Spring part 2 plus a little bit of summer!

It's HOT outside. Want to know the best place for a cold caffeine boost while you work? We'll give you the quick view (The Shots) if you've only got a minute, but keep reading for some insights (Spilling the Beans) on where we went and how we felt about it. Yes, the headers are bad coffee puns.

The Shots

Spilling the Beans

Spyhouse Nicolet

We continued our spring journey with Spyhouse Nicollet and we didn't have a ton of great things to say...

• The wifi is remarkably poor.
• The drinks are some of the most expensive with a latte starting at $6.30.
• We like that they don't upcharge for non-dairy milks, but the cost is built in to the base price of their drinks.
• We also like that they have a lot of outlets.

Disco Death Records

Our next stop was Disco Death. A coffe shop/record store/film lab combo with creative drinks and helpful baristas. We tried all sorts of fun drinks and have come back many times since. Here's why:

• While they have limited seating, it's usually not full during the work day meaning you won't be in a crowd if you don't like that.
• They have delicious creative drinks. We liked them so much we tried to re-create them at home!
• While they mostly have pastries, they sometimes have sandwiches as well. Food options are limited, but tasty.
• If you need a break from work, you can flip through some records and spend more money than you planned to!

Caffetto

Caffetto was on the list for a while before we stopped by. We had a lot of preconceptions about it being not the best place to work. Here's what we decided:

• Caffetto has great prices. Some of the lowest we've seen while still producing quality coffee.
• 3 non dairy milk options plus tons of non-coffee drinks! There's something for everyone.
• The wifi is pretty slow, but if you're waiting for something to load you can go downstairs where they have a full arcade!
• If you're looking for the anti-Starbucks, you've found it. The biggest drawback is the slow wifi, but there are lots of outlets and plenty of seating.

JS Bean Factory

JS Bean Factory was one of Juliet's favorites but it took some convincing to get Osmar to go. While he was a skeptic at first, he found some things to like:

• They have good quality coffee that they roast in house for a great price!
• The wifi is fast and they have outdoor seating which makes it a great option for sunny days.
• Wile they don't have meals, they do have very good shortbread cookies.
• The biggest detractor was the limited outlets.

Bordertown Coffee

We heard a lot about Bordertown Coffee before our first visit. It's situated in a beautiful old building right on the University of Minnesota campus. We had mixed feelings about the place at first, but came around to it:

• The environment is great. It's calm, cozy, and filled with studious college kids.
• The drinks on our first visit were not very good, but upon return, we had some great ones. Mixed results.
• The only parking is paid street parking. If you're planning to spend a morning there, be prepared to fish out an extra $10.

That's what we've got, folks! Stick around for more reviews and round ups, and check out our new TL;DR page for a snazzy new map.