Insight Coffee Roasters

Very good coffee/​tea
I love the ambiance and the staff is very helpful. I wish there was a bit more seating and I did not enjoy the baklava. It is not real baklava. Who puts chocolate on it? Overall this is a great place to hang out and enjoy quality drinks.

Came here for a much needed caffeine break after dropping the kids off at school for the day. Wonderful little spot with attentive staff and a charm you don’t get at big chains like Starbucks. I wish they had a few more of the popular drinks that I can find at other places but my matcha latte was to die for!

Top-​notch coffee and a great ambience make it my favorite coffee stop in Sacramento. I hope they add some sandwiches to their portfolio soon.

Cool little coffee shop — and very popular (both day and night)! Our group had a nice sampling of their beverages, ranging from a basic cup of coffee, to Cappuccino, Macchiato, Matcha Latte, and Green Tea — all tasty and delightfully attractive in presentation; the Almond Croissant was very good, too… light, flaky, with a generous amount of sliced almonds. The energetic, helpful, and friendly staff added to our enjoyable experience!

Pourovers done right! They were typically technical in that they asked if I liked fruity floral acidic etc… notes and they were especially technical in that they wanted to know if I wanted my coffee brewed through metal or paper. Very knowledgeable!
Also, it’s a wonderfully cozy atmosphere for a rainy Saturday — -completely with soft jazz playing in the background, copious amounts of wood grain, and giant windows to allot for gorgeous light.
The baristas were relatively amiable when I said I didn’t have the most refined palette, but knew I liked a super good pourover.

Awesome place in heart of the Capitol. Felt like Ritual or Four Barrel in San Francisco!
Excellent almond milk latte!

Binky is in the midst of a very stressful finals week — therefore, being the kind, loving, caring creature I am, I looked around for 1) a nice location where Binky could study and 2) a location where I could read and watch Netflix while accompanying Binky (lol — yay for graduating). During this time of the year, the Davis coffee shops are PACKED to capacity, so Binky and I made the drive out to Sacramento for some peace and quiet.
Insight Coffee Roasters was nothing short of a God-​send. We adored this little location, with its wooden benches and tables, metal bench chairs (facing the window/​street — nice to watch people walk by while drinking coffee) and leather-​y, plushy couches. On a Saturday morning, it wasn’t too crowded and we were able to find seating immediately — first, opting for the window seating, and then, moving to the couches when the seats started to hurt our tushies.
Their coffee was simply delicious — undoubtedly, the best Binky and I have had in the Sacramento area. I, admittedly, have *questionable* (I prefer to call it OPEN-​MINDED) taste in coffee as I unashamedly enjoy a nice iced McCafe now and again. However, coffee-​snob friends — have no fear. Binky doesn’t drink coffee often, but when he does, you can BET your dollar bottom he ALWAYS opts for the best. I ordered their house coffee with an almond croissant, and Binky ordered one of the dark roast coffees (I think it contained notes of blueberry and chocolate but I can’t remember the exact name…). The house coffee was perfect — no cream required, very smooth, very flavorful and «crisp» (don’t know if that makes sense???). Binky LOVED his coffee, although it was too «sour» (fruity) for my liking. Insight, unfortunately, didn’t heat up the almond croissant (bummer) — however, it was still delectably tasty with a nice custard filling, and plenty of almonds on top — a perfect addition to my coffee!
Binky and I stayed at Insight for HOURS (I ordered another Oolong tea because I felt bad for occupying the couch for such a long time). Throughout the time we spent at Insight, there was a consistently sizable clientele, although at NO point did we ever feel claustrophobic. Everyone was quite relaxed — an elderly gentleman even fell asleep on the couch next to us. The baristas were kind, helpful, and UNPRETENTIOUS (thank GOD). They never rushed our orders or pressured us to leave/​order more or scoffed at us (more like me) for my blatant ignorance of *fine* coffee.
Binky and I felt plenty satisfied when we finally decided to leave Insight — Binky got a good amount of work done PLUS he was able to watch the Warriors game (FAST wifi here!!). I made some good headway on my book and enjoyed relaxing with Binky. I’m so grateful to this location for making studying as painless as possible for Binky — I will definitely be back soon!

The menu could have more but that is a minor complaint for this place. Because the things they do serve are amazing. I’ve been coming here about twice a week every week just to work on projects. As in I actually make the trip to midtown just to have a cappuccino while I work inside.
It’s seated at a relatively quiet part of midtown and it’s really quite a nice atmosphere. The employees are all really nice and I’ve never had any bad experience with it. It’s kind of a huge place if you look at it but it’s never super busy which I like.
The coffee always taste fresh. I recommend the cappuccinos.
Any other criticism is the sweet option for cappuccinos. I tried it the other day and theirs is a little too sweet.
Other than that, I’ll be making my way towards this place again and I’ve taken family and friends here to just have a chat.

