Coffee Cruise - Part One
I have always been somewhat of a caffeine nut or addict you might say. I typically just hit up S-bucks (and to be fair in a pinch at 5:30 AM on the way to the airport I still do) but recently they raised their prices again and let’s be honest, it’s not the best coffee in the world. A friend and I recently started exploring all the local coffee places in town and here is part one of our cruise around the Des Moines metro.
Side note, I always order the same thing, a latte so the comparison is fair.
Ritual Cafe
1301 Locust St. Ste. D Des Moines, IA 50309
515.288.4872
Total hippie vibes. Staff, ambiance, everything…hippie.
They only serve vegetarian food. Which is great for me! Not so great for the meat-eaters of the world. We split a breakfast burrito and it was good not great.
Coffee was not memorable in any way. It was, again, good, not great.
Cost was good, a little over $4 for a coffee. I can’t remember how much the burrito was but it wasn’t super expensive.
A side note, you have to spend over $5 to use a credit card and you can’t do that with just one coffee so either go with a friend or plan to eat as well.
Daisy Chain
505 E. Grand Ave. #104 Des Moines, IA 50309
This man is a master of coffee. To frills, just simple, excellent, coffee. I don’t know how this one man does it but this is the best coffee I have ever had!
No food but that is totally fine.
Cost was good, I believe I paid $4 for a 16 oz.
Located next to RayGun in the East Village. A must if you are in the area.
Blue Bean
Umm, this place was interesting. I strayed from my usual order and ordered the Valentine’s Day flight. (They are known for their flights of different kinds of coffee) Not a huge fan. I liked it but it wasn’t the highest quality coffee. Plus it was all really sugary.
Their food was also nothing special. I had the apple toast and it was good but nothing I couldn’t make at home for 1/5th the price.
Between the toast and the coffee I spent $22…
Overall, will not be going back.
Kava DSM
This place was so pretty on the inside! And if we were just talking interior design this would win by a mile but unfortunately that’s not what this blog is about. I wish I could say I loved it but I just didn’t. Coffee was just meh.
Food was also meh. I had the peanut butter and banana waffles. Peanut butter was a bit gritty, like it was homemade or something but overall it was alright.
Cost, again was a bit high but the waffles were what was so expensive (don’t ask me why). I spent about $25 total.
Scenic Route
This is my favorite spot in the metro. Their coffee is amazing! A very close second to Daisy Chain.
But the real reason I love this place so much?! PEACH PINWHEELS! They are simply the flakiest, sweetest, peachiest pastries in the world. I don’t know what they are or how they do it but Pinwheels are AMAZING!
Cost is great too. I pay about $10 for a large coffee and the pastry, plus tip.
I eat here at least once a week and have ABSOLUTELY NO qualms about continuing that!
Horizon Line
1417 Walnut St. Ste. B Des Moines, IA 50309
This place was strange. I felt very out of place here. It was very minimalistic and very clearly had a group of regulars, that we very obviously were not a part of.
Coffee was very good! Again, a very minimalist approach. No frills or flavors, just good coffee. Their latte art was in a league of it’s own too!
Some food, I think they had doughnut holes, but I didn’t have them.
Cost was good too. I had two lattes (really tired this morning) and spent $8.
