Review Visit: November 28th, 2021…read more I couldn't wait for this place to open. I can wait to go back. Somehow, the building of the Coffee Can became this huge hyped thing among people living in Central Illinois. Being from Central Illinois, I got wrapped up in this hype. It's probably due to the unique building materials used in it's construction. You see, the Coffee Can is literally made from shipping containers. It's been a trend that seems to be gaining popularity over the last few years/decade. Take a unique structure and throw in some coffee and that is probably how I got hyped up to try this place. Sadly, with the world currently in a unique situation, the items needed by the Coffee Can took forever to arrive. This lead to the opening being delayed multiple times. But, we are sitting here reviewing it so that must mean they finally opened. It was a windy and sunny afternoon with a few of my friends and I stopped in for some coffee and chit-chat. I wanted something warm since it was just cold enough to chill your inside without freezing you out completely. Also, I made sure to come here on an empty stomach so I could try out their food (which I am never hungry when trying these places, so the opportunity to sample their food is always a failure on my part... but I am learning). My order consisted of a 20oz. Americano and a 'Grown Up Grilled Cheese'. The place was busier than I anticipated for a Sunday since the baristas were busy with the orders that came before us and orders coming in through the drive-thru. After about a 5 minute wait, Jenn and I were able to put our orders in. She got a Chai Tea Latte and a salad. The wait for my drink was short and my food came out a few minutes after that. Since I was hungry, I dived right in to my sandwich while the coffee took it's sweet time cooling off. With those first two bites, I knew my sandwich wasn't going to be a great experience. I didn't realize it came with spinach on it until it came to write these words. I knew it had a funky taste but I haven't had spinach since I was a kid, so I couldn't place what was off about it. It wasn't completely off-putting as I ate the whole sandwich but I can't help but think I would've enjoyed it more had I ordered it without the offending topping. But, who puts a spinach on a grilled cheese?! I chalk that mistake up to me talking and not paying attention to what I was actually ordering. After an eternity, my coffee was cool enough to sip. My taste buds are a glutton for punishment and I love the bitterness of Americanos, but this one tasted very bland. It's hard to say what I wasn't a fan of but I just didn't care for it and was debating on ordering a new drink and tossing it. But, wasting coffee like that hurts my soul so I ended up sticking with it. I do chalk my interesting experience to myself making a mistake on ordering my sandwich and also not ordering the coffee I was craving and getting something basic instead. As we wrapped up our hangout, we decided to check out the upstairs area. The second we stepped foot on the 2nd floor, I wished we had our hangout up there. It was super cozy and intimate with comfy-looking seating and what appeared to be a fireplace. I didn't snap any good photos of the area as there were people sitting there and I didn't want to invade on their privacy. I may have had a unique experience for the worst but, as I said, the blame on that was mostly on me. My friends want to come back when it's a bit warmer out so we can sit outside on the upstairs deck. That you can see below (with the American flag). Hopefully my next visit is a better experience. If I do get to return, I will update this post with any new info/photos/revise the score based on that trip. As always, don't let my blog post dissuade anyone from checking out a place. Go there and it may just be your new favorite place!

Two of us on our order. Our order was 1 medium coffee, 1 medium decaf mocha and a toasted bagel…read more This took 45 minutes to fill. There was one couple ahead of us that got coffee and ice cream and they left before they got their full order because they had waited so long. Our bagel was not even hot and the coffee tasted like it was burnt. Needless to say we won't be back.

From coffee truck to temporary location back to coffee truck…read more My friend Maria first told me about this place and how it is a coffee truck that's taking temporary residency in this Tropical Sno building until the end of winter. Not really wanting to stand outside and order coffee in 10 degree weather, I kind of forgot about it until we were at a hockey game and Maria said it was still open and was having their final day the next day. Having already plans to go to Weaver's for lunch on that same day, it only made sense to drop in next door to grab some caffeine before lunch. So, that's what Emily and I did. We both needed some caffeine before we dug into our lunch. The menu was pretty vast for being a mobile truck. I'm guessing them being in an actual building lets them expand their offerings. Being situated in the Tropical Sno building also lets them tap into that companies sauces and syrups to build some pretty interesting combinations and drinks. Emily got The Best Brew and I snagged Night Shift Special with some caramel flavoring. We took a seat to enjoy what little sunshine there was on this dreary day. It was a bit too cold to sit outside and enjoy our coffees so we took them to the car to sip them down. We tried Emily's first and it was really good. The cinnamon bun flavor was just subtle enough to not make the drink all about itself. Then we tried my Night Shift and we both fell in love. Usually when Emily and I grab coffee and food, she gets the better tasting thing but I won this one with the best tasting drink ever. This drink is legit a Top 3 coffee drink I've ever had. Every sip was smooth and delicious and full of flavor. After we drank most of our coffees, we wandered over to Weaver's for even more tasty goodies but we kept thinking about that Night Shift Special. With The Best Brew moving back to being a mobile truck, I am going to have to keep my eye on where it'll be setting up shop to get more of that sweet sweet Night Shift Special.

