The newly fallen warm-colored leaves are kicked up off the ground by the howling wind. Your thick scarf and fuzzy sweater can’t bundle you up enough to protect you from the unexpected cold coming on. The cloudy skies and early evenings drain the energy out of your body. The perfect solution: a warm, spicy, and awakening coffee to cozy up with during the approaching autumn season. The local cafés of Leesburg are perfect with their seasonal drinks to energize you on your way to school, or to settle down with on one of the upcoming holidays.
SECOND NATURE COFFEE
Second Nature Coffee Co., the café that took over King Street Coffee just over a year ago, is an intimate, friendly, and cozy coffee shop that’s open between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., just enough time to stop in before or after school. The shop receives its coffee roasts from Lone Oak Coffee Company, where their coffee beans come from all around the world, including countries such as El Salvador, Colombia, Ethiopia, and many more.
Their current seasonal specials are the golden milk latte, the cinnamon bun brew, and the pumpkin pie latte. I settled on buying the pumpkin pie latte, expecting it to be similar to a classic pumpkin spice latte.
I ordered the latte hot in a medium size with half-caf and almond milk. The drink had an almost planty taste, which I was discontented with, but it may have been self-inflicted due to the almond milk replacement. Besides the flavor of the milk, the pumpkin taste was prominent, but not over the top, along with a slight hint of warm spices. I would give the latte a 7/10, mostly because it tasted like a downgraded version of a pumpkin spice latte.
SHAKE & BOPS BOTANICAL CAFE
Shake & Bops Botanical Café is another coffee shop in downtown Leesburg that is under a year old, opening in December of 2024. The business is owned by a mother of two daughters, whose nicknames are “shake” and “bops,” hence, the name of the company. Their operating hours are between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., allowing students time to grab a drink if they wake up early enough before school.
As expected of a café with a plethora of plants, the café radiated a natural and homey energy, bolstered by its wide variety of drinks from bitter black to sugary sweet. I’d highly recommend plant lovers and green thumbs to go to this café to see the arrangement of plants that can be bought.
The botanical café is offering the classic pumpkin spice latte this fall, which I had to try. Unfortunately, I have little to say about the positives of the drink. The latte part of the drink was decent and had a basic flavor to it; however, the drink seemed mostly watered down, and I could barely taste the pumpkin or the spices. I would rank the beverage a 5/10, as it was a fine latte but failed to possess the classic, complex flavor.
SIDEBAR COFFEE
Sidebar Coffee is the coffee shop addition to its restaurant and bar, SideBar. This unique business, open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., has window service only, allowing customers to quickly stop by and grab a delicious drink while strolling around downtown. The coffee shop’s autumn menu includes a pumpkin spice latte and their maple pecan syrup, which can be added to any drink of your choice.
I decided to add the maple pecan syrup to a 12-oz, half-caf hot latte. The coffee was rich with a warm and nutty taste from the pecan flavor, along with the perfect middle ground between bitter and sweet.
The maple flavor of the latte came as an aftertaste, which was both a pro, adding depth to the experience of the drink, and a con, lacking the sweetness of the syrupy flavor. I also found myself disappointed by the strength of the espresso and milk slightly muting the maple pecan flavor. Despite the few downsides, I’d give the drink a 9/10 rating and would definitely recommend trying it.
TRINITY HOUSE CAFE
The Trinity House Café is a Catholic-affiliated coffee shop located between Church Street and Market Street. The small café is in a vintage building and is decorated with religious trinkets and artwork crafted by local artisans. Although they are associated with St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, they are very welcoming of people not affiliated with the church. The warming coffee house is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, and extends through 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
The fall seasonal drinks of Trinity House include their pumpkin spice latte, caramel apple cider, and pumpkin chai latte. Additionally, the coffee house offers fresh-baked goods that change on a daily basis, which I would highly recommend trying.
As a chai lover, my obvious choice was the pumpkin chai latte. On the first sip, I was greeted by an explosion of delicious flavors and spices, along with a creamy foam on top with the utmost perfect texture. The flawless balance of sweetness, spiciness, and milkiness pulled together a sensational drink, one that I would give a solid 10/10. •
