Sterling G.
Yelp
A coffee shop experience is, I think, the sum of its parts. It's the atmosphere. The decor. The baristas and their attitude, style, and passion. The location. The seating! It's also the drinks they craft and serve.
I have a lot of good to say about Dogwood, and one single but substantial negative.
First, the praise -- because I do genuinely like this place, and you can tell that a lot of love and care and thought has been poured into it.
The aesthetic is modern and lovely. The location is quiet and peaceful and clean. It shares both a building and a generously windowed wall with the local printing press company Studio On Fire (you can watch them work!), and that collaboration is reflected in their coffee's own beautiful packaging. As for seating, it's both aesthetic and varied (stool seating, sofa seating, multi-sized booth seating...). That said, it can get busy, and when it's busy you may not be guaranteed an open seat.
The baristas are friendly, kind, and immensely talented; they like being there, and you can totally tell. They're also trained in the secret, illustrious art of Latte Art. I have yet to get a drink from them that isn't adorned with some pretty pattern on top. The tea is also fantastic quality; they're precise about how they steep it, and even more precise about where they source it.
I also have to make note of the long table of art and knickknacks that they sell. Wall art, candles, greeting cards, playing cards, coasters -- some made by Studio On Fire, most (if not all) made locally. The big downside here is that most of the things on this table are PRICEY. If you have $40 to drop on a candle? Great. If not? You could still get an aesthetically appealing greeting card for a reasonable price, but it is jarring to enter a coffee shop and feel so immediately out of its price range when all you came in for was a drink.
Finally, my big issue with Dogwood is this:
Every single latte I've ordered, be it espresso or chai, be it specially flavored or not, has had absolutely minimal flavor. They've tasted muted and weak (and I've tried six!). They've been drinks where you can taste the milk in them more than anything (which, to their credit, is the best quality milk on the market), and ultimately, they arrive with a flavor profile that's watery and not super distinct.
If consistency and familiar, mild flavor is what you crave, then this might be perfect for you. I can only speak for my own taste buds, after all. That said, it's incredibly disappointing to find a place that downright nails almost every part of that coffee shop experience... except for the actual drinks.
The one, absolutely blissful exception that I've discovered is their seasonal drink, the Baby Bear. It's sized like a cappuccino, sweetened with molasses, and built with breve (half and half) instead of milk. It blew my freaking mind, and I would ABSOLUTELY recommend it, both hot and iced. My one caveat would be this: if you're not used to cappuccino sizing, ask to see the cup beforehand, because cappuccinos are small and you definitely run the risk of getting less than you expect. That said, I would, in fact, come back just for this.
At the end of the day, though, the drink I buy is a fundamentally important part of my personal coffee shop experience, and as much as I hoped I'd fall for Dogwood's handcrafted drinks... I just don't like them, and can't justify paying such a premium price for the one that I do.