BEST Coffee shops in your area

I live in Orange County, CA, and the BEST coffee served in any coffee shop is Kean Coffee. One is on 17th Street in Newport Beach and the other is on Newport Avenue in Tustin. When it comes to flavor, you can't even mention Kean and Starbucks in the same sentence. For ambiance and design, I think Starbucks does do a good job, so I'll give them that.

I like the smell of coffee but can't stand drinking it...so I'm gonna have to say Dunkin Donuts

when I was a kid loved the smell of coffee. You could buy coffee beans in the A & P then pour the beans in a machine that grinds them into coffee.

I loved that smell, but I never like to drink coffee still don't.

A friend of mine recently opened up a shop in Orange. Let me tell you something, when she gave me some coffee beans a while back before she opened shop I took one whiff and thought I'd never smelled coffee so good. She told me that her hubby just got back from Indonesia with it...it was only 5 days old. Imagine that, 5 days old, BEST coffee I ever smelled and tasted. I wanted to jump in a bathtub full of coffee beans it was so good

Bodhi Leaf Coffee Traders They have coffee from all over the world now.

Whether I am in the city or around where I live, I will buy my coffee from the small independent business owner every time. A great cup of coffee tastes better when I am supporting anyone except corporate America. Good for you supporting your friend, AG. I hope they do well.

AG, I'll try them on Sunday. I can always appreciate a fresh, good cup of coffee, and I agree with Mark in supporting independent small business owners. I'll try a nice mild brew unless you have a better suggestion.

When they were starting out, they only had the coffee from Indonesia but now they have a wide selection from a few different countries. I think you may do best with a mild brew like you said. My favorite was always the Sumatra.

AG, looking forward to it.

No one else has good coffee anywhere else in the USA or in the world?!? C'mon people! Where is the best coffee in YOUR area? Or best tea? Or best hot chocolate?

Faithful1, today I went into my friend's coffee shop for the first time. I really think you will be impressed and enjoy their coffee. I left with three lbs. of it so I'm good to go for now. The daughter is there running it. Enjoy!!

I purchased:
Panama Finca Santa Theresa (Milk Chocolate Citrus)
Ethiopia Rophi (Bright, Fruity)
El Salvador Angel Mtn. (Chocolate Caramel)

And I ordered a cup of one of their brews from Guatemala to go. Delicious!

Went there after church this afternoon around 12:30 or 1 pm. I used Google maps for directions and for some reason it went crazy. I was on Tustin Avenue stopped off at the Fresh & Easy on Chapman, and from there went to Katella and headed toward Glassell. When I was close I pulled over and put on the Google map to help me get there the rest of the way. It started giving me the craziest directions. It told me to make a left from where I was when I should have gone right, then after I made the left it told me to make a u-turn. Then after I passed Glassell it told me to make a u-turn and Bodhi Coffee would be on the right, but all I had to do was turn left. I turned off Google maps because I could see where it was. I don't know what happened with Google and if anyone knows how to report screwed up directions to Google, please let me know.

Anyway, I went it to the coffee shop. It looked nice and clean. Had a fresh and modern look to it. Large and roomy. The cashier and the barista seemed friendly and helpful. I wanted to order a 16 oz mild coffee, but they stopped brewing it, so if I wanted the mild I would have to get it Americano style, which costs a dollar more, or a pour-over, which also costs more and it maxes out at 10 oz. (Starbucks doesn't charge extra for Americanos or pour-overs). The cashier gave me a sample of the medium, which tasted par for the course. I ended up taking it. I thought it was funny (in the sense of strange or curiously interesting) that the cashier told the barista that it was "para llevar" ("to go" in Spanish), but aside from that they spoke to each other in perfect English. Then the barista started adding ice to my coffee and I asked the cashier why she was doing that. She said that was was watering down the coffee to make it milder, and I told her I didn't want ice, so she made me another one. Then when I went to pay for the $2.00 coffee, the pay screen has these preset tips of $1, $2 and more. I often leave tips, but I'm not going to tip 50% of something unless I get something that's standout excellent, and my experience didn't hit that mark.

Maybe I'd have to go there early in the morning to get a mild brew, but I didn't have a great experience. I'll give them another chance in the future since they were friendly, the place was clean, and they get 5 star reviews on Yelp. So we'll see.

That's too bad Faithful. Looks like all you wanted to do was go in there and get yourself a nice cup of coffee. Instead, you were driving all over creation and when you finally did get there you couldn't even get the coffee type you wanted. What a bummer!!

On Friday, I went there straight from the salon in Orange so I found it right away. I just looked it up on the map and it has it located on the RR tracks. ?? No wonder why you couldn't find it. When I was in there, her daughter was working as the barista. Sounds like she had today off.

I had a great experience there. I'm sorry you were disappointed.

It's no problem. Most of the coffee shops for some reason stop serving the mild brew after 12 noon. To me, mild just tastes better. At Kean's Coffee the mild is so good you almost don't need to add sugar (or Splenda in my case).

Google pissed me off more than the coffee shop, much more. In the end I shut off the directions and just looked at the map. I saw it was across the street from Home Depot and Jack in the Box -- and there it was!

I'll give it another try, so I'm withholding judgment.

When I think of a "coffee shop" places like Sambo's, Perko's, Zim's, Denny's and other unique local establishments come to mind. A place that serves simple reasonable priced fare with breakfast available 24hrs. They had 2 kinds coffee - regular and decaf with the orange rim. With this definition I have a few local favorites.

Lucky Penny - This is the last "survivor" of the Copper Penny chain. It's essentially the same thing with a different name.

Pinecrest - If you are in San Francisco be sure to stop in and have the Eggs Benedict or Florentine - any of the poached egg dishes are delicious! But be aware, they are not on the menu - it's a "locals only" type of deal. Like getting a burger "animal style" at In n Out.

Not local but definitely a favorite...

Denny's - It's 3AM, you're fucked up and we're open. 'nuff said.

I drink a lot of coffee. I have recently started going toa Panera Bread which they opened near my gym. They have pretty good coffee as does Duncan, and even McDonalds, I personally think Starbucks sucks. Used to frequent some small coffee houses but they changed hands and got too expensive