Summermoon Coffee on S 1st Street
Coffee. Some drink it black. Some with cream. And others get fancy frou-frou drinks with extra foam, double shots or even chocolate.
However you take your coffee, I guarantee you have yet to reach coffee heaven. Summermoon Coffee will get you there with their wood-fired brew and their fancy frou-frou Moon Milk.
Moon Milk Will Change Your Life
My standard rice moon milk latte with gluten free zucchini bread from People’s Pharmacy
Located in a non-descript building at 3115 S 1st, Summermoon Coffee is Austin’s best kept secret. Until now.
Let’s first discuss Summermoon’s magical Moon Milk. It’s a combination of 7 secret, all natural, all organic ingredients. I don’t actually know what these 7 ingredients are, other than amazing. Which is why it was highlighted as one of Erin’s 10 Austin Winter Drinks to Try This Year.
What’s great about Moon Milk is its diversity. You can get it hot in the form of a Summermoon Latte, or cold in the Wintermoon Latte. You can even get a Half Moon variation, which is a little less sweet than its “Full Moon” counterparts.
But what I appreciate most about Summermoon is the fact that they have non-dairy alternatives for their Moon Milk as well. They basically take their secret Moon juice and add it to whichever milk you prefer: soy, almond or rice!
They’re all organic too. Another star in my book.
Wood-Fired Coffee, the 8th Secret Ingredient
Wood-fired Summermoon coffee
Summermoon Coffee has over 10 years of coffee roasting experience and the business is all about quality. Lots and lots of quality. And what makes the quality of the coffee so heavenly is a wood-fire roasting technique. As Summermoon describes it, it’s coffee unplugged.
As humanity rushes into the future with more and more technology, the folks at Summermoon have decided to run in the other direction. They custom designed a brick hearth, similar to coffee roasters of the 19th century, allowing them to hand-roast their coffee over a wood fire. There are no buttons or cords. Just three dedicated coffee connoisseurs who hand-roast the coffee daily. Hand-roast! Some things are just better the old fashioned way.
If you’re curious, you can watch the entire roasting process in this virtual tour of their facility. Warning: the entire video is set to jazz music and there is no speaking.
More Than Just Coffee
Not only is Summermoon local, but they support local. They offer pastries from Moonlight Bakery and gluten-free options from People’s Pharmacy. Breakfast tacos hail from Torchy’s and their bagels are of Rockstar quality.
Their baristas are friendly and they have a much coveted outdoor seating area. They even open at 6 AM during the work week, which is great for early morning commuters who prefer locally roasted and brewed coffee as opposed to the generic office drip coffee.
Additional parking is locating behind the Summermoon building and on the adjacent street
There are two things I must mention, not because they are “cons,” but because they could affect your experience if you aren’t prepared. And I want your first experience to be divine. First, parking is a little tricky. There are about 10 spots in the front, but there is additional parking behind the building and on the street.
Second, the bathrooms are not located in the coffee shop itself. They are shared by all the businesses in the building and are located in the outside corridor. So don’t forget to ask for the key if you have to make a pit stop.
Those minor points aside, Summermoon Coffee is definitely staying true to Austin’s quirky, local spirit.
Keeping South Austin (and Buda) Caffeinated
After over 10 years of coffee roasting, Summermoon Coffee expanded to Buda in May 2014. Their bright open space in historic downtown Buda is a great place to stop and grab a coffee on one of your day trips to Glass Bottom Kayaking in San Marcos.
So help keep Austin weird and in the 19th century. Stop by Monday-Friday between 6 AM-midnight, Saturday 8 AM-10 PM or Sunday 8 AM-8 PM.
@jpino9 wants to know:
How do you take your coffee?
Best. Mocha. EVER.
Oh yeah, and the bathrooms can be a little scary at times, since they’re shared with the other businesses in the building (I think). Squat at your own risk!