St. Louis does not shout about its coffee scene. It just quietly makes some of the best cups in the Midwest and waits for you to notice.

Before I founded Le Café, I spent years doing the research. Which is to say, I drank a lot of lattes across this city. Here is the list I give friends when they ask where to go.

1. Sump Coffee, Benton Park

If you care about the craft, start here. The room is all exposed brick and high ceilings, the kind of space that makes a slow morning feel intentional. Their single-origin pour overs are precise and beautiful, and the seasonal lattes, like the iced salted maple, are worth the trip to South Jefferson alone. It can get loud on a weekend morning, so bring a friend or bring headphones.

2. Blueprint Coffee, Delmar Loop

Bright, calm, library energy, with roasters you can watch from your table. This is the work-from-coffee-shop dream done right, all natural light and kind baristas. Order the cappuccino or the iced dirty chai, and do not leave without trying the homemade buttermilk biscuit with their house jam. It will quietly ruin other biscuits for you.

3. HiFi by Upshot Coffee, Clayton

Modeled on a Japanese listening bar, with a vintage hi-fi sound system at the center of the room. The music is half the experience and the coffee holds up its end. I might love this one even more than Blueprint.

4. Zenzia Coffee, Clayton

This one has quietly become one of my favorites, full stop. If you find yourself in Clayton, go.

5. Lydia's, Saint Charles

Part bakery, part coffee shop, and entirely worth the drive. Go hungry.

6. Protagonist Cafe and Antagonist, Soulard

A literary coffeehouse with shelves of pre-loved books on every wall and espresso that takes itself seriously. Its second location, Antagonist, sits in a former Soulard police station with the old jail cells turned into cozy nooks. My kind of room.

The best coffee shop is sometimes your own kitchen

A fresh bag, a good grinder, and a little patience will take you most of the way to a café-quality cup. Our Ethiopian Light Roast brews a floral, tea-like pour over that would fit right in at any shop on this list, and the Guatemalan Medium Roast is the easy crowd-pleaser I reach for when friends come over.

St. Louis has a beautiful way of rewarding people who slow down. Pick a shop, take a seat, and stay a while. You deserve it.

Ready to bring the café home? Shop fresh-roasted coffee at lecafe.us.