Local Coffee Shop Quest: Sassafras
April 11, 2022
Everyone knows about big chain coffee shops like Starbucks and Dunkin, however, local coffee shops do not get as much recognition and are often overlooked. The Red ‘n’ Green Staff is on a quest to find local coffee shops. This week we went to Sassafras at 509 Mill Street in Green Lake.
Walking into this coffee shop we had high hopes. The outside was charming as it was located in downtown Green Lake. The downtown area of Green Lake has a historic charm to it that Sassafras definitely matched. As a customer enters, they see a coffee bar with people sitting and chatting along with a few other customers scattered throughout the shop. There was also a display case with many delicious looking pastries.
We ordered an iced vanilla latte with almond milk and an iced caramel latte with almond milk. While watching the barista make the drink we were excited at first as she was pulling four shots of espresso for the drink. This excitement soon dissipated when the espresso was poured directly onto the ice. This ruined the flavor of the espresso and made the drink taste bitter. It also overpowered the caramel and vanilla flavors making them hardly noticeable.
The food, on the other hand, was surprisingly pleasant. We got a chocolate hazelnut croissant for $3.50. It was light and flakey. The croissant was also a good size. The only thing that would have made it better was if it were served warm.
Each coffee was $5.75. A 20 ounce iced latte is $4.50, we added in a flavor shot for $0.50 and a specialty milk for $0.75. Overall, we would not visit here again. The coffee is not worth the $5.75 and we were not able to finish them because of the burnt espresso flavor. The shop was cute and it seemed like people were enjoying themselves inside. The food was satisfactory, but the coffee missed the mark for us. We give Sassafras a rating of 2 out of 5.
Local Coffee Shop Quest: Riverside Coffee Company
Everyone knows about big chain coffee shops like Starbucks and Dunkin, however, local coffee shops do not get as much recognition and are often overlooked. The Red ‘n’ Green Staff is on a quest to find local coffee shops. To start we went to Riverside Coffee Company located at 170 W Huron Street in Berlin.
The inside and outside are very cute and cozy, they had a lot of wooden accents and greenery. They had many places for customers to sit and enjoy themselves, or even a quiet comfy place to study. The workers were very friendly and had a very quick and efficient work ethic. They knew exactly what they were doing and offered more suggestions about what to get in their shop. The coffee shop also included a small selection of pastries and a full menu of different sandwiches.
We ordered an iced caramel latte with almond milk and an iced vanilla latte with almond milk. The coffee to sweetness and milk ratio was pleasing. The actual espresso was smooth and not too overpowering. A 20-ounce iced latte was $5.40. The almond milk was an upcharge of $0.50 along with the caramel and vanilla being another $0.50. In total each drink was $6.40 plus tax. There was also a $0.10 charge for using a card, however, this is typical when it comes to local businesses. The price of the coffee was fair for what we got. The price is pretty comparable, if not cheaper, than larger chain coffee shops like Starbucks. The only problem that we ran into is that the ice melts pretty quickly and sometimes the temperature would be different throughout the drink. Overall Riverside Coffee Company earns a 5/5.