A New Buzz on Coffee

by RaeAnne Marsh

Better Buzz Coffee Roasters chose Phoenix to establish its first outpost from its home territory of San Diego. “It’s the most asked-for location,” Amanda Cameron, VP of marketing, shared as she helped ready the first of several planned Phoenix-area locations, explaining the coffee company has built up a dedicated following among Phoenicians who commonly vacation in Southern California. It’s store on Glendale Avenue at 7th Street opened in February.

The company continues to roast all its coffee beans at its roastery in San Diego, in the small batches that enable the company’s strict quality control.

Better Buzz Coffee has garnered a dedicated fan base for its Best Drink Ever® (actual menu name), and bags of the vanilla powder that give this coffee its special creamy vanilla quality are also a popular retail item in the store.

Along with that headliner is a full complement of standard plus innovative coffee, espresso and tea drinks (one notable is the lavender tea latte), smoothies, and canned energy drinks special for the Phoenix market that can even be used in mixed concoctions such as Prickly Pink Mojito, Always Sunny Citrus and Burstin’ Blue Raspberry.

And, like the drinks, all breakfast and lunch bowls, toasts and sandwiches are made to order.

“Local” is a presence in the store’s décor to set the sense of place, but more fundamentally is applied in the company’s operations: After research to find the right fit, Better Buzz Coffee has contracted with a bakery in Tempe to provide its signature pastries — and a few select specialty items unique to Phoenix such as the pistachio croissant.

The dine-in space offers tables plus a central high-top counter with electric outlets — all designed to encourage patrons to “come and hang out.” To facilitate service to the drive-thru line, the store has a prep area with its own coffee machines by the pick-up window separate from the store’s main kitchen.

The name allows for a lot of unapologetic word play, among which is the company tagline: Life’s Better Buzzed®.

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