In the beginning, I set out to review 52 coffeehouses over the span of a year. Ultimately I reviewed a total of 40, over nearly 3 years. Yet, I still consider this project a qualified success.

It was a success in that it achieved what it was intended to do: it got me to stop wasting time and money on mediocre coffee at chain coffeehouses, and it got me to explore the wonderful breadth and depth of independent coffee options in the Twin Cities.

It failed in that I did not meet my objective of one new coffeehouse a week for a year. But that was a minor failure. However, as time has passed, and my opinions of certain places have changed, while certain other places have changed hands, changed names, or gone out of business entirely, it gradually became apparent to me that my reviews here were growing stale, losing their value. And so I have decided to take the site down. Because of their diminishing value, I have turned off the posts containing the reviews. A resourceful reader may still be able to track them down in Google’s cache or the Wayback Machine. If that’s your inclination, have at it.

Before I sign off, I want to call special attention to a few places that have grown near and dear to my heart since I began this blog. First, there’s Angry Catfish, which in my opinion is the best place in the metro area to get a truly great espresso drink (possibly competing for that title with Kopplin’s in St. Paul), and probably the only one where you can get your bike fixed while you sip your latte.

Next, there’s Nokomis Beach Coffee Cafe, just down the street from Angry Catfish. It’s a true neighborhood establishment, a great place to hang out, get some great coffee and food, and meet the neighbors. Nokomis Beach is co-owned by one of my high school classmates and her husband, and is as much an asset to the community here as her parents’ pizza place is to our hometown.

And finally there’s 3 Tiers, a place that, to be completely honest, I was not amazed by in my initial review, but which has evolved wonderfully over the past 3 years since its opening, into quite possibly my favorite place to go for great food and coffee, or a glass of wine or beer, and enjoy a friendly atmosphere, while working or relaxing. In April, my business, Room 34 Creative Services, will be moving in across the street from 3 Tiers, and I couldn’t be happier to have them as a neighbor.

So to all of the great coffeehouses in the Twin Cities that I reviewed over the past few years, and to all of the others I never got a chance to, thank you for what you do, and for helping to make Minneapolis and St. Paul such great places to live.