Somehow, fall is almost in our rearview mirror, which means we’re in that weird period where you can probably order both a pumpkin spice latte and a peppermint mocha at your favorite national coffee chain. But why do that when you could get something different at one of our many fantastic local coffee shops?
Here are five local coffee joints serving up interesting fall drinks.
Redtree Coffee & Art
Multiple locations; Over-the-Rhine, Oakley
Redtree, always dependable for serving up a great cortado as much as it is for showing off some great local art, has a pretty unique special for the month of November. Head to either location for a sweet potato cheesecake latte, which you can order either hot or iced.
Unataza Coffee
603 6th Ave., Dayton, Kentucky
This Honduran cafe is one of Northern Kentucky’s best-kept secrets, thanks to their outstanding food, delightful Latin-inspired drinks (horchata espresso, hello) and community events. Their Christmas-focused special is a coffee flight with four different drinks hailing from Central America: rompopo (often described as Mexican eggnog) with a vegan, coffee based twist; a latte inspired by ponche navideño, a fruit punch-esque drink served during the holidays; a coquito latte, based on the Puerto Rican drink; and, of course, a peppermint mocha. Run, don’t walk.
Coffee Emporium
Multiple locations; Hyde Park, Over-the-Rhine
One of the city’s oldest coffee shops (the original location opened over 50 years ago!) still has new tricks. For the next few weeks, Coffee Emporium has a pumpkin pancake latte made with real maple and their classic pumpkin pie flavoring. Given that, there’s a good chance that if you walk into their Over-the-Rhine location sometime this month, you might see a certain CityBeat writer.
Collective Espresso
Multiple locations; Northside, Newport, Over-the-Rhine
Known for their unusual drinks that span every sort of flavor you could ever want, Collective Espresso’s fall special is no different. If you visited any of their locations last year, you probably had their Arcane Spice drink, and are probably really glad it’s back for another year. Served hot or iced with a syrup made from brown sugar, cinnamon, root beer and gingerbread cake, this isn’t one to miss.
Deeper Roots
Multiple locations; Over-the-Rhine, Montgomery, Oakley, Columbia-Tusculum, downtown
For the next few weeks, one of Cincinnati’s favorite coffee providers will have a citrus rosemary drink in both iced and cold nitro forms. It features a splash of cream and a rosemary-citrus based simple syrup.
