Super hip coffee places

July 17, 2014 1:14 PM

What are the hippest (to the point of painfully hip) coffee shops that you know in DC?

Pretty much what it says on the cover. I'm looking for painfully hipster/pretentious coffee shops: vintage light bulbs/vintage everything, coffee drinks with foreign names, a plethora of Macbook users, carefully curated selection of old leather books as decoration, coffee that is carefully hand-brewed by star-crossed lovers, etc. If it's so hip it tips over into comedy/parody, all the better.

As long as the coffee isn't flat-out dreadful the actual coffee quality or variety is not so important for the purposes of this question.

Looking for things within the District or very close-in and Metro-accessible.

posted by andrewesque to Travel & Transportation around Washington, DC (17 answers total)

Qualia Coffee is about as hipster-artisan as it gets. Peregrine Espresso is a close second.

Both have really damn good coffee too. (My ex and I used to have an ongoing debate as to which was the best in the city.)
posted by ActionPopulated at 1:19 PM on July 17, 2014 [1 favorite]

IME places like that don't really exist in DC. Peregrine is the closest I've found.
posted by asterix at 1:22 PM on July 17, 2014

The Wydown, Mockingbird Hill, La Mano and the aformentioned Peregrine are probably going to be your best bets.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:38 PM on July 17, 2014 [2 favorites]

I also forgot about Coffee Bar and Filter Coffeehouse. They might fit the bill.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:41 PM on July 17, 2014

There's La Colombe in Shaw (Blagden Alley).
posted by troika at 1:42 PM on July 17, 2014

Peregrine, the Wydown, and TCB have great coffee and are hipster-certified, but if you want the Full Hipster Experience: get yourself over to Big Bear Cafe, which features [✓] gentrifying neighborhood, [✓] ratty-looking furniture draped with [✓] carefully ratty-looking twentysomethings, and [✓] whatever, the coffee's fine, OK?
posted by psoas at 1:56 PM on July 17, 2014 [4 favorites]

Misha's in Old Town Alexandria - on the blue & yellow lines, King St. station.

Good coffee that they roast in house, and a menu in magnetic alphabet letters. Has a hipstery, "we're too cool to care (but we care a lot)" vibe.
posted by raztaj at 3:11 PM on July 17, 2014

It's definitely Big Bear; it was even featured in the "Shit DC Says" video. Depending on when you show up, it might be more yuppies than hipsters, though.
posted by evoque at 3:46 PM on July 17, 2014 [2 favorites]

I think I agree with Big Bear. Filter and Peregrine are not really located in hipster-villes, but Big Bear is. And for some reason even though Qualia kind of fits the bill, I just can't call it hipster. At least when I hung out there, Petworth was still a bit too far off the beaten path, and the owner seems honestly dedicated to the whole roasting thing on something other than a twee level.

Since we're discussing this, can I just say how much I hate under-roasted pour-overs, and hipster eye-rolls when I request their darkest roasts? Blech. Give me french roast or give me death. I haven't checked out La Colombe yet, but I'm hoping it's more robust, since the one in Philly is.
posted by yarly at 5:50 PM on July 17, 2014

It's got to be La Colombe. They don't serve tea and their menu is the person talking to you. (They have great pastries!)
posted by tooloudinhere at 8:07 PM on July 17, 2014

Yes Big Bear but I'll also recommend Blnd Dog Cafe near the 930 Club and The Coffee Bar on S St NW. Also maybe Ebenezers and Sidamo?
posted by kat518 at 8:22 PM on July 17, 2014

Filter Coffee on I street NW near 20th is good, they also have a location off DuPont circle. I also lime Chinatown Coffee over near the Verizon Center.
posted by humanfont at 8:32 PM on July 17, 2014

Previous answers have largely nailed it (if it's on this list it's pretty much guaranteed) but adding Dolcezza Gelato which also has overpriced artisanal gelato and has popups at farmers' markets; also, for Alexandria, Misha's is not nearly as hipstery - or as much fun - as Killer ESP.
posted by capricorn at 8:53 PM on July 17, 2014

Oh and since I mentioned farmers' market popups I'd be remiss not to mention local roaster Vigilante which is too hip to even have a brick-and-mortar. OK, apparently they are opening one in two days but also it's in MD.
posted by capricorn at 8:58 PM on July 17, 2014

Coffy Cafe on 14th is worth a mention because the decor is all retro 60s mod. I wouldn't call it pretentious, per se. The menu and staff are pretty utilitarian in my experience, even if the logo is a 60s woman with an afro. It's a nice place to hang out.
posted by Skwirl at 7:37 AM on July 18, 2014

I'm not quite sure Jacob's is artisanal enough, but they have the books and chairs (and no website).
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:25 PM on July 18, 2014

Swings coffee in Del Ray off of Braddock station in Alexandria. It is in a converted industrial bakery and they make chemex coffee with flavor notes. They play records and roast coffee on site, everything is usually within a week of roasting.

I lived in Seattle, this satisfies my coffee needs.

They also have a Dc branch that I have not been to.
posted by ibakecake at 4:00 PM on July 19, 2014