Hello! I am going to stay in Boston for two weeks. I thought I should go to some of the cafes in Boston since I have never been to those cafes in my life. What is your recommendation for cafes in Boston? I am hoping that I can learn the professional skills and tastes from it. Thank you.

There is a Boston topic on coffeegeek that is pretty thorough. My highlights would be Render and Dwelltime. There are plenty of other just okay places around as well.

Sprudge put out a short list last year: http://sprudge.com/boston.html

Thank you all for the reply. Sounds like Render or Dwelltime is good to try out !

I'd certainly add Simon's Coffee (close to Porter Sq) and Voltage (Kendall Sq) to the list. Most Pavement locations also tend to be good but can vary since they probably now have more locations than good baristas.

It turns out that most of the good cafes in Boston, are actually in Cambridge, or maybe even Somerville

Render is definitely my top pick in the city, with Pavement being a close second. In Cambridge I think that Dwelltime and Simons are both worth a visit. My personal favorite in the area is actually Three Little Figs, they're more of a bakery/sandwich place, but have an excellent espresso program as well. In particular they're great about having guest espressos from lots of small roasters all over the country that I probably would've never tried before.

I'd also say that if you're ever venturing further out of the city George Howell's cafe in Newton is consistently excellent as well.

I should also mention that dwelltime is supposed to be excellent for pour over. Although I have only tried espresso there with every time being a bright single origin.

Simons and three figs I just found to be good. Maybe it was an off day as I haven't been back to those places after my initial visit.

If you're stranded in the city, there is thinking cup not to far from the commons, I believe, and its okay I guess. Along with Barrington Coffee in the south end.

This is a copy paste of my coffeegeek post a couple years ago with updated info.

•Dwelltime, Cambridge (my go-to local café) [they serve barismo beans]
•Barismo, Arlington (they own dwelltime) [serving barismo beans]
•Simon's - Porter Square and now a nice small shop near harvard also (Simon's Too) [serving a variety of beans]
•Voltage - Cambridge near Kendell Sq. is awesome and classy catering to tech folks with 9-5s.
•Render - Boston, great, used to go here all the time, also great drip. (serving Counter Culture mostly)
•Three Little Figs - Somerville (they weight their shots!) Great shots, good food. Tiny, and never a seat to be had.
•Diesel Café in Davis Sq. and Bloc 11 in Union are owned by the same people and can serve a good cup and have foolproof pourovers. They hooked me on Black Cat in when I was in college.
• Check out the Counter Culture training center in Union Square, but look at their website. They have tastings on Thursdays at 10am I think (usually only 1 guy there).
•Thinking Cup gives shots of Hairbender but I am less and less a fan of that coffee. This is the only down-downtown shop that I know of- but who leaves Cambridge/Somerville anyway?
•If you rock climb, there is a little espresso cart inside Brooklyn Boulders in Somerville that makes awesome espresso and pourover.

Basically, don't bother going to Boston, stay in Somerville .

I haven't been to Area Four or anywhere else.
George Howell is way outside of Boston and you need a car, but I'm willing to put serious dough on a certain barista who works there making the best espresso.

bostonbuzz wrote:George Howell is way outside of Boston and you need a car, but I'm willing to put serious dough on a certain barista who works there making the best espresso.

George will be opening a flagship store in Boston proper in the near future.

Isn't a japanese roaster wanting to open a shop? that could be interesting.