Joel H.
Yelp
I'm working my way through a Mental Floss list of best coffee roasters in each state. When a trip to Atlanta came up, I immediately checked to see how far away Cool Beans Coffee Roasters in Marietta was. I was ecstatic to find out it wasn't very far.
Cool Beans is located in Marietta Square, a cute collection of local stores, restaurants and entertainment venues surrounding a park. The first thing I noticed when entering the shop was their huge red coffee roaster which they've named Big Red. It was just hanging out in the middle of the shop for everyone to see. This is not normal, most places keep their roaster tucked away in some back room, not right in the middle of the shop. The coffee geek in me immediately headed over to check Big Red out. After my roaster exploration, I got down to the business at hand. What should I order?
I started with my go to, a latte with nut milk, and my wife's, a mocha. I added on a chocolate muffin for my daughter. I wanted to take home some beans for my aunt and myself. Unlike other coffee shops that have beans prebagged and sitting on a shelf, Cool Beans has over a dozen plastic bins of different roasts tucked to the right of their bar. They don't measure out and bag a pound of beans until after you order it. I found this approach a bit overwhelming, so much to consider, but the barista took the taste profile I described for both me and my aunt and offered up some recommendations.
After everything was paid, I went to find my family. They were seated in a little "private" room to the left of the entrance. It had a small counter (the perfect size for my kids) and was painted like the famous Starry Night painting. My kids loved sitting in their own private space. There was another "private" room on the other side of the business entrance. The rest of Cool Beans is filled with your typical cafe style seating: bar spots, window seats, two and four seated tables.
About that coffee. Loved the latte, one of my favorites. It had the perfect balance of nut milk and espresso. Not too sweet, not too milky. My wife found her mocha to be just "ok". The real win of our visit was the beans I took home. Outside of a roast I got from New York, these have been my favorite beans. They are very flavorful and help me make a mean (and sophisticated) cup of coffee.
If you love coffee and find yourself in Atlanta (or Marietta) do yourself a favor and give Cool Beans a visit.