On our way back home from Newport during one of our trips there, we decided to make a pit stop in Mystic, CT. While we were hoping for a day free of precipitation, we got a pretty rainy day instead. However, that didn’t stop us from exploring the shops that we could and eventually making our way to the coffee shop that I likely discovered by Googling it. It’s been a while since we’ve gone there, but I remember the shop having good reviews, so it seemed like a place we wanted to sample for ourselves. As a result, after arriving, we stopped by the shop to get a coffee and enjoy a bite to eat. In this post, we thought we’d share what we thought of our experience there and focus on the backstory and the photographs we took over on our Substack.
Brew Review: Sift Bake Shop in Mystic, CT
The Decor:
When we first arrived, one of the first things I noticed was how it was decorated. While decorations don’t indicate the quality of the coffee, I often appreciate coffee shops that have a nice environment because it makes you feel welcome. It doesn’t have to be HGTV style decor or anything, but coffee shops that have little trinkets or things here and there that give their space a little bit of character is always something I think is pretty cool.
What I liked about this environment was it’s very large. There’s space inside and outside for dinning, so whether you’re trying to eat indoors or eat on the covered patio, there’s ample space to enjoy what you’ve ordered. The space is decorated with hues of blue all throughout and consistent branding. They had French paneling along different parts of the space such as the display counters as well as a separate order and pick up spot.
Outdoors there was a patio (if memory serves me right there’s additional seating upstairs too?) that had an awning where you could eat without getting drenched – something we appreciated since it was raining.
There were blue and white bistro chairs, which I LOVE and think accented the space very well. Overall the space felt very chic, stylish, and French-inspired.
The Food:
While there we ordered coffee and breakfast. My husband ordered a chocolate croissant if memory serves me right, and I ordered one of their breakfast sandwiches on a croissant. I remember it was the egg sandwich, which according to their menu includes “Grafton family smoked cheddar, smoked bacon, avocado, spinach, and green tomato jam,” but I opted for adding pickled onions to mine. After you order, you wait for your order to appear in the pickup area and in the meantime you can take a gander at the chefs making your food and the baristas making your coffee behind the register. It was pretty cool to see as we waited for our order to be ready.
I personally feel you cannot go wrong with pickled onions, so I remember absolutely demolishing my sandwich (after taking a few pictures of course). I’m sure the sandwich tasted great without the pickled onions, but I think having them on their added a nice little tart flavor to it.
My husband remarked that his croissaint was delicious. It had chocolate ribbon-like swirls around it so you were sure to get a taste of chocolate in every bite.
THE COFFEE:
I’m going to be transparent and say that I don’t remember my exact order from this day. I wish I could give more detailed information on exactly what the notes were that we tasted, but it would be disingenuous for me to say that I remember it and lie about what it tasted it like when I don’t recall what I ordered. I will say that I remember we enjoyed it, because I remember mentioning that if we ever return to Mystic, we’d want to to return to their coffee shop or something like that. More than likely though, Han got a mocha latte and I probably got one of their more seasonal flavors.
Would We Recommend It?
Yes! Delicious eats aside, the space seems to be very friendly for people who want to go their to socialize or get some reading or work done while they eat. There’s ample seating and even on a rainy day there seemed. to be quite a few groups hanging around and enjoying their meals. They also have multiple locations, so we may check out the others if we’re ever up that way again!
Have you ever been there? We’d love to hear from you in the comments! To read more about the shop and see some of the photographs we snapped there, check out our Substack post here!
