Favorite Sacramento area coffee spots (so far)

Blackberry Latte from Fast Cat Coffee in Carmichael, CA.

If you are like us, you don’t drink coffee to wake up, you wake up to drink coffee.

So we are always on a quest to find the best cup of coffee.

It’s fun to ask people to tell you their favorite place for coffee — they almost always get excited and proceed to list all the things they love about it.  So now we have a long list to explore.

We ordered an Americano at each spot so we could compare each one as well as the shop’s speciality drink.

These are all Sacramento area, non-chain coffee roasters (except Illy). So, here are a few of our favorite spots — so far.

Coffee Shop counter with motorcycle at Fast Cat Coffee in Carmichael, CA.

Fast Cat Coffee (one location)

Located in Carmichael, Fast Cat Coffee celebrates cars and coffee and has a brooding vibe (or is that a brewing vibe?).  In addition to the usual coffee shop pastries they also offer donuts the size of your face and something we have never seen in a coffee shop — a grilled cheese bar. They grill up both sweet and savory sandwiches. The TV is usually playing Formula One races or Steve McQueen movies.

The Americano was good and one of their special drinks, The Blackberry Latte — was an interesting mix of sweet and bitter. Perfect for this type of shop.

Cafe Americano with the namesake Chocolate Fish in Sacramento, CA

Chocolate Fish Roaster (three locations)

When we ordered our coffee from Chocolate Fish at their Folsom Street location we also bought a piece of chocolate shaped like a fish to munch on. Turns out the owners are from New Zealand where it is customary to give out fish shaped confections as a thank you for a good deed. Well, it did indeed taste good with our coffee. We ordered two Americanos here and they were delicious.

Emerald Isle Matcha Latte at Seasons Coffee Roasters in Sacramento, CA

Seasons Coffee Roasters

Seasons Coffee Roasters is a family owned business and is located in the former Fremont School location in Sacramento. This building is now a performing arts center. To find their cafe enter through the big blue doors on N Street and turn right. Your shoulders will immediately relax as you enter their eclectic space decorated with vintage plates on the wall and filled with vintage tea pots, greeting cards and of course, coffee.

The cozy Seasons Coffee Roasters shop in the former Fremont School in Sacramento, CA.

There is even a space in the back of the shop with vintage clothes and other items for sale.

We ordered an Americano as well as the Emerald Isle Matcha which includes a luscious dollop of matcha whipped cream. It was a delicious alternative to the Americano.

Americano and Oat Milk Latte at Temple Coffee Roasters on Fair Oaks Blvd in Sacramento, CA.

Temple Coffee (eight locations)

Owner Sean Kohmescher opened the first location of Temple Coffee in 2005 with the vision of creating a community gathering space. And we would say he has succeeded.  All the locations we have visited have been busy and buzzing with people on their laptops or meeting friends or business associates for coffee. Temple has become our regular spot to stop in for coffee to go.

We love the coffee but what we really enjoy are the baristas. They are friendly and genuinely seem interested in hearing about your day and even remembering what you told them last time.

Our usual drink here is an Americano but once in a while we will enjoy their latte with almond milk. We always let them pick the roast for us as well.

We love the swag at Temple Coffee Roasters. Especially the hat that just says COFFEE on the front.

Their decaf blend is the best decaf we have ever tasted. And they have great swag, like the baseball-style cap that just says “COFFEE” on the front.

Illy Coffee Vending Machine - Sacramento Airport Terminal B

Even though Illy is not a local brand, we have always liked their coffee. It reminds us of the first time we had it at Heathrow Airport in London. If you don’t want to wait in line at Starbuck’s or Peet’s at Terminal B, just go to the Illy vending machine across from Starbucks. For $4.50 you get a decent Americano or Latte and you won’t wait 20 minutes for the pleasure.

Stay tuned — next up on our coffee quest are three spots we just heard about from friends — Badfish Coffee, Naked Coffee and Old Soul Coffee.

Be sure to send us an email with your favorite spot for us to check out.

Because as artist Henry Rollins said, “what goes best with a cup of coffee? Another cup.”

The wood side panel on the beautiful La Marzocco Espresso Machine highlight the elegant counter at Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters on Folsom Blvd in Sacramento, CA.