Caribou Coffee

Thanks a Latte for a great cup of coffee.

Not a huge fan of the staff (not as warm and friendly as my coffee shops in Seattle, but then again coffee in Seattle is just a whole different experience!), but the coffee is standard and I do like their tea.
Pomegranate oolong tea was good and they do tea lattes as well, which I will give a try since I am staying in the area for a few days. Clean, nice atmosphere with several tables to sit at. Not sure if they had wireless — there weren’t many people in there working on laptops or anything.

The people who work at Caribou Coffee are some of the perkiest people I have ever met. Okay, maybe part of that comes with the territory of working in a coffee shop, but seriously. I don’t think I’ve seen bigger smiles.
Caribou has a large selection of drinks to choose from, with coffees, teas, and non coffee drinks on their menus. You can also choose many of their drinks (if not all of them) either hot or iced. This time I got a caramel apple blast, which was utterly delicious. It was actually more like a dessert drink than something I’d sip casually, but I would definitely order it again.
This must be a decent place to hang out. I saw a group of 3 teenagers in one corner and a group of 5 or 6 businessmen from a nearby business hanging in another, so I’d say it caters to a fairly diverse crowd. I can dig it.

Nice corner coffee shop. The staff is really friendly which makes it special. The current store manager can get frustrated with the customers and let it show. Not good

A nice atmosphere to get away from the Starbucks atmosphere.

Okay, as far as coffee goes, I’d much rather support an independent coffee house over a chain.
But the truth is, there’s a dearth of those in the Blue Ash area, and I require a few things… 1) decent espresso drinks, 2) decent grade hot teas, and 3) free WiFi with a place to meet for casual business discussions a couple times a week for an hour or two.
Caribou has their drinks down pat. Pretty good stuff actually. I’m not a fru fru coffe drink kind of person, and prefer my latte’ plain. That’s actually splurging… well okay, the café’ breve’ is the splurge, but the extra fat from whole cream vs. milk… you know…
They do a pretty good house brand of teas as well. I’m not into the fruity perfumey teas like jasmines and such… but they do sport a decent red rooibos that will get called up for active duty now and again.
This location is pretty small, and can actually get sort of crowded during lunch rush, which tends to be a distraction when you’re having a conversation. But it’s convenient, has free WiFi, and the staff is always really decent with prompt service.
I guess there aren’t enough youngish hipsters to support an independent shop in the immediate area, but Caribou does a find job as a substitute.

Caribou’s Coffee is one of the better ones among coffee chains. I will drive by at least 4 Starbucks to get to this Caribou. It’s a little smaller than other Caribous, but hey, there’s a Chipotle next door.
They also have FREE wireless fidelity.