PennyCup Coffee Co. — Restaurant in Asheville

I was headed to Bruegger’s, which I don’t like very much anyway, only to find they were closed so I asked Siri for a close bagel shop and was directed to Penny Cup. I ordered a bagel & cream cheese with a coffee and couldn’t have been more satisfied. Unlike Bruegger’s, Penny Cup knows how to do a real NY schmear and while I suspect they don’t make their own bagels on site, they provided a properly made bagel, as fresh as you could want. Another difficult thing to find these days, thanks to places like Starbucks, is coffee that isn’t sour and bitter tasting, needing half a cup of milk and many sugar packets to be drinkable. Barely. The coffee I had at Penny Cup was roasty, nutty and delicious before I even added milk or sugar. This makes 2 places I’ve found in Asheville so far where I don’t wind up pouring 3/4 of the drink in the trash. To all of the pretentious “coffee shops” downtown, grab a cup from this place and see how coffee is supposed to taste. The interior was warm and quiet and had a lounge-like feel, with several mismatched tables and chairs, pillows, cushions and stools. A lot of space but I think not a lot of seating overall. The music was audible in the background but not blaring, so no need to shout. I’d imagine there’s not a whole bunch of street traffic in this location, kind of hidden on the outskirts but then again not terribly far from the heart of downtown. Until next time… and there will definitely be...

If the storefront doesn't make you rubber neck and steal you back in, the incredible barista and coffee surely will. Some part of you needs to sit in that open window on the world and take in the fresh air mixed in with the scintilla of roasting beans right behind you! We were actually enroute to another coffeehouse and simply passed by this one looking so adorable on the sloping road to the main street. Its like one big wink and a nod and then we saw the pumpkin spice latte signboard and its all we needed to know! Funnily our GPS then took us about halfway around the world to finally get back here, found some easy parking on the adjoining road just up above the PennyCup location and went on inside to be greeted by a truly sweet barista who we regrettably didn't learn the name of but blonde hair and just a natural customer service personality. She was the welcome on the welcome! Now, to the good stuff. Lean in here. The pumpkin spice latte is made with a honey compound made by another local business and to make mine more interesting, I requested cayenne pepper as its so very good for the blood and let me tell you, that was the right request! I ordered mine hot and can honestly say, I've never tried a better latte in my life? Top 3 easily. It also kept me pleasantly buzzing for the rest of the afternoon. Such a joy! Find this...

BEST FOR THE BULK - Sometimes I wish I could rate places a 6/5, or that 4.5 could still mean "AMAZING." It's cause this place - Penny Cup Coffee, KILLS IT in terms of VALUE, at a level which puts it ABOVE the other places I've reviewed.

Let me explain - you're getting coffee the quality of Pollen and Cooperative Coffee but at a fraction of the price - the caveat being you have less single origin options to choose from and whole bean options START at a lb - but consider this - for a lb of Ethiopian Guji(my personal recommendation), you pay the same as you would 12 ounces of Cooperative's Levity or 10 oz of Rowan's Encore.

Really, you're not going to get more accessible or affordable "third wave" type coffee than here. It's my go to for buying in Bulk - they pack and seal the coffee right in front of you. But for chilling out and grabbing just a cup - stick...