Unexpected Coffee Expressions

Coffee shop visits like today are why I love writing this blog. Luke and I pulled up outside Coffee Expressions, and I was skeptical. The shop is located on a rundown street in Springfield in what looks like an old apartment strip.

A simple phrase next to the door caught my attention, “Coffee for independent thinkers.” Just like a catchy title, a few words are often enough to convince people to do more exploring. It worked for me, and I was delighted with the unexpected surprise inside!

Atmosphere

Coffee Expressions is unexpectedly cute, cheery, and comfortable. The fun but carefully chosen color palette consists of a light blue-gray, grounded in cream and black, and accented with pops of orange.

“Tastefully bright” is how I would describe the whole environment (the lighting, colors, feeling, everything). It has a slightly eclectic style that is clean, laid back, and friendly.

Coffee Expressions largely serves locals and Wittenberg University students—the barista even knew the orders of many regulars that came through. There’s limited seating at tables, but some really cool high-back stripped couches make the space feel homie and welcoming.

Despite a slight up-and-coming type of atmosphere, there was a constant flow of customers. The joyful vibe made me want to stay longer and just observe.

Drinks & Prices

Coffee Expressions serves Crimson Cup coffee—an entrepreneurial coffee roaster in Columbus that is dedicated to providing excellent coffee and helping new business owners start their own local coffee shops.

I’ve never been a very strong critic about coffee, mostly because I don’t have much knowledge to base my opinions on. But at Coffee Expressions, I wasn’t very impressed with the drinks.

One, my iced latte was really just cold brew and milk rather than espresso. And it had way too much milk (which is surprising for me to say). Two, there is only one option for drip brew, and according to Luke it was “pretty good but not amazing.” (Although there are free refills for drip…)

The new barista in training was friendly and had good customer service, but he didn’t seem quite confident in his drink making skills. He always asked for the customer’s milk preference, though, and I thought that was a nice touch.

I might not have been thrilled with my drink, but everyone else who came in seemed more than happy with theirs. Coffee Expressions emphasizes specialty drinks with lots of flavor options (hence the name), so they must be better at those. For example, someone ordered a frozen chai tea latte with lavender that was supposedly really good.

Lastly, the coffee shop had standard prices, maybe a little cheaper than Winan’s or Un Mundo, the other Springfield coffee shop options.

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Turns out Coffee Expressions is doing so well they’ve been asked to open a new location in the Wittenberg University Library. Doing some extra research, I learned that Coffee Expressions was started by a local teacher who realized Springfield was lacking a specialty coffee shop. The family owned business even won “Springfield’s Best Coffeehouse” in 2016 from the Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

My drink experience might not have been the best, but I’m still a fan of this fun little coffee shop.