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And now to insight a riot . . . my rankings of coffee shops in Blacksburg

Coffee CupBest to worst, judged based on the quality of their espresso and their standard drip coffee:

  1. Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea
  2. Easy Chair Coffee
  3. Starbucks
  4. Bollo’s
  5. Deet’s Place

For a detailed review of each, click the link to the full post.

Also, feel free to debate the merits of each shop with me using the comments.

Coffee CupBest to worst, judged based on the quality of their espresso and their standard drip coffee:

  1. Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea
  2. Easy Chair Coffee
  3. Starbucks
  4. Bollo’s
  5. Deet’s Place

Mill Mountain
Easily the best coffee shop in Blacksburg. All the coffee they brew is roasted fresh in the store, and then brewed the next day. They offer several blends of coffee in the shop each day, lots of espresso drinks, sandwiches, and ice cream. The Mill Mountain Blend, which they always have brewed, is easily my all time favorite coffee. I buy fresh roasted coffee from Mill Mountain for home brewing, and will continue to order from them once I move out of the area. Their cappuccinos and mochas are spectacular, and their sandwiches are good, if a bit pricey. If coffee isn’t your thing, they also brew and sell loose leaf tea. I’ve enjoyed brewing their loose leaf teas at home, especially the slightly minty herbal Monk’s Prayer for reflective times and their Oolong for with Chinese food. Note that the shop in Blacksburg isn’t fully affiliated with the shops near Roanoke, but the menus are very similar and I highly recommend any of their locations that I’ve been to.

Easy Chair Coffee
Located in University Mall outside the Math Emporium, this coffee shop gets a strong business from VT students dreading their looming Math Emporium assignments. Easy Chair Coffee has great drinks that have made my time in the Math Empo much less painful. I don’t frequent this shop, because it is not convenient to my house, but if Mill Mountain were to pull out of Blacksburg, I might have to become a regular here.

Starbucks
I know that I’m going to get flamed for this comment, but their coffee isn’t that bad. When the only Starbucks in town was across the street from Easy Chair, I only went to Starbucks before going to the adjacent Five Guys to pick up something cold to make up for the lack of milkshakes at the otherwise amazing Five Guys. Starbucks doesn’t have amazing coffee, but they helped raise the bar of what people expect in a coffee cup. They were also the first chain to refuse to use the horrible tasting robusta beans. That said, Starbucks has switched their locations to automatic espresso machines. The decrease in the quality of their cappuccinos and (more importantly) their peppermint mochas around Christmas has caused me to avoid them if I’m looking for espresso. I’ve yet to visit their newest Blacksburg location, even though it’s now the closest coffee shop to my house. One major downside to going to Starbucks: I always feel like a corporate whore or a sellout when I go there.

Bollo’s
I know a lot of people who like to frequent Bollo’s. It’s the local artsy-type coffee shop. I enjoy their atmosphere, but their coffee is horrendous. I got a medium cappuccino there the other day (which is 12 oz there – yuck!) on my way back from campus and thought to myself after several sips “I wish I had walked the extra block to the Starbucks.” Coming from me, that’s saying a lot. If you must go to Bollo’s, be warned of the small sizes and know that I’ve found the iced latte to be tolerable on a hot summer day. Unlike their coffee, Bollo’s has amazing baked goods. I think their small bakery is probably the best one in town. I highly recommend the oat fudge bars, although they tend to be small and expensive in the shop.

Deet’s Place
The on campus coffee shop and ice cream parlor. I intended to make Deet’s fourth on my list and Bollo’s fifth, but I had a cup of coffee in Deet’s this afternoon that was so foul tasting, I couldn’t finish it. The help is clueless about coffee, the coffee is very bitter, the espresso machine is automatic, and the help still manages to screw the drinks up. The baked goods here are usually good, and they have a nice selection of loose leaf teas. If you must go here, I recommend trying their herbal peppermint tea. Actually, try any tea before you even consider a cup of coffee. Also note that the giant roasting machine in the front of the main room is there for decoration purposes only.

Not reviewed:
Java Junction
Daily Grind
Cinnabon – I haven’t had coffee here in several years, but I remember them making my drinks wrong on several occasions. I don’t feel a need to go back.
More Than Coffee – I love the calzones here, but I’ve never actually had coffee and don’t really think of them as a coffee shop

Out of the area:
Caribou Coffee – I’ve started going here for espresso when I’m back home. Most locations use automatic machines, but the quality of their brews seems better than Starbucks (plus, I don’t feel like a sellout going here).
Greenberry’s – Excellent coffee with several locations around the DC area. Too bad there’s not one near my parents.
Probably would be second on the above list if they were in the Blacksburg area.