Two stars for very, very meh hot chocolate. We had an impromptu meeting Tuesday and, since it was late, I ordered hot chocolate. For what was paid (I think $ 3.50) I got a small cup of room temperature milk and lots of chocolate powder. It wasn’t hot… or warm. There was so much powder that it was gritty. I finished it but most of the cup had a thick residue of chocolate powder.
This was perhaps the single most disappointing drink I’ve gotten at a coffee shop in ages. I really, really don’t get the high ratings, except that the area surrounding Insight must be starved for expensive coffee shops. Just go to Gino’s or bring some from home. I guess the hipsters will need to starve. Thanks!

Another one of Insight’s branches located further out on a quieter corner in downtown, the place is just as inviting as the others to sit back or get some work done with the supply of free Wifi and outlets.
The best coffee in Sacramento and definitely make the most of the complimentary espresso that comes with the purchase of any bag of beans.

First time at a coffee shop in Sacramento, and I absolutely loved the vibe of the place. While the coffee was great (I ordered a latte), what impressed me most about the place was the set-​up. I know there are multiple Insight locations, but I chose to go to this one due to the long tables that were perfect for studying. I went early in the morning (around 9am) and then place was fairly empty. There was music playing, but it wasn’t distracting to the point that I was unable to focus on my studies. I stayed there until around 3 to 4pm, and while the place got pretty full, I don’t believe it ever got to a point that you wouldn’t be able to find a seat. In addition, there were multiple outlets throughout the place.
Will definitely be going back for more productive mornings!

I’ve been two different Insight Coffee Roasters locations across the Sacramento neighborhood until I discovered their third location at 8^th & S Streets, and I’m totally hooked for that location! As I entered, the atmosphere is quite relaxing with more room space to sit by doing homework or other projects here than the 16^th Street location. The concept is much similar to the rest of the ICRs, yet it’s very comfortable to enjoy your happy, joyful mood.
The baristas are doing excellent as I welcome there. So far, no cons for that location at all!
Every drinks from this 8^th Street ICR tasted outstanding! I ordered the iced green tea, and it tasted very refreshing! Very natural made as I feel the flavors of green tea. Not a bad drink at all!
The parking can be closely difficult to park. Try to park at the surface street parking available including Southside parking lot too. Otherwise, you can walk, ride a bike, or use public transportation easier without the hassles.
In the end, Insight Coffee Roasters at 8^th Street is the finest, and most relaxing ICR every made near my former neighborhood of Downtown. A well, worthy visit! My rating: 4 solid stars!

Some family members brought us here and so glad they did. The place is nice and open with plenty of seating inside and out.
We ordered a few different drinks to try and all were very good. There were some unique art displays on the back side wall that were fun to look at. The only disappointment was the pastries or the lack of them on a Sunday afternoon. I would have loved to try some after reading the Unilocal reviews prior to going. Hopefully, the next time we are back in town we will stop by in the morning before driving back to the Bay Area.

This place is only 2 blocks away from my work. I usually drive to Starbucks on lunch but I decided to walk over to Insight because I didn’t have my car today. I was having a miserable Monday and needed a coffee pick me up! I asked the barista for a Caramel Macchiato but he said they don’t make those here. He recommended the Latte they have on their menu but a sweet version which consists of brown sugar. It was really really good! Thanks for the recommendation! :) I will definitely be back for more.

Kinda loud and echo-​y, but you can get work done here. Has a smattering of outlets but not crowded during a workday so it works. Super fast internet: 47d/11.6u. Friendly staff, a tasty sweet matcha latte for $ 4.88, and tempting pastries makes this place a solid option. Not crowded at all during the day.

Coffee House Heaven Only 2 Blocks From Work
SITREP
I love the fact that this Insight Coffee (the first one in the Insight-​branding that I was introduced to several years ago) is only a short hop & skip from my office. There are times when you just say to yourself, «Enough of the gaddam Folgers in the break room!» and you need to escape for a really really truly really awesome cup of coffee.
THE SETUP
Insight in fact has a great variety of some pretty awesome coffee & incredible teas:
COFFEE
* If you go for the coffee, the Big Brazil and the Little Brazil are two (2) tasty options (and runs about $ 3):
TEA
* If your *mood* tends more to the tea side of the beverage-​spectrum, I absolutely love their Very Berry Iced Tea (also an option for just about $ 3) — absolutely great for a «cool-​down» walk on the way back home:

