[ This is a repost of an urban bike excursion originally posted at Phoenix Market Trends. We'll be doing another one when the weather cools off becasue the coffee scene has changed a bit. ]

Compare downtown Phoenix to just a few years ago and the difference is almost dramatic, startling and intriguing.   Not so many years ago there was no place to go, nothing really to do and there were few people around. 

Now, while still far from urban, Central Phoenix has lots of places and reasons to be there and Coffee shops have become a staple in Midtown and Downtown Phoenix, especially independent coffee shops.  So when Arizona Coffee put a list together of the independent coffee houses I decided to visit my favorites and check out the new ones, I’ve not been to on a bicycle.

I’ve been to most of them before and I frequent Lux and Lola a lot due to their location on Central.  I love to drive and ride my bike down Central Ave, it’s a blast.

Where did I go:

• Lux Coffee
• Copper Star Coffee
• Lola Coffee
• Conspire
• Fair Trade Cafe
• Fair Trade at Civic Space Park
• Hob Nobs Coffee House
• Drip Coffee Lounge
• Royal Coffee Bar
• Urban Beans
• The Daily Grind - Closed

I won’t go into detail about each coffee shop, better you to discover them and each will be a match for different characters.  I like them all for different reasons:  I like Lux because there are few if any places where there is a D.J. in the early morning and the coffee is awesome as are the pastries.

Lola I like a lot because the service is awesome, the coffee consistently good, there is room to sit with lots of natural light inside and the pastries are good.

Conspire has very good coffee and it’s unique: a vegan donut, purposeful graffiti and always interesting people.

I like them all.

By the way the list of coffee houses is growing.  What would really be an exciting addition is something akin to the Viennese Coffee Houses (Kaffeehaus).