This Top-Rated Nashville Cafe Is A Charming Location With Low-Key Vibes And Top-Notch Roasts

As one of the fast-growing cities ranked the best to live in the United States, Nashville wouldn't be complete without cafes to power its buzzing neighborhoods with caffeine. One coffee roaster has made quite a name for itself in the Nashville scene, getting a shoutout from Goop and holding a 4.6-star rating from around 2,000 Google reviews for its flagship cafe in downtown. With its sleek, Scandinavian-style interiors and transparently sourced artisanal coffee, Crema Coffee Roasters is an easy choice to settle into for a drink in Nashville, and its downtown location is readily accessible when you're exploring the city.

Crema's founders, Rachel and Ben Lehman, opened the downtown flagship cafe in 2008, and it's continued to flourish there ever since. It's expanded into three dedicated locations across the Nashville area — beyond the downtown spot, there are also cafes in East Nashville and Brentwood, a wealthy suburb steeped in charm and Southern elegance. But, aside from the convenience of having other locations depending on where you're staying in the city, the flagship cafe is arguably its most visit-worthy. It's got great views of downtown Nashville, inside and patio seating, and free Wi-Fi (no power outlets, though), and it attracts a mixed downtown crowd. "Very friendly staff, cool atmosphere, with kind of a minimalist industrial design," a Google reviewer described. Plus, the location is readily accessible, being just a 7-mile drive from the Nashville International Airport and near the recreational riverfront.

Crema Coffee Roasters has a few missions when it comes to its roasts: Produce zero waste, source transparently, and partner with quality suppliers across all elements of the coffee production. In an interview for La Marzocco, co-founder Rachel Lehman said, "We want to take the mystery out of what we do behind the counter and share that with people in a kind and fun way." As such, you'll find that the cafe offers not only a menu of standard coffee drinks (espresso, cappuccinos, and lattes to boot) but also a rotating selection of specialty "by the cup" roasts, brewed to order.

As an example, one of the single-origin coffees Crema has offered came from a natural mutation from one of its Costa Rican partners, Fresh Cup reported. The beans had a unique papaya flavor, and Crema bought all of them, a true one-of-a-kind offering. The coffee shop prices these single-origin coffees from around the world differently, depending on their quality and scarcity. You can also buy a bag of roasted coffee beans (at your chosen grind level) directly from the shop, all of which are a light to medium roast. A Reddit user recommended the Tres Banderas beans, a full-bodied blend from Brazil, Peru, and Ethiopia: "Locally, Crema's Tres Banderas is hard to beat for espresso in my experience."

If you're just planning to come in for a cup, the cafe serves a few unique offerings on its "specialty drinks" menu, which change seasonally, served with creative toppings and garnishes. Stay in to do some work with the Nashville skyline as your backdrop, or take a cup to go on a tour of Downtown Nashville's artsiest destinations.