COVID-19 Operations Updates:
- Bandit Coffee Co is taking orders by phone at 727-201 -9140 and online for contactless pickup.
- Big Storm Brewing is offering online ordering with delivery or curbside pickup from their Pasco and Clearwater taprooms from 12-7pm and 3–7pm at their Cape Coral taproom! Order online at https://www.bigstormbrewery.com/.
- Black Crow Coffee Co is only allowing you to order online or by phone at 727-242-4962 and is NOT accepting cash. Delivery and pick up.
- The Blend is closed during this time.
- Gypsy Souls Coffeehouse is staying open as long as they can.
- Kahwa Coffee Roasters is only offering take out at all of their cafes and drive-thru locations. They also offer Uber Eats delivery and free shipping for all online orders through the end of March. Visit their website here.
- SumitrA Espresso Lounge+ is offering pickup including their wines and wants to remind you keep your immue system strong & support local artists by hiring them if you are able.
Information was taken from each roaster’s Facebook page on March 26, 2020.
By Nanette Wiser
Bandit Coffee: This has been a BIG year for the company, adding a chef and breakfast/lunch 8am-2pm menu (yay veggie burrito and avo toast), acquiring a wine and beer license, selling the beans online (you can subscribe) and building a roasting plant in 2020. Owners Joshua and Sarah leased a building off 7th Ave. S. that will be home to the new roasting facility.
Big Storm Brewing: Yes, they make beer, but they also make delicious coffee blends using locally roasted beans and soon, ice cream. You can experience Big Storm Coffee Co. on the go with the new Nitro and Original Cold Brew 16 oz. cans and whole bean 12 oz. coffee bags available in all three Big Storm Brewing Co. taprooms and select retailers throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Black Crow Coffee (Indian Shores Coffee): Owner/roaster Greg Bauman started his coffee foray at Indian Shores coffee shop in 2007. For 13 years, and three coffee shops strong, he started roasting beans from all over the world in St Pete in 2016. Peru, Honduras, Uganda, the artwork is as delightful as the beans are delicious. In addition to amazing coffee and food, Black Crow supports the arts with numerous events, from poetry to exhibits and pop up markets.
The Blend: Thank you Seattle for your peeps, Stacha Madsen and Nichole McVicar for bringing their wine and coffee bar, including a white espresso, downtown to 1st Ave. S. and a new location this spring at 4th St. N. With a signature blend created 13 years ago from Nicaragua, Brazil and Peru, it’s available for sale in both potent and decaf versions. Desserts abound, including mini-cupcakes from Swah-rey and Katie’s Cookies.
Coffee Mill: This Indian Shores gem is a must-stop for Anona school parents after dropping the kids, and the caramel latte is extra delicious because the coffees are roasted on premise. You can even send a coffee-gram with fresh ground beans, desserts and the personalized mug of your choice.
Gypsy Souls: With a beach location in Redington and one downtown on MLK, this is a passion project for the family owned and operated coffee business where you can sip and kibbitz or bring home the beans. Yummy breakfast sandwiches, pastries and vegan and gluten-free pastries help you linger longer.
Kahwa Coffee: The largest independent coffee roaster in Florida just opened their newest location in the Tampa Airport Marriott. Owners Sarah and Raphael Perrier. The two original locations downtown are my home away from home. All the roasting is done in Tampa Bay, but the coffee is available nationally as well as in local cafes and selected grocers and restaurants. The first café opened in 2006 in downtown St. Pete. Kahwa Coffee focuses on blends over single origin coffees in order to bring complex flavors to each cup, selecting 100% Arabica beans of the highest quality from all over the world that are roasted and packaged on demand to guarantee freshness.
SumitrA Espresso Lounge: Eclectic espresso Gulfport lounge with a cozy, chilling Moroccan and Indian vibe, serving fine espresso coffee, tonics, steamers and smoothies. A plethora of loose-leaf teas from Te Bella. Nitro hemp cold brew, CBD infused coffees and teas and a lovely array of European style decadent homemade bakery goods. Roasts small batch coffees.
P.S. Giving a personal fave shout out to Seminole’s Southies for their Maui vegan gluten-free muffins and iced lavender latte with oat milk and Gulf Perk Coffee Bar in Gulfport, for their blueberry bars, key lime tartlets with pistachio crust and iced brew.