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Home » Travel » In Search Of Great Coffee In Small Town America
Travel

In Search Of Great Coffee In Small Town America

Matthew Klint Posted onSeptember 9, 2019November 14, 2023 9 Comments

I made my annual pilgrimage to Green Lake, Wisconsin over the weekend and had a remarkable time. This time, I even found great coffee.

For seven consecutive years I have flown into Chicago every September to spend a weekend with some of my esteemed colleagues I used to work with at Star Alliance. One of them, Denny, has a house on Green Lake and the weekend includes great food and drink, water sports, and most importantly, catching up on eachother’s lives.

All the usual elements were present this year. Moscow Mules and pizza from Lou Malnati’s upon arrival. A fish fry on Friday night. Fun out on the lake. Chicago-style hot dogs.

a grass lawn with a dock and a body of water

a dock with boats on the water

a grass field with trees and a dock in the background

a lawn with trees and a house in the background

a dock on the water

a dock with a boat on it

a group of trees in a grassy field

a row of pickup trucks parked in a parking lot

a road with a sign and cars parked on the side

a building with a flag on the front

a building with a sign on the side

a plate of food with a side of salad and a side of salad

a plate of fried chicken and french fries

a group of hot dogs on a counter

a hot dog in a basket

a pizza with cheese on it

But this year I wanted to add one more element to the weekend: great coffee. Denny’s coffee is actually just fine, but just as I search for Mexican Food when I visit new places, I now also search for really great coffee.

Now Ripon, Wisconsin is a town of 7,800. I figured there would be a coffee shop there and I figured correctly. It was called Mugs Coffeehouse and was EXACTLY what I was looking for. The wood floors, plush couches, and fireplace was great. But the coffee was even better.

a street with cars parked on it

a building with a store front

a building with a store front

a room with tables and chairs

a room with tables and chairs

a room with a wood floor and a wood floor with a wood floor and a wood floor with a wood floor and a wood floor with a wood floor and a wood floor with a wood floor and

a ceiling with lights from the ceiling

a living room with a fireplace and couches

a store with shelves and shelves

a bar with drinks and menus

a counter with drinks and a sign on it

a menu board with drinks on it

a cup of coffee with a heart in the foam

The fair trade Collectivo coffee was roasted in small batches and had a tremendous flavor. My cappuccinos were marvelous and I even brought a bag of Ethiopian beans home.

a shelf with black bags

To be clear, I’m not calling small towns in America backwards in any way. However, I’ve visited 47 states including many small towns that dot American from sea to shining sea. Good coffee is rarely an issue in California or the Pacific Northwest, but can be elusive as you drive east.

But more and more I am seeing specialty coffee shops like Mug spring up in small town America. That should be celebrated.

CONCLUSION

Coffee is meant to be enjoyed in a comfortable venue, slowly, and in a real cup, not styrofoam or paper. Now I have another reason to look forward to returning to Green Lake each year!

a coffee mug with a foamy drink in it

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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9 Comments

  1. Island Miler Reply
    September 9, 2019 at 5:40 pm

    Matt, come back to Hawaii. Not only do we have great coffee, but our Mexican food scene is getting exciting. If you know where to look, that is 😉

    • Matthew Reply
      September 10, 2019 at 9:15 am

      I look forward to it!

  2. James Reply
    September 9, 2019 at 10:14 pm

    Compared to what you drink in Bali, how is it?

    • Matthew Reply
      September 10, 2019 at 9:15 am

      Bali was the best coffee of the year.

      • Bruno Reply
        September 11, 2019 at 7:48 pm

        Go to Vietnam… OOOOOOFFFFF! <3

  3. Leighton Reply
    September 10, 2019 at 9:59 am

    I visit Wisconsin often and search out good coffee, as it is harder to find coffee traveling East the BBQ gets better going East.

  4. Barbara Reply
    September 10, 2019 at 1:01 pm

    Newberry, MI, (pop. 1436, in the center of the Upper Peninsula) has a lovely little coffee shop, close to the sign asking you to report your moose sightings.

  5. magice Reply
    September 10, 2019 at 3:12 pm

    My experience is that there are cases for a small town:
    1. There is a local roaster in town.
    2. There is not. Or if it’s after like 5PM.

    If you are in a town with a local roaster, yay!, the coffee tends to be exquisite. I once lived in middle-of-nowhere in northern Nevada, and I found this roaster coffee store in Carson City. It quickly became my Saturday morning ritual to get a cup of their pourover. Goodness it was good.

    However, most of the cases, there are not, and the best you can do is, smile, Starbuck’s. I became loyal to the chain after my NV experience. Sure, their coffee is very much unexceptional. However, if you are doing a roadtrip somewhere, most of the time you get to choose between a Starbuck’s and gas station coffee. And complain all you want, but gas station coffee is…

  6. Santastico Reply
    September 11, 2019 at 10:19 am

    I live in and love the Midwest. You would be surprised how much great coffee, pastries, food you can get here. There are amazing small towns that have historical little places ran by several generations of families that serve great food.

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