Nashville's specialty coffee scene grew up in step with the rest of the city's boom, and it didn't just import the standard third-wave template. The strongest shops here tend to be roaster-backed, tied to a neighborhood rather than a single downtown flagship, and unusually willing to mess with technique instead of running the same playbook as everywhere else.
The five stops below run from Downtown to East Nashville and The Nations, each earning its spot for a specific reason rather than general popularity.
The Local Institution: Crema Coffee Roasters, Downtown
The Infatuation calls Crema "an institution in this city." Its Downtown cafe has a large working space and a wooden loft patio facing the street, and it hosts coffee classes in a back room. Crema roasts its coffee fresh in Nashville, describes itself as zero-waste, and now also serves East Nashville and Brentwood. Reviewers praise a smooth drip coffee and specialty drinks that don't mask the beans.
Signature drink: drip coffee from Crema's own roasts. What to order: a specialty drink, which tends to arrive with a small shortbread cookie, or a plain drip to taste the roast.
The Technique Innovator: Steadfast Coffee, Germantown
Steadfast opened in Germantown in 2015, co-founded by Nathanael Mehrens after he left Crema, and built its reputation on flash-chilling: coffee brewed hot, then chilled instantly to hold on to its brightness. Mehrens first created Matchless Coffee Soda while working at Crema in 2012. He brews it from Steadfast's roasts, and it is sold at Steadfast and other coffee shops around town.
Signature drink: the Matchless Coffee Soda. What to order: that soda, especially on a hot day; it is a drink you won't find made the same way elsewhere in the city.
Baratza Encore ESP
A reliable dual-range burr grinder that handles both espresso and filter grinds from beans bought fresh at any of these shops $199.95 (checked November 6, 2026)
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The All-Day Institution: Frothy Monkey, 12South & Beyond
Frothy Monkey opened in 2004 and has grown into eight cafes: 12South, Downtown Nashville, The Nations, East Nashville, Downtown Franklin, Southside Chattanooga, and two in the Birmingham, Alabama area. It roasts its own coffee in Nashville, and guides consistently recommend it for breakfast and for settling in with a laptop.
Signature drink: house coffee, roasted in Nashville. What to order: the coffee with a full breakfast; the food menu is the reason locals treat it as a standing meeting place.
“Nashville's coffee shops didn't inherit a coffee-city reputation the way Seattle or Portland did. They built one from scratch, alongside the rest of the city's boom, roaster by roaster.”
The Neighborhood Roaster: Retrograde Coffee, East Nashville
Retrograde opened in 2018 in an old East Nashville garage turned sleek coffeehouse, and has since added locations in Germantown and Inglewood. It started as a multi-roaster cafe and later became a roasting operation of its own, now supplying other independent coffee businesses. The Infatuation singles out the espresso tonic and soda, and a breakfast sandwich on a sourdough bagel.
Signature drink: the espresso tonic. What to order: that tonic on a warm day, plus the breakfast sandwich if you're there in the morning.
The Bean to Take Home: Honest Coffee Roasters, The Nations
Honest was established in 2014 at The Factory in Franklin, where it roasts, and its Nations cafe sits inside L&L Market, a repurposed factory surrounded by restaurants and small shops. It also has a Downtown Nashville shop. The roasting program is the core of the brand, with the cafe built around locally roasted coffee first and a simple breakfast and lunch menu second.
Signature drink: drip coffee from Honest's own roasts. What to order: a bag of the current single-origin filter roast to take home.
Fellow Atmos Vacuum Canister
Keeps freshly roasted beans usable through their full freshness window, active vacuum-seal mechanism $69.95 (checked November 6, 2026)
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Getting Around
Crema's Downtown cafe and Frothy Monkey's 12South original sit a short trip apart and pair well into one outing. Steadfast, in Germantown, is a separate stop north of downtown. Retrograde in East Nashville and Honest Coffee Roasters in The Nations sit in different directions again and are each worth their own visit.
For the manual brewing gear to bring these cups home with you, see our full brewing collection, or browse every city we cover in the city guides hub.
