Review Visit: June 6th, 2016…read more If you visit the blog often, you will notice my trend for visiting coffeehouses and see that I tend to order Iced Caramel Lattes at most places. Black Maple was no different. A perfect blend of milk, espresso and caramel made this one place I would love to re-visit. It would've scored a perfect 5, but they are a walk-up/drive-thru only, so if it was a rainy day, it could possibly affect trying to get something from there. Also, they could've used some benches outside, but since it is located in the parking lot of a hotel, they are doing great with what they have. I don't frequent Canton, but I am going to always visit this place if I do.

We were really excited to try this place but very unimpressed. They didnt have anywhere hardly to…read moresit inside. When we ordered we asked how sweet drinks were and were told they weren't sweet. My husband ordered a vanilla latte which had hardly any flavor (including coffee flavor). I ordered a caramel macchiato which was SO sweet. We also ordered a bfest croissant. The croissant was panini style so smooshed and burnt. Sorry to say we will not be back. Hope others have a better experience then we did.

I ordered the chai, half expecting something thin and overly sweet. What arrived instead was a…read morewarm, fragrant testament to restraint--balanced spices, just enough milk, and a whisper of quiet joy. I sat back with K.W. in one of the window-side chairs, letting the mug steam gently into the late-morning light, and took in the interior. It's the kind of place that rewards attention: reclaimed wood, soft colors, seating that invites rather than insists. This was not an Instagram café--it was a Christian coffee shop. And I mean that as praise. I don't just mean it had a verse on the wall or worship music humming faintly behind the grinder. I mean the place carried a spirit of care. You could feel it in the details, the warmth of the baristas, and--most of all--in the baby shower happening quietly in the side room. From what I could tell, it was all women--close family friends of the expectant mother--gathered in soft tones, with gifts, cake, and affection flowing. There were balloons. Laughter. Maybe a tear or two, but the joyful kind. I thought about the holiness of childhood, the ridiculous courage of parenting, and the spiritual stubbornness it takes to keep loving in public. There are many ways to do Christianity poorly. But when it holds space for reflection, for the protection of the vulnerable--children, the poor, the disabled--it becomes something rare and tender. Guest House feels like one of those places where such values are quietly lived out, without announcement or ego. I'll be back. For the chai. For the ambience. But mostly to support a place that, in its own gentle way, remembers what a gift life is.

Be our guest and stay awhile…read more.. What once used to be By the Bean is now and has been for awhile Guest House Coffee and Pastries. This has been on my list for awhile now and with Emily and I heading to St. Louis to catch a flight to Colorado, it was the perfect time to get some caffeine before we embarked on a long day of traveling. We popped in a bit before lunch and were greeted by a friendly barista. He took our order fairly quickly and then we took a seat while we waited... and waited... and waited. There was 2 people ahead of us and it took about 10 minutes for our drinks to come out and a few minutes after that to get our baked goods. I got a peanut butter cookie and Emily got a lemon blueberry thingy. Sorry, I'm not great at knowing which is which when it comes to baked goodies. Once we got our goods, we made a beeline for the interstate. This is when I decided to try their cold brew and wow... it was the punch of bitterness that I love. Sometimes places pull back on the bitter but not at Guest House. After a few sips, I tried my peanut butter cookie and found it sorely lacking. I thought it was going to be soft but it was hard, crumbly and dry. I'm not sure if they can warm them up before serving them to you but if I could've had that, it may have helped a lot. I eventually ate most of it but really wish I had some milk to dip it in. I don't remember what Emily got but she seemed to really enjoy it. As for her lemon blueberry item, she said it was dry but that's normal for what it is. I tried a nibble and the flavor was definitely on point. It's not something I would've enjoyed but she seemed to really like it. As for the Guest House overall, I liked that they kept a lot of the decor from By the Bean. I was happy to see the doors that were previously there still there. If we weren't trying to get our stuff and get out ASAP, the wait time wouldn't have been a problem and with that in mind, I don't factor it into my score. We did leave wondering why there was one guy up front and what seemed like 2 employees in the back. But that's neither here nor there at this point. I would definitely come back to Guest House and maybe try to see if they would warm up their cookies before devouring them.