* I love also that they have SO MANY VARIETIES of Iced Tea, any one of which is a taste adventure — in this instance, I am enjoying my Iced Calendula Blossoms Botanical Tea that I was taking on the road for my trip to Santa Cruz:
* Of course, sometimes on a cold day, there is nothing better than the more traditional tea set of a steamed & seeped herbal blend — sometimes you just want a Hot Meizhan White Tea :
ROASTING CLASSES
What is fun about this location (in contrast to my new favorite 16^th Street Insight location) is the chance to catch a roasting class in the back area here:
Just from a coffee-​generalist perspective (irrespective of brandings such as Insight, Peets, Naked Lounge, Starbucks, etc.), this class is fun, it is informative and it smells dam good if you (like me) truly enjoy the smell of many different coffee blends. I really recommend that you catch it if you can. :)
ART
This location also boasts a great exhibition setup that local artists can avail themselves of and share their beautiful, contemporary art at. Insight is all about supporting the local art scene is one of those locations it is fun to make a stop at during 2^nd Saturday Art Walk.
THE «INSIGHT COFFEE» BRANDING
Let me just take a quick minute to say that Sacramento is dam lucky to have the wonderful coffee houses under the «Insight Coffee» name. From rich delicious brews that I get in the morning, to the refreshing cool iced teas that I love in the afternoon, Insight has got it going!
From their «Downtown» (10^th & J Streets), to their «Fremont» (16^th & P Streets), and to their «Southside» (8^th & S Streets) locations, each of these locations has surprised me with something enjoyable & delicious (and FUN) that is unique to each of them, but embodies the overall «Insight» mission & spirit. [I have to say honestly, though, I’ll probably never the see the inside of their location in the «fu-​fu» Pavilions shopping center because I don’t want to mistaken for a homeless dude.]
CONFLICT & AGITATION
The staff and roasters are a very environmentally & human rights conscience group of individuals. However, there are always some that feel that coffee retailers can do more to promote the protesters agenda. I don’t think that always fair, but it doesn’t stop the protesters from engaging in their activities:
SACRAMENTO NEWS & REVIEW ARTICLE
Besides the convenience of being close to my work site, this location has also been a great meet-​up for many of creative & other business-​related projects. In fact, on an occasion related to Unilocal specifically, this picture was *snapped* of me at this Insight Coffee location by the Sacramento News & Review for the article I was interviewed for about Unilocal:
Just goes to show how one’s «Yelping» a business can take it to another level of scrutiny.
THE LOWDOWN
An awesome coffee house location to fulfill my desires for delicious coffee and refreshing teas.

Okay I’m pretty sure insight is now my fave coffee place … At least for their sweet lattes ! The past few months I’ve sought out and tried quite a few coffee houses … And I usually compare it to insight for quality and taste. I love insight !! Their beans are pretty good to buy for pour overs at home. But their brown sugar sweet lattes are so amazing and delicious ! Not too sweet, smooth and rich in flavor… perfect little cup of happy :) hands down the best latte in Sacramento !! Only one other coffee roaster came close to insights latte … Review to follow ! Alright looks like my cup is now empty. I licked the foam off the rim of the cup! Off to start my Tuesday morning :)

Great coffee, cool place
We were out looking for some new higher end coffee to bring into work, so we were hitting up different Sacramento coffee joints. Insight had plenty of coffee options for us. The service was good the Barista explained all the different beans so we found a few goods bags to buy. We tried a cup of one of the types we bought and it was outstanding.
The location is in a good spot with some decent parking around. I liked the setup and seating options at Insight. The window view theater seats were very cool.
A good place to stop if you are in the area.

I have been to Insight Coffee on Fair Oaks Blvd. in the Pavilions Shopping Center and I think they may just be my favorite coffee shop… Like ever!
This location is super spacious inside with plenty of tables and chairs to sit at and hangout with your friends. There are a lot of wood and natural accents which is nice as well as eye catching wall art.
When I came with my friend Alesha S. and her boyfriend on a Sunday morning there was a good sized line to order your drink and a lot of the space was already filled.
I ordered a Hot Mocha because Insight’s mochas are the best I have ever had and this one did not disappoint. Not too chocolatey sweet where you can still taste the espresso which is just the way I like it. My friend wasn’t as pleased with her tea because they were out of 3 – 4 teas from their selection and her tea took 15 minutes to come out after we ordered it. Argh.
I would come back to this location when in the area because I love their espressos and teas (haven’t tried their coffee) and honestly, there’s not much else in the immediate area.

I have to be honest, I am not a coffee shop person.
Too many times I’ve arrived at coffee shops for the sole purpose of using their wifi, only to have it fail after purchasing some exotic drink and committing myself to an un-​erganomic set up. Frustration!
Insight offers simple drinks, I love that. A simple iced coffee, please. No I do not want a triple extra large steaming mocha frappé latte with extra whip and a side of caramel.
The wifi here works pretty darn well. The music is awesome. It’s a quiet but buzzing atmosphere. The cold brew coffee was delectable!
If I had to be a coffee shop person, I would be a coffee shop person here at Insight.