Nothing knocks the chill of fall off better than a warm cup of joe. While you might think the Northwest is especially known for high-quality bean juice, there is a great coffee scene on the Llano Estacado as well. To help you combat the cool that should be descending on our area in the weeks to come, we’re starting a new coffee series at Local Llano to highlight some of the area’s best cups.Coffee culture has seen a major uptick in the quality offered in recent years. It’s been a popular drink in America for a long time, but now, like many other foodstuffs, it’s gone craft. What used to be kept on a hot burner in diners for hours at a time, is now perfected in a variety of ways and made by the cup for maximum enjoyment. Now coffee is as diverse as wine when it comes to discerning flavor notes, regional diversity, and variety of coffee backed drinks yesteryear’s coffee drinker could not have imagined (e.g. pumpkin-spiced latte).
Let’s be honest, when it comes to a great variety of things the modern American enjoys when it comes to food and drink, the Llano Estacado can be a hard place to find instances of nation-wide trends. For instance, all manner of fondue, churrascaria, charcuterie, cheese, pickling, molecular gastronomy, ramen and more has a very limited availability for us at best. This is not the case with coffee. Our coffee game is strong on the Staked Plains. The Llano Estacado has a coffee-scene that other cities have taken note of.
In the weeks to come, we’re going to be bringing you the coffee story concerning the High Plains. We’ll talk about Amarillo’s place on the national scene concerning Roaster’s, Palace, and Evocation. We’ll even tell you about how Amarillo’s Golden Light was one of the first home’s to roasting beans for cities like Houston and Dallas way before the coffee-boom of the 90s. We’ll discuss the interesting story of one Plainview shop you’ve probably all seen, especially if you’re a Steve Martin fan. We’ll also be telling you the favorite drinks of beloved spots in Lubbock like the newly re-launched Sugar Brown’s and Yellow House Coffee.
If you’re looking for a way to stay warm in the months to come, you’re going to want to follow our Llano Estacado coffee series. Do you have a favorite drink at a favorite place? We want to hear about it. Add it to the comments below!