How sweet it is!…read more Let's preface this blog post by saying that The Sweet Bean is set to close on May 13th. Not only did I recently hear about this place for the first time but in the same breath I heard they were closing. So, I knew it was a high priority to check it out. It just so happens that my girlfriend also loves coffee and sweet treats, so we booked it there the first chance we got. I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of how Pekin is laid out so I never would've stumbled upon this place without either being told about it or finding it on Yelp/Google/other sources of information. Thank gosh for GPS We arrived in the later part of the morning once we woke up and got moving for the day. We both were in need of some coffee and something to put in our bellies. Upon entering, we were greeted by a friendly person behind the counter who ended up being the owner. She asked us what the photo taking out front was about and I briefly mentioned how I like to try out local coffee places. She said they only have the basic coffee choices as they are more of a bakery and I said that as long as you serve coffee, that is good enough for me. Emily got a flavored cold brew and a giant turtle cookie and I got a plain cold brew and a dark chocolate cherry... scone? I'm not 100% sure it was a scone. I just pointed at what I wanted and she told me what it was but was too distracted by all the delicious-looking treats in the display case to remember what she said. The total for two 16 ounce drinks and two baked goods was only $13. That is a really good deal, imo. We snagged a table and sat there, sipping our coffees and trying each other's snack. Emily was jealous of my treat and I was a bit jealous of her treat. They were both super delicious and I am glad we got them heated up as I think that really make their homemade deliciousness POP. I couldn't get over how thick and chewy my treat was. It tasted exactly like how it sounds but cranked to an 11. The cold brew was just that. Long-steeped coffee over ice. I don't think I've ever had a cold brew that wasn't just that and that is perfectly fine in my book While we were checking out, we noticed some stickers for sale. I tried to buy 2 but was told I had to use venmo to pay for the stickers as they were being sold by an independent seller. We ended up grabbing 5 for $15 once I worked out how to pay the person directly. This might be the first time I've seen something sold in a store that wasn't able to be rung up at the register. I didn't get a photo of the 5 we bought but you can rest assure they are mostly coffee-themed. I am truly sad this place is closing up it's doors. You can see on their FB page the reasons why so I won't go into that here. Make sure you pop in while you can before the oven is turned off for good.

Love this new little place in town! Fresh homemade muffins - love the banana nut, wow. Haven't…read moretried anything else yet but the coffee is great too. Comes from a coffee place in Peoria that roasts their own they said. Really good. Beats Starbucks any day

The vibe of the hive is great…read more Emily and I decided to get out of town for a day and picked Galesburg to roam around and explore. I let her pick the coffeehouse we visit and that's how we ended up at The Beanhive. Upon walking in, I knew we picked a great place. The Beanhive has the vibes of grandma's house. Everything feels vintage, antiqued, and from the 1970s. The decor is definitely eclectic and feels like they raided said grandmas' house for all their furniture. All of that is a positive in my book. Emily ordered a caramel latte and I got my usual iced americano and we split a warmed up cinnamon roll for breakfast. It didn't take too long for our drinks and roll to come out. The americano was as dark as the night sky and that was a good sign. I took a sip and was instantly in heaven. This was, without a doubt, the best americano I've ever had. Emily was smitten with her caramel latte and we both loved the cinnamon roll. We stuck around a bit longer than intended because we both just loved the vibe of the place and the baristas make us feel really welcomed. If I lived in Galesburg, this would be the only coffeehouse I would visit. Sidenote: They do have stickers, pins, shirts and other merch if you are looking for that kind of stuff. We both got some stickers and pins while Emily also grabbed a nice looking long sleeve tye-dye shirt. Their merch has a Jimi Hendrix vibe to it, which fits with the vibe of the place.

Quite little coffee shop with a good food selection. Plenty of coffee selections to choose from…read more Love the laid back feel.

For the past two years, I have been getting best brew coffee before work when I can, and it is my…read morefavorite start of the day. The staff and ownership there is amazing and hilarious super welcoming. coffees to die for.

From coffee truck to temporary location back to coffee truck…read more My friend Maria first told me about this place and how it is a coffee truck that's taking temporary residency in this Tropical Sno building until the end of winter. Not really wanting to stand outside and order coffee in 10 degree weather, I kind of forgot about it until we were at a hockey game and Maria said it was still open and was having their final day the next day. Having already plans to go to Weaver's for lunch on that same day, it only made sense to drop in next door to grab some caffeine before lunch. So, that's what Emily and I did. We both needed some caffeine before we dug into our lunch. The menu was pretty vast for being a mobile truck. I'm guessing them being in an actual building lets them expand their offerings. Being situated in the Tropical Sno building also lets them tap into that companies sauces and syrups to build some pretty interesting combinations and drinks. Emily got The Best Brew and I snagged Night Shift Special with some caramel flavoring. We took a seat to enjoy what little sunshine there was on this dreary day. It was a bit too cold to sit outside and enjoy our coffees so we took them to the car to sip them down. We tried Emily's first and it was really good. The cinnamon bun flavor was just subtle enough to not make the drink all about itself. Then we tried my Night Shift and we both fell in love. Usually when Emily and I grab coffee and food, she gets the better tasting thing but I won this one with the best tasting drink ever. This drink is legit a Top 3 coffee drink I've ever had. Every sip was smooth and delicious and full of flavor. After we drank most of our coffees, we wandered over to Weaver's for even more tasty goodies but we kept thinking about that Night Shift Special. With The Best Brew moving back to being a mobile truck, I am going to have to keep my eye on where it'll be setting up shop to get more of that sweet sweet Night Shift Special.

