10 coffee drinks we love for National Coffee Day

There’s a reason the aisles of home goods stores are stocked with items bearing odes to the power of coffee. Coffee is life. Or at least worth getting up for in the morning. And it’s definitely a drink worth celebrating.

First discovered in Ethiopia, in the 15th century coffee plants were brought to Yemen, where it was developed into the coffee we know and drink today. The beverage, and its place in our culture, has continually evolved through the centuries. Now third-wave coffee culture, which emphasizes quality and the coffee experience, has fully taken root in the Twin Cities, and we have an abundance of beverages made with thoughtfully sourced beans all over the metro area.

In honor of the day that celebrates all that’s wonderful about the bean juice — National Coffee Day is Sept. 29 and International Coffee Day is Oct. 1 — we’re sharing our favorite specific-to-these-shops coffee drinks that are part of what makes this brew and our place so special. (Prices and latte flavors are subject to change.)

This is the metro area’s first outpost of the Yemeni chain, but locations in Blaine and Burnsville are on the way. The proprietary mix of beans is mixed with cardamom and cinnamon, resulting in an almost peppery/floral coffee flavor that blooms into a splash of cream. The blend is also available as a latte, hot or iced.

$6.99 to $8.75; 3 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, qamariacoffee.com

It’s a little sip of childhood nostalgia with crushed-up Mexican candies inside a rich latte. Mazapan has a peanut butter/vanilla flavor, and the result is a coffee that’s aromatic and just a little savory. It’s enough to say that this house specialty totally counts as breakfast in a coffee cup.

$5.55 to $5.95; 2179 4th St., White Bear Lake; cajetacoffeemn.square.site

With Churchill Street’s soaring roofline and soft light, mornings feel like a gentler way to start the day. There are the beautifully curated goods, the impressive menu and the coffee drinks. Even if just passing by, it’s worth a stop to take a deep breath and enjoy a little northland sophistication in a cup. The Cardimiel combines rich, local honey with a bit of green cardamom spice and dried orange peel for a Nordic dessert-type of drinkable treat.

$7; 4606 Churchill St., Shoreview, churchillst.com

At SK Coffee, you can easily go down a rabbit hole learning the story of every single farm and its resulting crop while ordering a cup of coffee or a pound of beans. While they take the work and the duty to hold up their farmers seriously, what’s in the cup can be just as fun to drink. The Sweet Galium tastes similar to a simple vanilla latte, but the flavor syrup is made by local beverage experts 3 Leches. It’s a husky, substantive sweetness that mingles along the backbone of the espresso flavor. Deceptively simple in taste, with a side bonus of being better for the Earth.

$8.19; 550 Vandalia St., St. Paul; in the skyway at 50 S. 6th St., Mpls.; 2401 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls.; skcoffeeplease.com

As its name implies, this Snelling Avenue shop specializes in tea drinks, but the house ice coffee drink is a bit of a secret menu stunner. Strong-brewed Vietnamese coffee is sweetened with condensed milk studded with brown sugar tapioca pearls, then topped with a cheese foam. The topping has been all the rage on TikTok, and is really more akin to a frothy cream cheese that has just a hint of salt. It’s part jet-fuel coffee and part dessert, complete with yummy little chewy bits. This drink is a “too much is just right” type of situation.

$7; 272 S. Snelling Av., St. Paul; instagram.com/simplicitea.mn

Founded by Lee Carter and Caleb Garn in 2014, Five Watt began as a cool place to flip open your laptop and enjoy a coffee drink built with uncommon ingredients like bitters or black pepper. So much has changed since those early days: The company now has several locations, Big Watt cold press is stocked in freezers all over the place, and there’s a new boba shop next door to the Kingfield store. But some of the core drinks remain, including the Busy Beaver. Milk and espresso are gussied up with blackstrap bitters, molasses, cinnamon and a few twists of black pepper. It might be slightly unexpected, but it’s still so good.

$6.95-$7.45; 3745 Nicollet Av. S., Mpls.; 3350 Lyndale Av. S., Mpls.; 861 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls.; fivewattcoffee.com

Traditionally, potica (pronounced po-TEE-sa) is a thinly layered Slovenian sweet bread made with walnuts, a little cinnamon and honey. Most mornings at Lynette, a new all-day cafe and restaurant in Longfellow, it’s an alluring latte inspired by a European vacation. Tuesdays through Sundays the drink, along with others and fresh-baked pastries, are available from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. It‘s cozy, toasty and just a little sweet — an undeniably nut-bready drink.

$6; 3753 42nd Av. S., Mpls., lynettemn.com

Born of a coffee meetup from entrepreneur Houston White and Dogwood Coffee founder Dan Anderson, this is a coffee shop with a bigger mission than just making incredible pick-me-ups. White knew that a coffee shop in north Minneapolis could uplift a community and celebrate Black excellence, and the result is a place that feels like the hub of cool things happening on any given day. Big ideas are birthed here, plus the coffee is really good. The Waterfalls Cold Brew is definitely one of those good ideas: Topped with a maple and banana foam, it’s creamy and lush with a kicky cold core.

$6.40; 1500 44th Av. N., Mpls.; getdowncoffee.com

Minneapolis’ first Vietnamese egg coffee stand turned coffee shop is a perfect stop when the energy of an average day is calling for reinforcements. Deep, rich, dark coffee is a concentrated powerhouse topped with an eggy foam whipping of sweetened condensed milk. It’s everything except subtle. Twirl the viscous topping into the iced coffee to blend all the goodness together.

$7.50; 4503 France Av. S., Mpls., caphinmpls.com

With a breezy beauty of a room, the Fox and Pantry feels like escaping from everyday humdrum onto the set of a Nancy Meyers movie, where we can all dress like Diane Keaton and carry it off. Kym Joles founded this cafe that’s grown into a combination shop and creative class space and a great spot for a cocktail. Her tasteful brand of creativity carries into the coffee drinks, including a blueberry muffin latte that really is all the best things about breakfast in one sip. Juicy blueberry purée mingles with brown sugar, and the vanilla cold foam and smooth espresso.

$7.95; 15725 37th Av. N., Plymouth, thefoxandpantry.com