Baltimore Coffee & Tea

Best roasted beans on the east coast by far; amazing staff and delicious brews. I like coffee. I therefore go to the BCT for coffee. I feel good. Thanks for the beverage and smooth treat.

So they have about 100 bins out in the open with roasted coffee in them, and they are very proud of that. But ask any of the teenagers when any of them were roasted, and it’s like a deer in headlights! They standard response is, «we roast our coffee every day, it’s all fresh.» REALLY… so every single bin has been roasted that day? Like every other half respectable roaster, they should put the roasting date on the sign or they can tell you definitively. Asking when it was roasted is an obvious question to most above average coffee junkies. Freshness matters. If you know the roasting process and the equipment they have, it would surprise you that they can pump them all out in a working day.
Oh, and don’t even bother ordering a pourover brew. It’s comical to watch them fumble through such a simple process and completely ruin the coffee (they use a plastic measuring cup, the water isn’t to temp, they don’t let it bloom, they flood the grounds, and give an eye roll in the process.
Head to BB’s in Towson for the real deal.

So the crazy good oatmeal is truly crazy good! My only issue is the fly infestation that is happening right now. Why are there so many flies in the store? I cannot eat my oatmeal in peace!

Great café in the middle of an industrial area. My toffee nut latte was good and the chocolate chip cookie was, too. It smells amazing in here and there’s plenty of seating. There’s also a good selection of Maryland made products. But what really wows is the coffee beans. At least at dozen varieties, all displayed with name/​origin/​flavor profile.
I can imagine that if I lived here, I’d be a regular.

Very cool place! Ambiance was very nice and easy going. The location itself is surprising, but means that there will be less people. I’m sure it busier at certain times of day, but I was there maybe an hour before it closed. Everything about it was clean and fresh. It definitely has it’s own flair to it and I will definitely be back. Menu had an assortment of items and was hard to choose (that’s a good thing) :) Prices were great too!

I love drinking coffee here. They have a great quality coffee and fast service. I’ll definitely be back. Highly recommended!!!

Did lunch there which was pretty good, so went back for coffee and fruit the next morning. Jeez louise, Starbucks has nothing to worry about — couldn’t even finish the latte and the fruit was bad — thank goodness the bottled water was drinkable. Big tab for very bad quality.
Wish had read Mikayla’s review earlier; (

Where do I begin… Peach Melba Tea, Black Raven Tea, German Chocolate Cake Coffee, Toffee Coffee, Chai Tea Latte, Caramels… It’s all so good. Cute shop!

There are few times that I have a hot chocolate as good as my mom’s recipe, but Baltimore Coffee and Tea pulled it off. Amazing, totally unrecognized little place. Lots of coffee bean options and more.

Heaven. That is all.
No just kidding. This is an excellent example of a coffee shop with a crafted selection and knowledgable staff without pretentious hipsters and small portions. I will keep coming back for that alone.

I was very excited to try out a local roaster after having moved to the area from D.C. Unfortunately Baltimore coffee and tea was VERY disappointing.
In the parking lot the smell of flavored coffee made me nauseous. Some people may like it, but at this place the smell was overwhelming — a mix of dozens of different flavors that combined to make a noxious odor. Definitely not for me or any of the coworkers I dragged with me.
Inside was even more of a letdown. Everything was old, dirty, grimy. There was dust everywhere. Tables were sticky and covered in crumbs despite the place being empty.
I kept my hopes up though — I have a soft spot for fresh delicious coffee. I couldn’t believe how watery it all was. The coffee (which was definitely stale from sitting out too long), the americano, iced coffee, cappuccino, all were no good. Before even trying the coffee you can see how light it is, bleh just no flavor.
The service was pleasant enough, nothing special but can’t complain about the guys behind the counter (note the omission of «baristas» as they seem to be lacking the skills for such a name).
I won’t be going back, I think the same goes for the rest of my party. I would say go ahead and give it a try, MAYBE, but do not go in with high expectations. I am not a big fan of Starbucks coffee, to be honest, but I would have to painfully say that Charbucks is certainly head and shoulders above this place in all aspects.

Friendly atmosphere and good strong coffee. Perfect for the morning. The have a nice selection of coffee and sandwiches.

