Fall for local coffee shop’s seasonal beveragesDate: 10/9/2019 GREATER SPRINGFIELD – Fall is pumpkin season. As soon as summer’s end nears, stores, cafes and coffee shops stock up on pumpkin donuts, pumpkin bread and pumpkin beverages. If you’re not a pumpkin fan, fall beverages offer a variety of autumn flavors such as apple, maple, cinnamon and more!
If you’re like me, you count down the days until autumn when you can get your favorite seasonal beverage that you describe as “fall in a cup.” Fortunately, in Western Massachusetts there are a variety of coffee shops and cafes that will satisfy your caffeine or fall spice craving. The Reminder Publishing staff visited four different places to see what creative drinks were being offered.
Village Store Cafe
The first place we went was the Village Store Cafe in Wilbraham As we walked inside, the first word that came to mind was “cozy.” The store has a warm atmosphere that made me feel welcome and at home. It’s the type of place I could imagine catching up with friends over a bite to eat, or sitting down and doing hours worth of writing.
While they don’t have your typical sugary latte type of fall drink, they did offer some seasonal roasts from New England Coffee. I tried the Witches Brew in my favorite form: iced. The brew is a flavored coffee described as a “spooktacular cinnamon spice blend with flavors of vanilla and a hint of orange.” Reminder Publishing Assistant Managing Editor Payton North also got her coffee iced, but tried the Vermont Maple Nut Crunch roast instead.
We both agreed that the roasts were flavorful and delicious without the added sugars and/or syrups that typically go into seasonal drinks. North pointed out that, as someone who has dietary restrictions, it was a nice change of pace to have a seasonal roast that she could order black, rather than a sweet drink. However, for those who enjoy a little bit of a sweeter drink, they offer a pumpkin syrup that you can choose to add to any hot or iced coffee. You can visit them at 426 Main St.
The Dam Cafe
The next location we went to grab a drink was The Dam Cafe in Holyoke. Again, the cafe was also a cozy little storefront, perfect to grab a bite to eat or a cup of coffee. The cafe offered both specialty lattes and a pumpkin brew. I ordered a hot carmelized butter pecan latte, while North went with an iced pumpkin coffee. An important thing to keep in mind if you order a hot drink from here is that they are indeed, very hot – I burned my tongue in my haste to try my drink. While both drinks were very different both in temperature and flavor, they had one thing in common: the flavor was subtle.
Often when I go to chain coffee shops like Dunkin’ or even Starbucks I find that the drink is a whole lot of syrup/sugar flavor and much less of a coffee flavor. This was not the case at The Dam Cafe. The flavor of the coffee was much more present than the flavor of the latte and brew, which we both liked. While North liked her pumpkin brew, she noted that it didn’t taste like the traditional pumpkin flavor, which may be because it was a roast and not a flavored syrup. Once again, it was nice to have options that accommodated to people with all different types of dietary needs and coffee preferences.
If you need your fall caffeine fix and a good cup of coffee, this is the place for you! You can find The Dam Cafe at 2014 Northampton St.
Circuit Coffee
While we liked all the coffee places we visited and all the beverages we tried, a favorite for us was the seasonal drinks at Circuit Coffee in Westfield. While the coffee shop offers a limited menu, what they do offer is of exceptional quality.
This time North got a hot drink called Sweater Weather, while I chose an iced Chaider. Sweater Weather is described on their menu as being made up of espresso, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and milk.
North substituted regular milk for oat milk, but it made no difference, the drink was downright delicious. North said she wouldn’t have gotten the drink with regular milk anyway, and thought the texture of the oat milk added to the drink. She also described the drink as a “warm hug” which I wholeheartedly agreed with. The drink lived up to its name, and might be my new go to on a dreary fall day.
My drink was equally delicious, but in a completely different way. Chaider is made up of a house chai from Circuit Coffee and apple cider from Bashida Orchard in Southampton. It’s then topped with a layer of cinnamon.
Let me tell you, this drink was incredible! It’s perfect for the fall days that are too warm for a hot drink – you know, the ones where you go apple picking or try to navigate through a corn maze. The spices of the two drinks melded together perfectly and made for a sweet, but not syrupy, refreshing treat. Honestly, I’d drink it every day if I could. My single dislike with this drink was the layer of cinnamon on top. I’m not a huge fan of spices on top of beverages because I don’t like how they tend to envelope the first few sips of the drink.
Keeping with the trend, this coffee shop was also a sweet little spot where I could spend hours. Circuit Coffee is located at 22 Elm St.
Agawam’s Java Stop
Our last stop for coffee was Agawam’s Java Stop. If you’re looking for a variety of seasonal drinks in both names and flavors, this is the place for you!
While this isn’t the type of place you would hang out for hours, it had the most fall flavors I’ve ever seen. Among the extensive list of drink names were Black Cat, Jack-O-Latte, Pugsly Addams, Pumpkin Spice Cake and Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. A nice thing about this place was that in addition to getting your coffee iced or hot, you can also get it frozen. For the days you need an extra caffeine boost, you can also order your hot coffee jumbo sized. They are also served each coffee with a single, festive, chocolate-covered coffee bean on the lid, which was delicious!
I opted for what one of the workers said was one of the most popular drinks, the Wednesday Addams iced. Described as “white chocolate, pumpkin, and Nutella,” the drink was admittedly delicious, but for someone like me that enjoys more of a coffee flavor and less of a sweet flavor, this was slightly too sweet for me. I didn’t taste the pumpkin, but because I love Nutella, I wanted to keep drinking. My husband, however, who lives for sweet drinks, savored the remainder of the drink I brought home and really enjoyed it. This was the last drink we got in a long coffee-filled day, however, so I will say that if it was the only drink I was having that day it probably wouldn’t have been too sweet, and I would have enjoyed it far more.
North opted for an iced almond milk version of the Hocus Pocus, which boasted cookie dough, cookie butter, and pumpkin flavors. Her drink also equally tasty. I enjoyed her drink slightly more than the one I ordered because it didn’t seem as sweet as mine was.
Both drinks were unique flavors with fun, festive names. I’d order both drinks again, the Wednesday Addams if I needed a single sweet treat, and the Hocus Pocus if I needed a little something extra to get through the day.
You can try a variety of their pumpkin drinks at their location at 1226 Springfield St.
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