In one week I am taking off on a two week trip to LA & PHX.
Needless to say I am STOKED to hit up these places, soak up some much needed sun (summer never really happened here in Calgary) and of course, hit up a number of coffee shops in both cities.
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LOS ANGELES
I should be upfront that the main point of my trip to LA for the first week of holidays is to take my family to Disneyland. So I’ll be spending 5 days in Disney, and I am not too sure how many coffee shops I’ll be able to visit during my time there. But I do have a few tricks up my sleeve to make it out to a few spots.
I was in LA a few years back and made it to most of the “must visit” spots that this amazing city has to offer. So this time around I am having to be pretty selective with where I go. I fly into Phoenix, and then drive the 6 hours to the coast. Along the way I was thrilled to find out that there are four Augies Coffee locations along the route to where we’ll be staying in Anaheim! I was so sad when they were evicted from their original Redlands location, but I am really looking forward to picking up some coffee from them to brew while I’m in town. And I’m pretty sure I’ll be hitting them up on my way outta town too. How could I not?
Thanks to some amazing suggestions from friends, and google maps, I was able to spot a Bodhi Leaf, and Hopper & Burr not too far from my hotel. And on one day we’re gonna take a trip down to Huntington Beach so that this former BC-boy can get some much needed ocean time. One of the cafes located not too far from the beach is one of the locations of Portola Coffee. So those three spots will be getting a visit from me!
There was one spot that I knew I HAD to visit in LA: Dayglow Coffee. So needless to say I was able to make the schedule work to visit Universal Studios and guess what’s just a few minutes off the highway on route?! I am just waiting to find out who their October feature roaster will be, but Dayglow can truly do no wrong in my books. Whoever they bring it will be sure to be amazing. And then I found out that at Universal Studios there is a Voodoo Doughnut with a Stumptown Coffee located in it. So that’s gonna be one amazing day!
If I am able to visit any other spots while I’m in LA you know I’ll make it happen. But even with the limited time I do have I think where I am going to be able to visit is going to be epic.
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PHOENIX
I get to Phoenix quite often (my in-laws live down there full time) so over the past few years I have really enjoyed getting to experience all that there is in the valley of the sun. You may not think that a city like Phoenix would have a killer coffee scene but it definitely does. Even the airport has two dynamite coffee shops located inside of it! So if/when you do fly through make sure to hit up both Cartel Coffee Lab & Press Coffee Roasters if you’re in Terminal 4 and are anywhere near the B & C gates.
I am really looking forward this time around to visiting a number of cafes located within the south-202 loop (which is the ring road in the south-east area of the city). One particular roaster I am stoked to visit is pair.cupworks. I first heard about Pair because of my friend Stacey Lynden who was hanging out with Kimhak. He is one-half of the team behind Pair and when I found out he made his home in the Tempe area I reached out to him to make sure we could meet up. Stay tuned for more info from that visit.
A few other coffee shops I am planning to visit during my coffee crawl are Mythical 
Coffee, Peixoto Coffee Roasters, Palette Coffee, and Press Coffee Roasters (like I mentioned earlier).
Make sure you’re following along on my Instagram feed to see all these spots! I know there are many other great places to visit in Phoenix, and know that I have likely already been to most of them. But if you have a “must-visit” place feel free to let me know!
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So there you have it. That’s the plan so far for the two weeks in these two amazing cities and two amazing states. Can’t wait to grab a few bags of coffee to bring home to brew when I get back. Follow along ’cause you know I’m gonna be doing it for the ‘gram!
Stay Caffeinated,
Tyler
commonly coffee 