By Kristine Hansen | VOGUE
Arizona’s largest city has long been linked with golf, spas, and desert hikes. Coffee took a backseat as cities such as Seattle and Portland enticed folks to sip pour-over, single-origin brew. Now, with a cluster of new indie cafés, Phoenix is poised to be the coffee capital of the Southwest. Inside these new spots, terms like seed-to-cup and fair trade are tossed around as often as sports scores or talk about the weather. And the epicenter of this scene is downtown, where baristas run a long shift roasting beans at dawn and stay open late, catering to artists, students, and downtown dwellers.
With a new light rail line from the airport, a new Arizona State University campus, and a mix of condos and apartments popping up at a frantic pace, caffeine is in demand. In town on the first Friday of the month? Check out First Fridays art walks and—on any day—pop by the David Bowie mural (at McDowell Road and Seventh Street). A fab place to check into for the night is Found:Re, a year-old boutique hotel with its own art gallery and a farm-to-table restaurant called Match, where coffee from Press (a local roaster) is brewed and served.
