Hello, Bison! Happy week before spring break! This has been a weird first quarter of the semester. The lack of winter but adequate stress is giving me whiplash. I keep thinking that it’s spring and I get to leave, but then it isn’t. I am absolutely blaming my constant tiredness on the emotional rollercoaster that is this winter. Because of this, I think I deserve a coffee. I think you do, too. Here’s my recommendation for this week: Youngblood Coffee Roasters.

Let me start off with my singular warning about Youngblood: this coffee shop was made for people who REALLY like the taste of coffee. It was not made for people who like to drown out the taste of coffee with sugary syrups or sauces. At Youngblood, your latte will indeed taste like coffee. That being said, it is some of the best espresso I have had in a while. At Youngblood Coffee, they roast their own beans. This means their beans are fresh, delicious, and for sale. I am not fortunate to have any sort of espresso machine in my dinky dorm room, so I will not be purchasing this espresso. If you do have an espresso machine, consider buying their espresso. Highly recommend it. 

I do not usually start off by talking about the beverages, but we are going wild today. My brain is in a kerfuffle at the moment due to midterms and such. Anyway, enough about my brain. Coffee. So good. I have been to Youngblood Coffee twice now and can confidently say that I love their lattes. The most recent time I was there, I purchased an Iced Honey and Cinnamon Latte (also known as an Iced Cafe Miel). This is a pretty typical purchase for me at any coffee shop I go to, so I am fairly skilled at judging this beverage. Youngblood did indeed knock it out of the park with their Miel. It was perfectly cinnamon-y, slightly sweet, and had a rich espresso flavor. A beautiful Miel indeed. 

The other beverage that I have tried at Youngblood Coffee is a simple Iced Vanilla Latte. Easy. Basic. Delectable. This drink is a very popular drink at just about every coffee shop, but for good reason. It is hard to find an Iced Vanilla Latte that is not good, honestly. Youngblood Coffee does in fact make a mean Iced Vanilla Latte. They will not be joining my incredibly short list of coffee shops that are not good at making Iced Vanilla Lattes.

Now, for the logistics of going to Youngblood Coffee. It is a very short distance from campus; it is an approximate 7-minute drive. It is also one of the easiest drives you could possibly take. All one would need to do is hop on University Drive for a while, take a left on 2nd Avenue N, and drive just past the post office. That is all. So simple. So worth it. Give yourself a break, take that convenient drive, and get coffee while you’re at it.

Parking wasn’t incredibly difficult to find. Youngblood Coffee is just down the block from Broadway Square, which can be hectic, but there is parking lining every single street around. I would say Youngblood Coffee is one of the easier-to-park locations of all of the coffee shops that I have reviewed so far. Once again, take this amazingly stressless trip. And get coffee.

Time to talk about the atmosphere. Youngblood is slightly different from many of the coffee shops I have been to recently in that it is very sleek. It is the kind of coffee shop that you could wear a suit to and no one would question it, which I did actually see a friend of mine do there! I did question this friend, but it would not be necessary had I ever seen him in a suit before. If you are a suit person, go to Youngblood! You would totally fit in there. There are plenty of plants(that I forgot to determine the fakeness of), which totally fit the vibe! Youngblood Coffee reminds me of a lot of coffee shops in Minneapolis. It is very professional-looking but not intimidating. The baristas were not intimidating either. Lovely people. 

I cannot speak to the quality of the food, unfortunately, because I have not tried it. The selection is low, but it all looked very good. They had donuts that I had to fight myself very hard not to eat. 

I think that wraps up my review of Youngblood Coffee. This is yet another coffee shop that I would highly recommend going to. Once again, only order their coffee if you really like coffee. I did notice tea on their menu too, though. It looked quite promising. Try it for me? Let me know how it is? Tea experts, educate me! And as always, don’t forget to tip your barista.