Great question finlero,
For me I try to support local small businesses to invest in my local community. Shop Local, keep it local & support small business. The idea of spending local dollars and having it ultimately help buy the Stumptown CEO another vacation home or Lexus is sort of a buzz kill. Currently at 9 locations and growing they may soon loose their small appeal to many fans. Seattle's Vivace has been around for a very long time and has elected to stay smaller. In my opinion they are the small independent many northwest coffee start-ups wish to be. For many of the elite coffee crowd in Seattle there is no better. On the flip side Starbuck's does an amazing business in the exact same market. Even further down the refined food & beverage chain McDonald's sells a crap load of their chemical iced coffee as well.

Different markets generate a wide range of coffee icons, check out Blue Bottle (10 locations San Fran & NY) or Intelligencia (11 semi national locations) both are not from the Pacific Northwest and dominate their markets.

The good news in all this is that while New Mexico may not be on any coffee list or ready for an 8.00 artisan hand pour over or siphon beverage, the local scene is maturing and god knows it is well over time.

Good to see new Espresso shops open! Not so excited about them using a medium size out of state product. What is great about Stumptown in the Northwest is that they are in the Northwest. Even the Seattle stores do well but they get dominated by the local Independent Seattle Roasters (Vivace') Stumptown dominates Portland and should because they are a Portland company. A huge part of the 3rd wave coffee culture is the local factor. I hope Betterday does well and look forward to checking them out.

Hey Coffee hounds,

After much waiting it looks like New mexico is finally getting it's 3rd wave specialty coffee places.

Just heard about one in Santa Fe and another in Rio Rancho.

Betterday Coffee in Santa Fe is getting a solid reception and Cafe Bella Coffee is doing great in Rio Rancho. Both are independent with roots that tie back to the pacific northwest. Betterday is using mid size company specialty coffee from Stumptown and Cafe Bella is using locally roasted single source from Fatboy Coffee Roasters.

With the recent news that Nob Hill Cafe Guiseppi is closing perhaps there is a changing of the gaurd going on.

I have not yet been to Betterday in Santa Fe but Cafe Bella is spot on. They rotate through a number of single source roasts for their drip and have a signature blend for their espresso.

Being an espresso guy I love a proper shot with no bitter tones and lot's of crema. Very hard to find these days.

Not a fan of large coffee companies unless I am simply in a bind and for the Albuquerque market the mid sized "Flying Star/ Satellite" (14 locations) falls very short with their dark over-roasted bitter style.

Noticed on this board many describing coffee experiences based on one roast or brew. More visits to small independent shops and questions should reveal more about what each shop is trying to offer.

If a shop worker tells me they bring in coffee from out of state I inquire about the origin, profile and date of the product. You can usually tell what to expect if they cannot tell you these basic things. if they say something like Red Rock Roasters I will opt for a Chai.

It is nice to see places like Betterday & Cafe Bella come onto the scene, now things should get interesting.