Serving People Serving Coffee Since 2005
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M I A M I I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST CAME BACK to Miami after I started making coffee. It was 2012, and I researched coffee shops to go to when I visited the city I grew up in and where my family still resides. At the time, there were few spots to go to—a specialty-coffee crawl of Miami could be done in an hour. Coming back to Miami in December of 2017, everything had completely changed. I could barely wrap my head around just how expansive and progressive the special- ty-coffee scene in Miami has become, and yet how seamlessly it has integrated aspects of its vast Cuban population. My fi rst stop no matter when I go to Miami is Panther Coffee. Often regarded as spearheading the specialty-coffee movement in Miami, Panther opened its doors in the Wynwood neighborhood in 2011 and has since expanded to four locations, with a fi fth on the way. Joel and Leticia Pollock (you might remember Leticia from the cover profi le I wrote about her for the December 2016 + January 2017 issue of Barista Magazine) also sell their coffee wholesale, so you can see their coffees in shops all around Miami, not to mention the country. When I arrived, Panther had just opened its doors to its fourth location in the MiMo neighborhood that very day, and I got to shout a quick congratulations to Leticia as she ran out the door ("I have to pick up some things we forgot for the grand opening!") before drinking a delicious shot of their West Coast Blend espresso (the West Coast Blend is brighter and more fl oral, while Panther's East Coast Blend is heavier and more chocolaty). A quick drive downtown (because there's no way to get around Miami without a car) and you hit All Day MIA, easily one of the most progressive and interesting cafés to open in Miami. Longtime baris- ta-competitor Camila Ramos opened the café in 2016 with a vision not just to serve great coffee, but amazing food, too. Sometimes it's easy to forget you're in a specialty-coffee shop with menu items like housemade croquetas (a Cuban fried pastry usually fi lled with meat like ham or chicken), Cuba-style black beans, and an egg sand- wich that's been rated the best in Miami. Along with a food menu of bangers, the coffees featured rotate often—during our visit we enjoyed coffees from Ruby Coffee Roasters in Wisconsin and Toby's Estate in Brooklyn, N.Y. The Cuban history of the city and heritage of most of the folks involved in All Day is embedded well into the menu. And perhaps no other feature speaks to the local culture more than the ventani- ta, a large open window that patrons can approach and order their coffee without stepping into the café. Ventanitas (which translate to Opposite page, at top: Patrons line up for donuts and coff ee from Salty Donut in the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami. Wynwood is li ered with galleries and art exhibits, and most of the buildings are covered in amazing graffi ti pieces like this one at Salty Donut. Along with being an art hub, Wynwood also boasts some of the best cafés in the city. Below: Miami averages around 70° Fahrenheit year round, so cold brew is king. Many roasters and cafés specialize in cold-brew signature drinks, and off er riff s on classics, like this cold-brew Old-Fashioned, which was being served on a busy day during Art Basel in Wynwood outside of Salty Donut. This page: PerLa Coff ee is one of a growing number of specialty-coff ee roasters who realized that coff ee and beach culture go hand in hand in Miami. 35 www.baristamagazine.com