A Day in the Life of a Liquid Life Intern: Our Favorite Coffee Shops on the Gulf!

Hey hey hey - it’s Sarah here! What’s up all of my fellow caffeine addicts?! If you know me, you’ll know that I drink more coffee than water. I would take it in an IV if I could, and I would definitely give Lorelai Gilmore a run for her money. When I first moved to Orange Beach, doing a coffee crawl to all the best cafes and coffee shops around the Gulf was top on my list of things to do. My friend Shelby and I planned out a route for our caffeine adventure one Sunday and chose six places to spend our paychecks on. 

Our first stop was Buzzcatz’s Coffee and Sweets. This whacky cafe has such a fun, unique vibe, you feel one step closer to becoming a cool-crazy cat lady just from walking in. The place is decorated with funky cat pictures, paintings and phrases, and the walls are a vibrant purple and blue. They have a spacious outdoor seating area, but Shelby and I took a table in the A/C surrounded by all the fun and hustle & bustle. Buzzcatz has a back corner with a comfy couch, booths, and large tables for groups coming in to spread out and play one of their board or card games they have on a bookshelf in the front. Because this was our first stop, and coffee always goes better with a good breakfast, we ordered egg sandwiches on their famous award-winning buttermilk biscuits. It was the perfect place to relax, chat, wake up and fuel up for the day with the first cup of joe.

The next coffee stop was The Southern Grind. This brightly turquoise seaside shop will immediately charm you with it’s nautical theme that looks like it just walked out of your favorite pinterest board. Sea shells, starfish, faded driftwood signs, and amazing coffee makes up The Southern Grind. I ordered an iced lavender latte (one of my favorite treat-yo-self drinks), and it was honestly one of the best I’ve ever had. This place is a must-go whenever you’re in Orange Beach. They also have a really amazing gelato that I held off on considering it was 10:30 in the morning when we arrived, but I’ve treated myself before, and it’s definitely worth trying while you’re there.

One of our favorite coffee places in Orange Beach, Foam Coffee & Shop, is closed on Sundays, or we would’ve included it in our day-trip, but since it wasn’t open and we’ve been a multitude of times anyways, we went onwards into Gulf Shores to a coffee stop neither of us had tried before. Beach Girl Coffee is right off of Highway 59, and it’s drive through layout offers instant gratification for caffeine cravings. We jammed out to some Lizzo, T-Swift, and Jo-Bros while we pulled into line to order. It was a blast! By this third cup of coffee, I was definitely in the “let’s jam out and drive with the windows down” kind of mood.

We hit the road singing, coffees in hand as we drove to the next location: Gypsy Queen Coffee in downtown Foley. Cute, cozy, and the best kind of hippy coffee shop there could be. With cutely decorated to-go cups in hand, we sipped on our coffee while browsing through the used bookstore  next door. With the coffee buzz slowly wearing off and turning dangerously close to a coffee crash, we hit the road again and made it just a few blocks over to The Drowsy Poet. This Edgar Allen Poe/ Shakespeare inspired gas station-turned-coffee-shop had the best sugar-packed drink options. All of the flavors were quirky and creative, and I finally decided on a birthday cake latte from their vast menu of coffee concoctions. Feeling the crash coming, I definitely needed this sugar boost. We sat and talked as we (slowly) sipped on this 5th and last cup of caffeine.

We did have six coffee shops on our list, but we were so coffee’d out by this point that we ended up just ordering mini cheesecakes at Fosko Coffee Barre - the last coffee house on our journey that’s over in Downtown Pensacola. These cheesecakes were the perfect way to end our coffee crawl. Total sweet raspberry palette cleanser. Pensacola was also such a fun place to end up at because we were able to hit The Graffiti Bridge and walk across the railroad tracks, take some cute photos, and enjoy the area before heading back to Orange Beach.

When you get the chance to visit our Alabama beaches, be sure to stop at some (or all) of these great coffee shops to start your beach days right! Book your next stay with us here! 

Published on Tuesday, August 4, 2020