visit.
The Grind: Best Coffee in Ann Arbor
A running series evaluating Ann Arbor's coffee shops one at a time. One drink, one room, one honest read.
The Grind is a new Plate & Press series: one coffee shop, one drink, one honest evaluation. Starting with RoosRoast on Rosewood, working through every serious coffee program in Ann Arbor worth arguing about.
Best Coffee in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti
Seven roasters and cafes that take the cup seriously. No drive-through chains allowed.
Seven coffee shops across Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti where the beans are sourced with care, roasted with intention, and served by people who actually drink the stuff.
Espy Cafe Shares the Profits
The employee-owned coffee shop on West Huron is doing something different with its business model and its sourcing.
Espy Cafe at 404 W Huron St runs a no-tip model with higher wages and gives employees ownership shares based on hours worked. Here is what to expect when the doors open March 1.
Espy Cafe Opens on West Huron
A new local cafe at 404 W Huron St with a serious espresso program and single-origin sourcing.
Espy Cafe at 404 W Huron St opened March 1 with a two-machine espresso program, single-origin sourcing via Semilla and Sundog, and a no-tip model with employee ownership shares.
Ziggi's Coffee Opens Its First Washtenaw County Location
The Colorado-based chain lands on Dexter-Ann Arbor Road with a drive-through and a specialty drink menu.
The Colorado-based chain opens on Dexter-Ann Arbor Road with a drive-through and specialty drinks.
Comet Coffee Is the Smallest Great Coffee Shop in Ann Arbor
In Nickels Arcade, a sliver of a room with a few seats and an espresso machine proves that less is more, as long as the cortado is right.
Comet Coffee in Nickels Arcade serves precise espresso drinks in a room barely bigger than a hallway. The cortado is the best in Ann Arbor, and the size is the point.
Joe and Rosie Coffee Is Dexter's Gathering Place
At 8074 Main St, a coffee shop that does more than pour espresso.
Joe and Rosie Coffee at 8074 Main St in Dexter has been serving espresso, soups, and sandwiches on Main Street since 2010, functioning as the town's de facto living room.
Zingerman's Coffee Company Roasts Quietly and Means It
The fourth stop in our Zingerman's Universe series. On Plaza Drive, a small roasting operation takes single-origin beans seriously enough to make you rethink your morning cup.
Zingerman's Coffee Company at 3723 Plaza Dr roasts single-origin beans in small batches. The fourth entry in our Zingerman's Universe series.
Vertex Coffee Roasters Is Worth the Drive to Maiden Lane
On Ann Arbor's north side, a roaster doing quiet, serious work with single-origin beans.
Vertex Coffee Roasters at 1029 Maiden Ln roasts its own beans and rotates single-origin offerings by season. The cold brew and pastries are strong, and the room is built for focus.
Sweetwaters Is Everywhere in Ann Arbor. That's the Point.
A local coffee chain that chose scale over scarcity, and built a model that actually works.
Sweetwaters Coffee & Tea has multiple locations across Ann Arbor. The drinks are consistent, the spaces are comfortable, and the model proves that local chains can grow without losing what made them local.
RoosRoast Liberty Is the Downtown Outpost That Earns Its Block
At 117 E Liberty St, the smaller, busier half of Ann Arbor's independent roaster.
RoosRoast's Liberty Street shop at 117 E Liberty St is the downtown cafe of Ann Arbor's independent roaster, smaller and busier than the Rosewood roastery, on a block that keeps getting better.
RoosRoast Is Ann Arbor's Coffee. Twenty Years of Roasting Proves It.
Solar-powered, locally roasted, and stubbornly independent since 2005.
Solar-powered, locally roasted, and stubbornly independent. RoosRoast is Ann Arbor's coffee identity.
Argus Farm Stop Is Not a Grocery Store
At 325 W Liberty St, a retail model that puts local farms directly in front of local eaters.
Argus Farm Stop at 325 W Liberty St in Ann Arbor works with hundreds of local farms and producers to sell produce, meat, dairy, eggs, baked goods, and coffee under one roof. It is a distribution system disguised as a storefront.
Hyperion Coffee Is Ypsilanti's Answer to a Question Ann Arbor Thinks It Already Solved
At 306 N River St in Depot Town, a roaster treats coffee the way a winery treats grapes. RoosRoast should be paying attention.
Hyperion Coffee roasts single-origin, direct-trade beans at 306 N River St in Ypsilanti's Depot Town. A profile of the roaster challenging Ann Arbor's coffee assumptions.
What Ypsilanti Lost When Cultivate Coffee Closed
A church-backed coffee shop that became Depot Town's living room. Then the city declined a tent permit, and it was over.
Cultivate Coffee & Tap House closed in February 2022 after the city of Ypsilanti declined to renew its heated outdoor tent permit. The space on North River Street is now Vertex Coffee Roasters.