First I would like to state I worked here for a couple years. So this is a complete insider perspective. This is advice I would give to friends. Take it as you will.
Pros:
Get iced coffee and sports tea in the warmer weather. It will sit for a week during off periods. It’s made fresh constantly in warm weather with high demand.
Hot drip coffee is constantly made fresh and being brewed. They stop brewing a couple hours before closing, so if you get there at close the coffee is old.
The liquid shade iced tea is brewed fresh every morning and is amazing. It’s made in the back, a total gem. Mix it with a splash of lemonade.
Cookies and scones are made on site, though not daily. Ask for a cookie from the back, you’ll be glad you did.
Everything is very pro-​local business which is something I admire.
They roast everything through the glass door. You can see it going on, super awesome. Any questions baristas can’t answer can be answered in detail from the roasters M-​F 7−3ish.
The coffee is roasted great for east coast low quality stuff. It’s the best I’ve had on the east coast.
Cons:
Dirty. Every aspect of the place is dirty. When I started there I was shocked, upper management was personally insulted when I would bring up ways to improve cleanliness, it’s gross. I wouldn’t eat there myself.
Hand washing isn’t pushed. They don’t care if you handle money they grab a cup with your finger inside the cup.
People from the back will come out and make food without gloves (or one glove– why not put the other on?) and its gross. The use the same food prep area where customer food is made.
Contamination is huge here.
Morning managers who put together the pastry case are allowed to touch everything without gloves. That manager who just got done counting every till, a required thing before opening, just touched every pastry in that case. Gross. I avoided the food unless it came from the kitchen directly.
Vermin. All types. It comes with the warehouse environment naturally but they have a problem. Customers have stepped on them (hard conversation to have when it happens), as well as employees. All those cabinets behind the counter have mouse poop in them. Same with drawers holding utensils to make sandwiches for the panini press.
They don’t teach baristas how to properly make drinks. Espresso based beverages are extremely sad here. That sucks because BCT has huge opportunity to make some really amazing espresso based beverages.
Don’t ever order a pour over unless you want to wait 20 mins and get dirty looks. Plus that set up is dirty.
They resteam milk all day. The milk you got is old. That means if someone hasn’t ordered whole milk since 7am and you’re getting it at 3pm– that milk has been old and sitting for eight hours. Happens a lot.
All the breakfast foods and hot food are made with a microwave.
Baristas aren’t knowledgable about the coffee or teas. They read small points on the back of the description card stuck in the bean sacks. Turn one around, you’ll see the notes. The overturn rate is so high (leaving from mistreatment typically) that most aren’t around long enough to get to know or care about the products.
«Deep cleaning» aka cleaning cabinets, fridges, floors, normal things most places clean every night are only cleaned on Sunday’s. If it’s busy they’ll prioritize so most things aren’t cleaned even weekly. Cleaning and keeping food conditions sanitary wasn’t a priority for upper management. When I was a manager there that was my goal, to raise cleanliness standards, but I was only met with anger until I quit.
This is a brief list. Maybe I’ll edit it later.
BCT has the perfect opportunity to be great. They just have no care for customers or basic health code regulations.

Not a coffee shop in the Starbucks sense but a great place to pick up beans from a knowledgable sales staff. Buy some fresh coffee and taste the difference in quality.

This place smells amazing, but the amount of choices they have is a little overwhelming. The baristas were super friendly and helped me of course though.
My iced dirty chai wasn’t the best I’ve ever had but was still delicious so I can’t complain. Would definitely come work in here just for the smell though!

I was just underwhelmed. Their loose coffee selection seemed very interesting but their tea was bland. I got a coffee and it was burnt for $ 5.50 the coffee should be better. Also they’re never open!

This is my favorite coffee place in the area. The smell of dozens of different types of coffee hits you, like a pleasant ton of bricks, as soon as you open the door.
I love to come here and pick up bags of fresh ground coffee for gifts for family. They have unique coffee flavors like blueberry cream. Mmm…
They also brew fresh coffee, like their Nutty Irishman, which is hazelnut Irish cream. I can still smell it in my car.
Go here for the best smelling coffee experience you will ever have!

Coffee Heaven. Even if you just want a quick cup to go, you have like 4 different caffeinated flavors to choose from (3 or 4 decaf if that’s your jam — p. s. WHY?) And beans as far as the eye can see if you want to get some to take home with you.
It’s in an industrial park-​like area, so there’s plenty of parking, but that also means there’s plenty of people, so if you’re looking to order something more than just coffee, you can probably expect a bit of a wait on the weekends because most people seem to be ordering something a little more fancy. Honestly, their drip coffee is really good, so if you’re in a hurry, just go with that.
There’s plenty to look at while if you have to wait for your order though — lots of coffee and tea related accessories, A LOT of tea — many right from Maryland, and even gift baskets that are actually really cute. I think I might pick one up for Christmas.
They have food here too, sandwiches and such, which sound delicious, but I haven’t had a chance to try that out yet, but I’m hoping to go back soon.

A LOT of different coffees to choose from and an extensive menu. I’m a starbucks regular so going anywhere else and reading their menu makes me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing haha although, looking at everything they had to offer was great.
The coffee I got was good, it wasn’t any better or worse than what I’m used to drinking. Would I go back? Sure, but probably only because my boyfriend likes it so much haha

This is by far my home town favorite. I used to live in the area and whenever I visit, I stop here at least three times. If anything to pick up coffee whole bean to take home to drink every morning.
One of the best things about this location is, they roast beans right in store. Allowing the normal Guest to see into a key into the process.
If the 120 different blends of coffee is not your thing, they have multiple brands of tea. Each with their own distinct taste tones.