For the past two years, I have been getting best brew coffee before work when I can, and it is my…read morefavorite start of the day. The staff and ownership there is amazing and hilarious super welcoming. coffees to die for.

Easy in and out with the drive thru in this former bank. The person who served us was super…read morefriendly and also offered us a pup cup or biscuit for the beast in our back seat. My cappuccino was hot and perked me up nicely for the travels home.

Second time here today!! Love the drinks love the staff!! They seriously are the best in town!! So…read moreglad you made your way to Chillicothe!!

Very good coffee selection and service and thank you for the business. I wish others could try your…read morestuff.

I was excited to try this coffee shop. The staff was very nice. I saw different blends and roasts…read moreof beans. Then I saw they had a kalita wave brewer (a specialty pour over maker) and thought I was in good hands. But then I took two sips of our pour over coffee on our ride home and I could not drink any more. It was awful. It was way over extracted and overly bitter. The coffee shop had great decor and a great vibe. It's really too bad the coffee was not good

Review Visit: June 6th, 2016…read more If you visit the blog often, you will notice my trend for visiting coffeehouses and see that I tend to order Iced Caramel Lattes at most places. Black Maple was no different. A perfect blend of milk, espresso and caramel made this one place I would love to re-visit. It would've scored a perfect 5, but they are a walk-up/drive-thru only, so if it was a rainy day, it could possibly affect trying to get something from there. Also, they could've used some benches outside, but since it is located in the parking lot of a hotel, they are doing great with what they have. I don't frequent Canton, but I am going to always visit this place if I do.

We were really excited to try this place but very unimpressed. They didnt have anywhere hardly to…read moresit inside. When we ordered we asked how sweet drinks were and were told they weren't sweet. My husband ordered a vanilla latte which had hardly any flavor (including coffee flavor). I ordered a caramel macchiato which was SO sweet. We also ordered a bfest croissant. The croissant was panini style so smooshed and burnt. Sorry to say we will not be back. Hope others have a better experience then we did.

This place kicks butt!…read more My friend Tim told me about this place awhile back and has been waiting patiently for it to open. Fast forward 2 months when we planned a day to hang out and play board games when I suggested we check it out. Matt, Tim, and I popped in on a Saturday afternoon and all was quiet. As we walked up, we almost turned around as it looked closed (there was a big lock on one of the doors) but I wanted to 100% be sure it was closed so I walked up to visually confirm there was no one inside. Come to our surprise that it was open. We quickly dipped inside to avoid the humidity and heat of the day and made our ways to the giant tvs that displayed the menus. Said menus quickly irritated us as they were on a continuous scroll every 5 seconds or so... of the same photo. There are 3 tvs and each one displayed one portion of the menu. Each one was set up to a slideshow effect and would transition to the next photo of the same photo it just showed you. So, we kept having to re-focus on where we were despite it being the same image. It took a bit longer to figure out what we wanted to order because of this. But once we knew what we wanted, we ordered with the cashier and waited for our drinks. Tim was distracted with his phone when Matt and I got distracted with something behind the counter. It was this machine that shook the drinks and let me tell you... we were mesmerized by it. We both commented on it at the same time and kept watching the workers load drinks in it. Then we were mesmerized by the machine that put a seal on the cups. Both Matt and I said we could watch this process all day. I've had sealed drinks like this before but never one that was done within viewing range. Any who, like us getting distracted by that machine, I am getting off topic here. We were served our drinks and we walked over to Costco to get some pizzas for our game night. My first sip of my drink (which was a caramel macchiato) and I knew I made the right choice. It was a delicious mix of what you would expect a caramel macchiato to taste like but in a slush-form. For it being a hot and humid day, it was the perfect thing to sip on during the walk over and through Costco. I can see myself coming back here for a special treat once in awhile. The Levee District in East Peoria has a lot of cool shops but severely lacks a place that I think Kung Fu Tea fills in nicely. Sure, there is a Starbucks and Dunkin' nearby, but this place adds something to the area that I feel that it's lacking. This was evident by the fact that when we walked in, there were only 2 people in there but when we left, there were about 12-15 people milling about, waiting to order or waiting for their drinks. I hope they continue to do well as the landscape of most areas needs some diversity over the usual big chains and corporations.

