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A Coffee Education in Columbus Ohioby Ryan Jacobs Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 Insomnia My exposure to Insomnia started at their campus store. They also have a downtown location. Their house blend is unique (roasted by Stauf's) and they have a very vibrant cafe. Some places are nice just to hang out in, and this is one of those places. The campus location caters to the students while the downtown location caters to the businessfolk who need a quick fix. As a result, the two locations harbor a different crowd, but the purpose is still the same -- coffee.
I didn't limit myself to campus stores, though they were the most convenient. I found many other good coffeehouses in the Columbus area. Eventually, this led me to the create The Columbus Coffee Guide, a website where I gave the location, hours of operation, phone numbers and reviews of each shop I visited. I stopped writing the guide in 1997 when I moved to Indiana, but working on that site led me to the following gems. Cup O' Joe When I intitially moved to Columbus, there was only one Cup O' Joe. Now there are four. Bexley, German Village, Campus and the Airport all have a Cup O' Joe. This coffee shop serves Stauf's coffee and, like Insomnia, has great atmosphere. This cafe has been repeatedly voted "Favorite Coffeehouse" by Columbus readers of Columbus Alive, a local weekly paper. If dessert is your thing, they have a reputation for having a great dessert menu as well. Recently, Stauf's Coffee Roasters and Cup O' Joe merged. In the future, Cup O' Joe will be responsible for handling retail operations while Stauf's focuses on the coffee. In my opinion, this is a good plan. It is interesting to note that Starbucks really has weak infiltration in Columbus. I attribute this to the fact that Stauf's exceled at supplying many of the local coffee houses with excellent coffee long before Starbucks became the force it is today. Merging a top notch roaster with a great retail operation should strengthen both parties.
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