Amherst Coffee: Coffee, Food, Wine and More

Amherst Coffee opened its doors in November 2005, as part of the new Amherst Cinema Arts building in Amherst, Massachusetts on Amity Street, across from the Jones Library. The cafe was an interesting new restaurant for the town of Amherst, which already contains Rao's Coffee, Bart's Ice Cream (with an espresso bar), The Black Sheep Deli and Cafe, and a Starbuck's coffee store. Why would the small town of Amherst need yet another coffee shop? Amherst Coffee proved exactly why.

Amherst Coffee brews espresso European-style, and the barristas are craftsmen and craftswomen. At Amherst Coffee, a small latte contains roughly six ounces of milk or soymilk, and two ounces of espresso. The espresso is perfect--rich and slightly bitter, with a thick crema on top, a testimony to the quality of the espresso machines Amherst Coffee uses, as well as the skill used by the barristas. In addition, when this author orders a soy latte, the soymilk is frothed perfectly. Unlike other coffee shops, Amherst Coffee employees and owners know how to froth soymilk, a difficult task. The result is a thick, creamy, tightly-bubbled latte with the virtuoso's "leaf" pattern, blending espresso and froth into a work of art. At $2.50 for a regular latte, and $3.00 for a soy latte, the price is fairly standard for coffee shops, although the serving size is smaller. In this case, size does not matter; it's all about technique, and the barristas have mastered their craft.

Amherst Coffee's menu includes a wide array of pastries, including cherry scones, fig scones, croissants, spinach and feta cheese croissants, standard cookies such as chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal, and assorted smoothies, waters, along with the oddly distinctive water buffalo yogurt!

In the evening, Amherst Coffee turns into a wine and whisky bar, complete with live jazz music many evenings. The coffee bar remains open, thankfully, for patrons who can't get enough caffeine. For those who prefer to go light on the caffeine at night, an assortment of teas, including white tea, Rooibos, and peppermint, are available; prices start at $1.50 for a cup, and loose tea is sold by the quarter ounce and ounce to take home.

Amherst Coffee has a sister coffee shop in the town of Northampton, just twenty-five minutes from Amherst, Massachusetts. That coffee shop, Northampton Coffee, serves the same food, coffee, and tea menu, but does not include the wine and whisky bar. Amherst Coffee's combination of exquisite coffee, reasonable prices, sophisticated evening atmosphere, and convenient location makes it a place that cannot be skipped for those visiting the area, and a must-visit for townies who crave their java and scone fix.