Coffee Emporium
Coffee Emporium is a local coffee shop chain and Cincinnati's oldest running coffee shop. They have four locations but since we were obsessed with the Over the Rhine District we went to that location which is also their Bakery and where they roast their coffee. The space was large with lots of seating. It was a pretty cool atmosphere with a punk vibe and pig statues that were painted with coffee paraphernalia. Even though it was in the OTR it still attracted a lot of inner-city workers. The barista's were all friendly and I ended up talking to one the girls that worked there and a customer talking about the coffee culture there. It was a good time. My espresso wasn't the best that I had but it was still balanced and it was fun to be able to chat. They serve a variety of baked goods, sandwiches and have a lot of coffee products for retail.
The one thing that I disliked the most about the shop was the way they designed their coffee bags. On their website their mission is that they hand pick their coffee's from family-owned farms and when they can be there are in direct trade with them to insure that they are getting paid fairly. I love that that is their goal but on all their bags of coffee's there is very little description of the coffee's themselves. There is the country, how it was processed and nuances. But there is no education on the farm, family, or variety of coffee. On their Espresso blend they don't describe what coffee they contain at all.
Despite it wasn't the best cup of coffee nor the "newest" coffee hotspot in the area I thought it was a good place to sit, hang with friends, and strike up a conversation with the barista about beer and coffee. And seriously, how could you not like these pigs with tattoo's? They were absolutely adorable. But maybe it's just because I love pigs.
Despite it wasn't the best cup of coffee nor the "newest" coffee hotspot in the area I thought it was a good place to sit, hang with friends, and strike up a conversation with the barista about beer and coffee. And seriously, how could you not like these pigs with tattoo's? They were absolutely adorable. But maybe it's just because I love pigs.