Charleston, South Carolina
The best coffee in Charleston
Nine Charleston cafés and roasters, most of them walkable from King Street.
9 places
Charleston's coffee is unusually concentrated: almost everything worth drinking is within walking distance of King Street, which makes it the easiest city on this list to do properly in one morning.
The roasting history runs deeper than the tourist-facing scene suggests — King Bean has been at it since 1994 and Foresight has three decades behind it.
1.Second State Coffee
King Street
The strongest specialty option on King Street, and the first stop to make downtown.
2.The Rise Coffee Bar
Downtown
Inside The Restoration Hotel, steps from King Street, pouring Foresight Coffee — a family-owned downtown roaster with thirty years of precision roasting behind it.
3.Harken Cafe
King Street
A café that ranks on page one against much larger publishers, which in Charleston usually means the locals send people there.
4.Clerks Coffee Company
King Street
Both roaster and café, and one of the clearest specialty listings in the city.
5.Mudhouse Specialty Coffee Roasters
Roasting and serving with a specialty focus, and a useful contrast to the King Street rooms.
6.King Bean Coffee Roasters
Roasting since 1994. Three decades in one city is its own recommendation.
7.Welton's
King Street
A small coffee and bake shop inside a renovated historic home — the most Charleston setting on the list.
8.Charleston Coffee Exchange
Founded in 2006, Specialty Coffee Association certified, with staff trained in roasting and tasting rather than just service.
9.Bitty & Beau's Coffee
King Street
Runs on a hiring model built around employing people with disabilities. The coffee is solid; the reason to go is the room.