Great place! welcoming atmosphere, high-quality drinks, and efficient, friendly staffread more

Getting crunk on cookies…read more Emily and I stumbled upon this place almost by accident when trying to find a coffeehouse in Morton to get our caffeine fix awhile back. We were in Morton an hour too early for them to be open so I made a mental note to return in the near future. As luck would have it, we found ourselves in Morton right before they opened so we waiting a few minutes in the parking lot for the Open sign to appear. We looked up the menu online and I saw they had a taco coney dog and I was rather starving so I knew I would get that. Emily got a normal coney dog, nothing fancy. I also ordered my usual iced americano to go with it. We looked over their baked goods and Emily grabbed a big brownie and a 1/2lb chocolate chip cookie. I got a thumbprint cookie. The two people running the show were super friendly and nice. I think they were the owners and they made us feel really welcomed. The made our coffees super quick and brought our coney dogs out to us once they were done cooking. I was a bit worried about my americano since it looked like a light roast variety but I can say that it was really good and had some of that bitter that I really like. Emily and I devoured our coney dogs in no time flat. We were starving. The taco coney dog tastes just like you thought and I loved every bite. Emily really liked hers as well and commented how she liked that they used a no-bean chili for the topping. We dug into our cookies and Emily's 1/2lb was still warm from the oven. My mouth salivated a bit looking at her pull pieces off and eat them. She eventually let me have a piece and it was 100% pure heaven. The fact that it was still warm was really what made it so extra tasty. As for my thumbprint cookie, I didn't know they were dry cookies or else I would've gotten something else. It was fine but I prefer my cookies to be more moist and chewy instead of dry. We didn't try the brownie until we were sitting in the car and that was just as good as the 1/2lb cookie. Tipsy's was a perfect stop for us on the kind of late morning that we were having. The coney dogs hit just right, the staff was super friendly, and the cookies were delectable. It was nice to see the locals coming in to pick up online orders or to grab lunch to go. We probably saw 5 different groups come in during the 10-15 minutes we were there. While their menu is small and limited compared to a full-blown bakery, the handful of things they offer will blow you out of the water.

I cant imagine anyone giving this place a bad review. They are a great place. Friendly staff and…read moreexcellent coffee. The reviews on Google are excellent.

The most upscale coffeehouse you'll ever visit…read more My dad needed a ride to an eye appointment and I asked if he minded we dropped by this coffeehouse on the way back. He said he was totally down for that. So, we stopped in around 9am to one of the fanciest coffeehouses around. This is one of the first coffeehouses my dad has ever been to and he was also blown away by how fancy and how nice everything was here. He declined to get a coffee but I got my usual iced americano. The barista taking my order was beyond friendly and super communicative on everything. I appreciated that since the pick up counter is at the far left side of the counter and you order on the far right. While we were waiting for my coffee, we took a long look at the delicious-looking baked goods in the display case. We didn't get any since I am focusing on what I eat lately and my dad was a bit too shy to order anything. We took a seat and chilled for about 10 minutes since I still had to report to work that afternoon. When I was given my americano, it was on the lighter side of brown, so I knew it was going to be a smoother one and I prefer the darker, more bitter ones. But, it wasn't too bad. It started off smooth and then turned into something I wasn't a huge fan of as I got towards the bottom. Even so, the overall experience was great since my dad and I got to hang out and neither of our schedules really allow for that all too much. I would most definitely check out Matari, not just for a nice ethnic take on coffee but for a real fancy take on a coffeehouse. I did spy a basket of card games at the register, so they have some fun activities you can partake in while feeling like royalty.

Thank you Matari for such a great 1st time experience at your Peoria location. I'm so glad I…read morestopped in and had the opportunity to try out the drinks and pastries while I was in town. I highly recommend checking it out - Yemeni coffee, etc. They have a HUGE selection of pastries and diverse/unique coffee and tea drinks. They've done a really solid job on utilizing the space they have. It's spacious, clean, organized, and decor is really cool. Employees were very nice and patient as we made decisions about our order. My sister and I had the Iced Matari Tea. It was soooo amazing. It had green tea, pink Himalayan salt, spices, milk, whipped cream, and pistachios....and my sister got the Lotus Milk Cake and I went with the Nutella Tiramisu Cake Chocolate Cup (the cup was edible - all chocolate!). They have cards and uno and some other games available for use while you're there. I love the vibe and am so happy to support a new business in Peoria. I can't wait to go back!