My husband and I love to explore little towns in Illinois. El Paso was adorable. This coffee shop…read moreoutshines any I have ever been to. The ambience was A+++, the avocado toast was so yummy and my vanilla ice coffee was perfection. The service is warm, friendly, and fast. I will come back.

Java Café is such a cozy little spot in a quaint town. I had the veggie avocado toast and it was…read morefresh and flavorful. The veggies are served raw per the kitchen and it worked well, though I do wish there had been a little more avocado. Still, it was delicious and satisfying. I paired it with the rooibos hibiscus tea which was light and refreshing. They also have self serve water and a clean up yourself setup which keeps the vibe laid back. Food is served during breakfast hours only, but they do keep a grab and go refrigerated case stocked with premade items if you stop by later. Staff were friendly and kind, and the atmosphere is extremely inviting with plenty of nooks to settle into. One of the highlights is a painted chess table that adds to the artsy charm and is perfect for a photo. They also have a shaded outdoor patio if you want to sit outside. Definitely worth stopping in if you are in the area and looking for good food, tea, and a comfortable place to relax.

The Knight and The Bible…read more On a drive up to Chicago to catch a vacation flight, we stopped at The Cup and The Scone to get us caffeinated for the rest of the drive. We got there about 30 minutes before close and the barista was super nice as we ordered our drinks. Emily got a caramel latte and I got the.. you guessed it... an iced americano. We also grabbed a blueberry-lemon, cranberry-orange, and birthday cake scone. While we stood there as the barista was making our drinks, we chatted her up a bit and we were able to get a few free stickers from her. She said they don't use them all too much and was happy to give us two each. Once we got our drinks, we took off to the upper part of the coffeehouse and promised we wouldn't be too long since they were closing soon. Before we headed upstairs, I took some photos with the suit of armor that is by the counter. When we got upstairs, I was surprised to see another suit of armor, so I took a photo with that one, too. The Cup and The Scone specializes in a lot of gluten-free products and a small bit of religion. I don't know if their entire menu is gluten-free but as someone who's mom is gluten sensitive (and I will probably be at some point), the care about GI issues is great. As for the religious stuff, if you don't see the occasion bible strewn about the place, you'd honestly never know. But, their website seems to support helping people and I think that also is super great as this world is getting rough and scary. Any who, Emily and I really enjoyed our drinks. The americano hit all the right notes and Emily was delighted with her latte. We were split on the scones. I really liked the birthday cake while she really liked the cranberry-orange while we both thought the blueberry-lemon was just alright. We held true to our promise and dipped out before 2pm and hit the road. If I find myself in Pontiac for some reason in the future, The Cup and The Scone will definitely be my spot to get some americanos.

I was initially drawn to this spot by the big knight in shining armor that I saw on Yelp (I'm a big…read morechess fan) and then pleasantly surprised at how cool this place is. The decor really makes this spot, with lots of fun themed signs throughout the restaurant. This definitely gives it a different and more fun vibe than the average coffee house and the upstairs loft is cozy to hangout in as well. The coffee flavors and preparation are quite good here -- flavorful, and made with high quality ingredients. I also enjoyed the mini scones, with a nice texture that was soft but a little more firm than a muffin. Overall, definitely worth a visit if you're in Pontiac. Great vibe and delicious food.

Our group stopped into the Sullivan Taylor coffeehouse while we were in Macomb. They were about 18…read moreof us. They were very accommodating. We didn't have any food, but the coffee was good. The barista did a good job and it was fairly quick considering the size of our order.

The coffee was good. I had an oat milk latte. The barista is a little slow. It's very comfortable…read moreenvironment. Great place to hang out.

As diehard coffee drinkers from Seattle we were shocked at the tasty black coffee and peppermint…read moremocha while visiting the area. My mom said she loved the tuxedo (?) coffee - she's a frequent visitor but we were skeptical as we pulled up to the drive thru. I should have remembered that you often find little gems in the most unexpected places. We'll done We'll definitely be back on our next visit.

Such a sweet little corner store for coffee. Absolutely wonderful. Flavored coffee is delicious,…read moreand the avocado toast with an egg on top was perfect. Great and cozy stop!

They brew Thirty-Thirty Coffee (local roaster out of Peoria, IL, VERY GOOD!). Friendly staff and…read morewelcoming, warm environment. They have weekly specials! They close during breaks. Be sure to check out the Academic Calendar! http://www.lincolnchristian.edu/

Great atmosphere and welcoming folks. I get a café mocha about 2-3 times a week. Summer hours…read morefluctuate since it is on the campus of Lincoln Christian University.