From tea to coffee to classes, Temple Coffee has it all
By SHRADDHA JHINGAN — features@theaggie.org
Whether you’re looking for a coffee for your next midterm study session or a cup of tea for an afternoon pick-me-up, Temple Coffee Roasters offers many items that are worth trying. It even won the spot for Best Matcha in Davis in the Best of Davis 2022, receiving 38.6% of survey respondents’ votes..
Creative Director for Temple Coffee Roasters Vincent Sosa explained via email what differentiates their matcha from those of other coffee shops.
“Much like the seasonal single-origin coffees that we serve each month, our matcha is a single-origin, single-ingredient matcha,” Sosa said via email. “We get our matcha from Mizuba Tea Co. which produces pure matcha green tea, free of preservatives, heavy metals, and is non-gmo. In addition to the high quality of our matcha, our cafe team members are trained to prepare matcha in a way that highlights its superior flavor characteristics.”
In addition to their renowned matcha, another item that Temple Coffee offers is mocha. George Luu, a third-year computer science major, has visited Temple Coffee Roasters once or twice and has gotten a mocha.
“I thought it was really nice,” Luu said. “It was really aesthetic in there, with the glass and everything on the shelves. I thought it was a really nice part of downtown because I kind of go there often for lunch or to hang out. I think that small coffee shops are really important for the college town experience in my opinion.”
In addition to the matcha and mocha, there are many other items that are worth trying. The model used to source the Farm to Cup encompasses “three pillars of sustainability,” which are environmental, economical and social, according to their website. Sosa elaborated on different kinds of products that people are recommended to try at Temple Coffee Roasters.
“Although we have something for everyone, we like to recommend our seasonally rotating single-origin coffees, which we release on a monthly basis,” Sosa said via email. “We always offer a single-origin expresso and single-origin drip coffees on pour over. These specialty coffees are distinct and they reveal characteristics that are unique to their countries of origin.”
Temple Coffee Roasters also won Best Coffee in the Best of Davis 2017 edition. Barista Christy Smith highlighted Temple’s uniqueness in the 2017 edition.
“[We] make sure everyone is getting really good coffee,” Smith said. “There is no one else really in Davis that makes it the way that we make it.”
Temple Coffee Roasters also offers a range of tea products, such as tisane, black and green. For those who are interested in learning more about tea culture, there is a club on-campus as well as the Global Tea Initiative. Katharine Burnett, the director of the Global Tea Initiative, a professor of art history and a graduate advisor in the Department of Chinese Art and Culture, explained more about what the organization does.
“GTI, or the Global Tea Initiative for the study of tea culture and science, is an organization based at UC Davis whose mission is to promote research and teaching about tea across the disciplines and on campus,” Burnett said.
For those who may also be interested in learning how to brew coffee, there are coffee brewing tutorials on Temple Coffee’s website. Sosa stated that “as much as we like drinking coffee, we also enjoy teaching others about the joys of specialty coffee.”
“And starting this spring, we’ve begun to offer Free Public Coffee Classes at our cafe in East Sacramento on the first and third Friday of each month,” Sosa said via email. “During these classes, a member of our education team discusses a topic about specialty coffee, such as flavor profiles, tasting comparisons, and brewing tips. And if coffee isn’t your thing, we offer a large selection of fine teas, seasonal beverages, and locally sourced pastries (including vegan and gluten-free options) at all eight of our locations.”
Whether you just need caffeine to get through your day, a spot to study for finals or even a place to hang out with friends, Temple Coffee is the perfect place. Located at 239 G Street, it is definitely worth visiting.
Written by: Shraddha Jhingan — features@theaggie.org
