With so many coffee shops around campus, it can be time-consuming and costly to find your favorite spot. Instead of resorting to Starbucks, Technician compiled a list of Raleigh’s best coffee shops. 

The Optimist

Located in the East Mordecai neighborhood north of Raleigh, the Optimist is worth the 15 minute drive off campus. Its menu features regular coffee, non-coffee, kombucha and even alcoholic beverages. Its seasonal menu always delivers, recently featuring a black sesame latte — unusual, yet delicious. 

It’s not all about the coffee though, it’s about the vibes. Made up of plush, emerald green couches and industrial black chairs, framed by vintage mirrors, brass fixtures and enough plants to fill their own greenhouse, The Optimist is a peaceful place to drink a cup of coffee. 

Andrew Ward, co-owner of The Optimist, said although most of the interior design was taken from the previous owners, they made the space their own with plants and extra features.

“Somebody used a really good term the other day to describe us. … She said that we felt ‘lived in,’” Ward said. “I think that’s probably the best way to describe us. A lived-in environment where you can come and feel comfortable.”

The Morning Times

If you’re near downtown Raleigh or just feel like adventuring into the city for your study session, The Morning Times is the place to be. Nestled in a little shopping district near Moore Square, it offers reasonably priced coffee alongside a comfortable place to study, read or just hang out. 

While the chai latte was good, it was the food that stood out the most. Our order consisted of a savory bread pudding that sounded risky at first, but ended up being delicious. 

With an upstairs seating area that separates you from the to-go crowd and creates a much nicer, quieter atmosphere if you’re trying to get some work done, The Morning Times is the best-off campus coffee spot. Bonus points if you use one of its wing-backed chairs to read Technician.

Cup a Joe

We’d be remiss if we didn’t touch on NC State’s beloved Cup a Joe. A campus institution since 1991, its legacy status is well-deserved for having the best-priced coffee in the area, especially if you take advantage of its daily specials. 

Different types of drinks are discounted on different days, from a $3.75 fruit smoothie on “Smoothie Tuesday” to a 6-shot King Latte on “Wired Wednesday” to keep you fueled on a budget all week long.  

Cup a Joe also has the most study space of all the coffee shops visited, with two rooms dedicated entirely to seating, plenty of outlets and free wifi. The gritty, vaguely New York-esque interior design is also the perfect backdrop for losing yourself in a big-city academic fantasy.

On our initial visit, Technician tried the pumpkin chai latte. Although on the sweeter side, the pumpkin whipped cream and spicy chai flavors balanced it out. However, about a week after our initial review, I came back and ordered the same drink — it tasted completely different. The flavor ended up being so sickly sweet and overpowering that I threw it away. 

Its food was also not impressive. We tried a poppyseed muffin that took on the consistency of flour in my mouth. Perhaps Cup a Joe is resting on its laurels these days, but with so many other coffee shops in the area, it could do with a refresher on quality and consistency.

Jubala

Whenever I need to impress a hometown friend, date or out-of-town family member, I take them to Jubala. Although more expensive than other coffee shops in the area, if you’re going to spend $7 on a latte, it’s best spent here. 

Its almond latte is buttery smooth and perfectly balanced, with flavors not overpowering one another, allowing for a complete taste of espresso, cinnamon and almond.  

Riley Fasano, a third-year studying environmental sciences and Jubala barista, said Jubala’s specialty approach to coffee and its baristas’ extensive training are what set it apart.  

“Jubala is a specialty coffee shop which essentially means that we have a high emphasis on good quality in terms of coffee, in terms of our beans and in terms of our presentation,” Fasano said. “Some of our baristas have been doing it for like five to 10 plus years. … Everyone here is just so passionate about what they’re doing, and I think that’s really reflected in our quality and our service.”

Jubala also has an extensive food menu, with its famous biscuits and a variety of sweet and savory sides to satisfy any palate, displaying dedication to quality with every bite and sip.

One thing Jubala fails to deliver is consistency. Every time I go, whatever I tried previously is out of stock or simply not offered anymore. One time when I was trying to order a caramel latte, the barista said that Jubala only serves caramel flavored drinks in the fall. 

Being an “artisanal coffee shop,” it’s understandable to call for a certain degree of coffee superiority, but classifying caramel as a fall-only flavor just feels elitist.

Watch the recent “Technician Tries: Raleigh Coffee Shops” Youtube video here.