Move over, Starbucks.
Jackson Mississippi is the home of the first successful lung transplant, a petrified forest, and coffee houses! The city holds many locally owned coffee houses, all with unique flavors and atmosphere. Some of the local favorites include: Cups Espresso Café, Sneaky Beans, The Urban Sip, The Shoe Bird, and new-comer, Coffee Prose. Sure, there are a few Starbucks’ and Dunkin Donuts’ scattered around the city, but locals prefer the small-town shops to the chain stores because they are more welcoming and offer a greater variety.
Places like Cups Espresso Café offer a variety of coffees in numerous flavors—including their specialty, the blonde. The blonde flavoring is a mix of white chocolate and caramel, able to be mixed into any coffee drink of one’s choosing. Started in 1993, Cups, though local to the state of Mississippi, now has ten locations all serving up hot or cold cups of joe.
Cups has made a major business out of selling its specialty coffee grinds both in store and online. Their unusual bean flavors include: Blueberry Cinnamon, Snickerdoodle, and Southern Pecan. However, the true magic of Cups is in each location and how each place is designed and decorated differently than the others. Cups sells local artists’ work for them and in the meantime uses pieces as décor. Pair that with the mismatched furniture and fun flavors, and you’ve got a coffee empire like Cups. What drink do I suggest from here? I would say to keep it simple with the “Iced Blonde Latte”. The blonde flavoring is extra sweet but balanced by the robust brew.
For a more unique style of coffee shop, book enthusiasts can find pure joy at Coffee Prose. Coffee Prose is a newer business to the area.
“We started, I don’t remember the exact start date, but it was beginning of February,” the barista explained.
I decided to get in on the action at the new coffee shop and try their drinks out myself. All of their drinks are named after famous books, characters, and even locations, making even the slightest of book worms smile. Whether it is the “221B”—a mocha with English toffee, “The Mad Hatter”— white chocolate and caramel, or “The Heart of Darkness”—dark chocolate and raspberry, Coffee Prose promises unique flavors.
Customers also have the opportunity to read numerous books located all across the walls of the coffee shop, creating the experience of a library. Loyal fans of the shop come in to do homework, escape from the stress of everyday, or just grab a cup of joe on their lunch break from the drive thru located around the side of the building. The flavors are strong, and the atmosphere is peaceful.
Amber Gast (22) said while sipping a “Delta Wedding”, “You can definitely taste the almond . . . its kinda a sweet but a bitter nutty.”
What’s my drink suggestions for this coffee shop? The “221B” has quite a bit of dark chocolate with little hints of a nice, nutty flavors from the toffee, presenting an ideal combo.
The most local coffee shop to Belhaven is the on-campus Shoe Bird Café, named after the best-known children’s story written by Eudora Welty. Located in the campus student center, the Shoe Bird is always a popular place for students in between classes. Its distinguished by its unusual names for its coffees. All of the dorms and major buildings on campus have a coffee dedicated to them. There’s “The Helen White”—A mocha cappuccino with orange zest, “The Robertson”—a tea with honey and cappuccino milk, and “The Birby”—a matcha tea latte, plus many more. All of the drinks can be served hot or iced with milk substitutions and the option of “coffee ice cubes”.
“I really like the mix of mocha and cinnamon,” Rebekah Veldhorst (20) said after taking a sip of her favorite “The Village”.
Barista Anna Rhodes allowed me to get some behind the scenes footage of her preparing one of the special drinks, explaining the process from coffee grinds to lid and straw. At the Shoe Bird, coffee is an art form and a way of socializing. What drink would I suggest from here? If you’re a fan of sweet and sour, then “The Helen White” is the perfect balance of chocolate and orange zest.
Jackson Mississippi is home to these and many more local coffee shops, all offering unique twists on a timeless drink. My challenge to readers is go out and try some of these shops for themselves.
- Coffee Prose—1619 North West Street, Jackson MS
- The Shoe Bird Café—1500 Peachtree Street, Jackson MS
- Cups Espresso Café—2757 Old Canton Road, Jackson MS
com210news 
Forget Starbucks. Cups all the way!
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Micki, I also love coffee! As a Belhaven student, I didn’t know that the Shoe Bird drink was named after Edora Welty so that is pretty cool information to learn! I have never heard of the Coffee Prose either, I will have to try it. The main reason I go to starbucks is because of the convenience. Most of local coffee shops just don’t have drive throughs and that is what college students need!
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I loved this story. I am honestly not a coffee drinker, but I love the smell. I could sit in a coffee shop for hours doing work. This is a helpful post because most college students love a good local coffee shop. I have also never heard of the Coffee Prose either, sounds interesting. I love how you included the names and flavors of these coffees. They sound so delicious. This is a helpful post for college students in the local area, thanks!
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Micki, I am an avid coffee fan myself, getting into it once I moved out to Mississippi and started to attend college. My mother didn’t let me have coffee until I had turned eighteen, so I took advantage once I did and started out trying out flavors like Starbucks and coffee at the local fast food restaurants my parents make me eat at.
The Creative Writing Department at Belhaven has allowed me to try coffee with cream and I now have a keurig of my own to make my own coffee. I have tried some of the coffee from the Shoe Bird, my first local coffee shop I have had access too.
I would like to thank you for providing me the addresses to these other coffee shops and telling me more about them and the wonderful reading that they offer. I will be sure to seek them out and try some of their different combinations of coffee.
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I thought this was a very cool story Micki! I love the way you described the different cups of coffee. I also loved your word usage when describing the coffee shop’s atmosphere. I like starting my day off by going to the Shoe Bird and grabbing a coffee and I love the options that they have.
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