Move over Starbucks! You got ALOT of competition in Winter Park. We love our Starbucks, but we are also obsessed with these essential Winter Park Coffee Shops. You can get everything from gourmet donuts to vegan and fair-trade coffee. Winter Park is the best area to get your coffee shop on!
One of our favorite aspects of travel is getting to try food made locally. While Winter Park boasts plenty of tasty restaurants, the town is also full of great coffee. Read on to learn about of our favorite Winter Park coffee shops to get a morning cup of coffee or afternoon pick-me-up.
Austin’s Coffee
West Fairbanks Avenue, Winter Park
Open 24/7, Austin’s live music, open-mic poetry nights, local art and locally farmed produce augment the micro-roasted coffee, made one pound at a time. Owners Sean and Jackie Moore import raw, organic fair-trade, shade-grown coffee beans, and roast practically per cup to ensure quality and freshness. “Our roaster is right on the counter,” Jackie says about their always-working, steam-punky red machine, “and after 15 years, people still ask what it is and want to touch it. It’s hot—not a good idea.” Orlando’s Deadly Sins Brewing has made a dark porter from Austin’s coffee. www.austinscoffee.com
Fuelpresso and Donut Central
495 N Semoran Blvd Unit 1, Winter Park, FL 32792
Fuelpresso is a Craft coffee and donut shop. They are on their grind! Donut Central roasts their coffee in house and also makes donuts fresh every morning. Get yummy flavors like coconut and M&Ms! Plus, they just opened a drive-thru! www.donutcentral.com
Foxtail Coffee Co.
1282 N Orange Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789
Foxtail co-Founders Iain Yeakle and Alex Tchekmeian are using high-end equipment and responsible sourcing to take on the big coffee boys, and at lightning speed since the first shop opened in 2016. Embracing a plethora of models, Foxtail has coffee shops, drive-throughs, outlet mall stores, the food-and-cocktails-plus-coffee Farmhouse in Winter Park and spots at UCF, DoveCote restaurant and the new terminal at Orlando International Airport. Their roasters are an integral part of the hang-out-and-work community atmosphere (weekend roasting classes are held at the Farmhouse), as is the story behind each bean, obtained from organic farms growing without pesticides. foxtailcoffee.com
Barnie’s Coffee & Tea
Downtown Winter Park
Born in Orlando in 1980, Barnie’s has gone through roller-coaster changes, yet remains committed to great coffee. Supervisor of coffee Dustin Fleming relates the current business to fine wine—beans that are traceable to specific growers and seasons. Its latest initiative, called Crop•Ex, sources “extraordinary crops” from family farms, including beans from 508 women growers who are a chapter of the International Women’s Coffee Alliance in Burundi, rebuilding the coffee economy after decades of civil war. “Instead of buying bulk coffee for the least amount of money,” Fleming says, “buy one bag from a local roaster. Give it a try.” cropexcoffee.com
The Glass Knife
South Orlando Avenue, Winter Park
Primarily a pastry and savory bakery, The Glass Knife has committed to coffee in a big way, with owner Steve Brown journeying to Colombia to see the process first-hand. “I wasn’t aware about what goes into a cup of coffee at all to start,” he says, calling his trip “sourcing with purpose.” Now, he gets beans from growers collective La Palma y El Tucan, a cooperative of some 200 small family farms, through Arkansas’ Onyx Coffee Lab, and he launched a Glass Knife-exclusive “Colombia Carlos Diaz” coffee this year. theglassknife.com
