Mike Wayne

Let’s settle something right up front: San Francisco didn’t just hop on the specialty coffee train. This city laid the track, fueled the engine, and then casually invented the words everybody else uses to sound smart about it. The term …

Let’s settle something right now: Melbourne doesn’t have a coffee scene. Melbourne is the coffee scene. This is a city where ordering a “regular coffee” will earn you a look, where the corner cafe down a graffiti-soaked laneway is quietly …

Let’s settle something right now: Boston is not a Dunkin’ town. I know, I know — the orange-and-pink cups are practically a state bird around here, and there’s a drive-thru on every other corner from Southie to Somerville. But underneath …

Let’s settle something right now: Los Angeles is a coffee town. Not a “we have a few decent spots” town — a sprawling, sun-drunk, traffic-cursed, gloriously serious coffee town that quietly turns out some of the best roasters in the …

Let’s settle something right out of the gate: Portland didn’t stumble into great coffee. This city built it, bean by stubborn bean, back when the rest of the country still thought “dark roast” was a personality. Rain nine months of …