Lexington Coffee Week

20, Lexington has over 20 coffee shops.

That’s a lot of coffee shops for a small city. February 17th-23rd was the week for coffee and tea drinkers; it was Lexington's coffee and tea drink week.

Coffee shops created special drinks for the week and dropped their prices to only $3 per drink. This weather has been sucking the life out of me I'm sure I’m not alone. Sadly, I only made it to a couple of places to try their specialty drinks because I was sick, but I am here to share some of my favorite places that took part in the coffee week.

Third Street Stuff I love this place, to say the least, but their drinks and food are also good and affordable. 6:30 am-11 pm hours that are the best for late-night study sessions and coffee breaks. You could not catch me there at 6:30 am but that’s nice that they open for the early birds. I visited Third Street Stuff twice for their tea of the week called “Loving you tea.” The tea was lemon and honey, I have been feeling sick, so this was a great tea to help me feel a little better.

North Lime Coffee and Doughnuts Okay first off, if you haven’t had a doughnut from North Lime you are missing out. From March until April they are having a doughnut competition so they will serve specialty sweet or salty treats every week. A few flavors they are serving are funnel cake, French toast, pizza - yes, pizza. I think doughnut shops have the best coffee, and North Lime is no exception to that rule.

Broomwagon Broomwagon is a café, bike shop, “old-time jam”, and trivia venue. I love this place; they were sadly sold out of their special coffee and tea for the Lexington coffee week, but, you can’t go wrong with any of their items on the menu. Milkshakes to bean burritos to brunch - it’s all so good. Broomwagon holds jam sessions from 7-9 pm every Monday. Anyone can come play, all ages, and all skill sets. It is kind of a melting pot of all things good and such a great addition to Lexington.

Common Grounds It is dangerous that I have one of these located under my dorm because this is one of my favorite places. The workers are always playing good music and the food and drinks are delicious. Common Grounds located on East High Street established in 1992, the first coffee house in Lexington, and the original Common Grounds, is my favorite. It’s located close to campus and there are multiple rooms you can choose from to study or just chill in. They also hold an open mic night on Mondays for musicians, poets or anyone who wants to get up on stage.

Cup of Commonwealth The teal door is what I always think about when I hear “Cup of Commonwealth.” This is a little hole in the wall who is the sister shop of Chocolate Holler. They have a “pay it forward wall” where you can pay for someone's coffee and pin a note to their wall for the person. If you read the notes on the wall, you’ll see sweet notes for loved ones, to notes to strangers, or ones for someone just wearing a certain colored shirt or something. It’s nice to walk in there and be able to take a note off the wall and get a free cup of coffee!

Sadly, I was not able to sit down and drink a coffee or tea at all 20 of these shops. I listed my favorite five but looking at the list of the shops, I am excited to try more. There are ones I have been meaning to go to and ones that I have never even heard of. I didn’t expect Lexington to have so many coffee shops all with their own unique, quirks, and character.

Here is the official list of all the shops who participated in Lexington's coffee week: Common Grounds (all locations), Cup of Commonwealth, Chocolate Holler, Third Street Stuff, Broomwagon, North Lime Coffee & Doughnuts (all locations), Gather on main, High on Art & Coffee, Luke’s Coffee, Lussi Brown Coffee Bar, Manchester Coffee Co, McLeod’s Coffee House, Nate’s Coffee, Old School Coffee, Coffea, Coffee Times, Starship Tea Co, and the Human Bean.

Drink Local Coffee!