Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea

A great place to spend the afternoon! A great space for working or meeting up with a friend. Their coffee is fantastic and both of their shops are very conveniently placed.

Ordered a cappuccino it was pretty bland. I suggest walking around the corner to Jojo’s Café… better atmosphere and better coffee

Spent an afternoon there for some study. Good view!!! I really love those glasses. Coffee is good and not expensive. I’m eager to try some deserts next time!

Great people, great coffee and I always love coming to this particular Willoughbys. The coffee I have bought has always been fantastic. Sumatra French

If you like having access to a large selection of coffees and teas, then come here. They sell loose leaf teas and blends by the pound. Coffee beans as well. Space is smaller but the atmosphere is charming with floor to ceiling windows and plenty of natural lighting. A good place to study when it’s not busy.
Minus one star for small space, lack of outlets, and mediocre customer service.

Walked in on a Sunday afternoon and the smell of the coffee beans just hits ya. Delicious. Just with that I could tell the coffee was going to be good. All the staff was friendly and we were greeted with a smile.
But it got even better…4 drinks for $ 5.09 (minus tip)?! I had to double check with the barista but there wasn’t any mistake. I ordered 3 small ice coffees and 1 small hot Americano. The 89 cent chocolate chip cookie was tempting but I opted out for it. (Next time…).
The Americano was served nice and hot and up to the rim. It was very smooth and good. I can go for a more bitter/​darker taste but theirs was still on point. No complaints. I had a sip of the ice coffee and it was delicious as well and my family enjoyed it. And for all you, dairy and non-​dairy adders, all the different types of milk were lined out for you (from whole, half&half, skim to soy).
We were the only ones there at first but once 3pm came around, 3 — 4 people strolled in to enjoy some yummy pick-​me-​ups.

As a roaster, Willoughby’s is great. They have a large selection of single origin beans at all of their locations. However, the beans at this location don’t seem to rotate as fast as the Branford location. The staff usually doesn’t know the roast date, so it’s sometimes hit or miss. When you catch a freshly roasted batch, it’s easily the best beans in CT. The Yirgacheffe is my usual go-​to bean. It’s probably worth the trip to go to the Branford location for guaranteed freshness if you are only after beans.
As a coffee shop, there isn’t much going on. They don’t brew small batches of their single origins and won’t even brew a cup after you buy beans. The house blend is mediocre, but I’d still put it slightly above the national chains. The coffee is made in large batches and stored in big vacuum pots at scalding temperatures. I wasn’t even able to sip my coffee for a solid 5 minutes. I tried the iced coffee recently and it was better than their hot coffee, but still nothing amazing.
Needless to say, I will only using Willoughby’s as roaster from now on.

Love special coffee café. Right by Yale. Draws a nice crowd. The beans are fresh. The aroma draws u in and their sweets are worth trying.

The staff was superior today, friendly fast and adorable too! Tables were clean in the middle of a rush. Coffee was the perfect temperature, the feature was flavorful and dynamic.
Minus one star for the house blend which is really burnt in flavor

I normally I go in for the chocolate milk which requires them pouring a shop bought pre-​made drink from a bottle into a cup, however it’s still delicious and fairly reasonably priced. The staff are pretty friendly too.

This is a good solid coffee shop, which punches above its weight –it’s small but brings quality coffee to an area that has too little of that.
The savory croissants are great and there are some nice sweet treats, although there isn’t anything very ‘lunch-​friendly’. BUT, when it comes to buying coffee (either to drink or from their large selection of beans at their bean-​counter — yes, they have a bean-​counter), then this is the place to be.

I had to give them 5 stars for the beautiful view more than anything. I was also encouraged by a couple of delicious experiences with their Mexican hot chocolate :) I think it might be a seasonal drink?
If you have the choice, definitely stop by the Willoughby’s on Church instead of the one on York. Much more cheerful and decorative atmosphere, and the coffee tastes better for reasons I don’t quite understand.

There’s really two things you should know about me before you read this short review.
I love local independent coffee shops, and I like my coffee black and simple. No fufu, no frills, not whipped whatever.
And Willoughby’s delivers in spades. Their drip coffee is smooth, flavorful and delicious. Their staff is fun. It’s just a nice place to go and unwind to fight the corporate coffee you’re used to.

In truth, I’ve experienced better. But it’s a cute little trendy shop, the goodies in the display case and on the counter looked yummers, they give you a healthy packet of choco-​covered espresso beans for only $ 0.75, my dirty chai almond milk latte was yummers, and the place was clean.
The issue was the cappuccino I ordered for my friend. It was nearly all foam. Like, so light we were afraid to cough in fear that the cup would blow away.
I wouldn’t jump to go here again… but wouldn’t resist, either.