My first visit to Phoenix, in October 2016, saw the chance discovery of Press Coffee in the Scottsdale Quarter development, a short walk from my hotel at the time. Since then, I’ve been a regular visitor on my frequent returns to the area, often calling in on my way to/from the office. However, that was the old Press Coffee in Scottsdale Quarter: in July 2021, Press Coffee moved to a new, much bigger unit on the other side of the development. Naturally on my return at the start of 2023, I had to check it out.

The old location had a slightly awkward layout, but lots of charm, whereas the new location, a corner spot with windows on either side, has a more regular feel to it. There are two ranks of tables in the middle, with the counter at the back, while the windows and high ceiling lead to a bright, airy space. There’s more seating outside, with tables along the front and down the side. The offering is the familiar Press Coffee one, with three options on espresso, and two more on batch-brew filter and pour-over, all roasted in-house, along with limited but very tempting breakfast and lunch menus, backed up with cakes/pastries.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Slider Script by WOWSlider.com v4.6

Press Coffee in Scottsdale Quarter has a special place in my heart: as well as being a very pleasant unexpected discovery, it’s also the first speciality coffee shop that I found in Phoenix. The original location was in the southwest corner of Scottsdale Quarter, best described as an upmarket, outdoor shopping mall, while the new location is in the northeast corner, a few minutes’ walk from the original.

Whereas the original Press Coffee was tucked in as part of a row of units, the new Press Coffee stands proudly on a corner, with five two-person tables lined up along the front, separated from the pavement by a row of low, narrow planters. The door is on the corner, which is cut out around a tall, square stone pillar, while there are three more tables down the right-hand side, although these don’t have any protection from passing pedestrians. There’s a second door down here, which brings you in towards the back of Press Coffee where you’ll find the counter.

Starting at the back, the counter runs the full width of the shop. You order on the left, where you’ll find the till, with the menus on the wall behind, then you move along, past the pour-over bar and the espresso machine, to the far end, where you collect your coffee.

Immediately in front of the counter is a long, narrow seven-person bar, seating provided by tall chairs. Next comes two rows of four tables, each seating two, which run across Press Coffee, stopping short of the windows/door on the right and the wall on the left. This leaves a long, narrow corridor which leads you past the retail shelves, stacked with bags of coffee, on the way to the counter. Similarly on the right, this leaves the space free for those who have just collected their coffee either to leave via the conveniently-located door, or to find their way to a seat without having to push past anyone.

There’s more seating along the windows on the right-hand side, where a seven-person bar with more tall chairs runs between the two doors. At the front, there’s a single, regular two-person table to the left of the main door, then a row of three pairs of low-slung lounge chairs, each pair facing each other across a small coffee table. Finally, there are two tall, square cocktail tables against left hand wall.

When it comes to coffee, Press has three options on espresso (the Twitch house blend, a decaf and a single-origin), two options on batch brew (the Early Edition house blend plus a single-origin) and two single-origins on pour-over. One of the features of the original Press Coffee was the Seraphim automated pour-over system, but this has been replaced by the Chemex, with offerings from Sumatra and Ethiopia while I was there.

However, since my first visit was in the evening after work, I decided to have a decaf cappuccino, made with a single-origin Brazilian decaf. This resulted in a smooth, rich cappuccino with some excellently steamed milk. I was back two days later, when work had finished slightly earlier, so I ventured a cortado, made with the Nicaraguan single-origin espresso. This was a very interesting coffee, it’s fruity notes coming clearly through the milk.

Finally, I departed with a bag of the Twitch house blend on my first visit, which I then used to make a morning cafetiere to take into the office each day in my Travel Press.

Liked this? Then don’t forget to check out the Coffee Spot Guide to Phoenix for more great Coffee Spots.

You can also see what I made of the other Press Coffee locations that I’ve visited.

Don’t forget that you can share this post with your friends using buttons below, while if you have a WordPress account, you can use the “Like this” button to let me know if you liked the post.