Busy Bee Roasters

 Today I tried Busy Bee Coffee Roasters in West Long Branch, NJ. I found this coffee spot by looking up coffee places near me, and saw that they had a very high rating, being 4.6/5 stars on google.  

The first thing that surprised me about this place was that it was located in a gas station, which I was not expecting based on the photos I saw online.  It took me a little while to figure out where the coffee shop was actually located, and I eventually figured it out once looking on their page on google to see that it is located inside Gas Land in West Long Branch.  Inside the store, it is not a typical gas station feel, it is pretty much just a standard coffee shop with some gas station snacks in the corner.  I actually found it to be a pretty cute coffee shop, with a lot of food options, and a decent coffee menu.  The one downside that I found with the layout of the store is that there aren't many seating options if that is something you are looking for when going to a coffee shop.

When I first walked in, I got a strong aroma of coffee beans, and I noticed they had many different options of coffee bean blends scattered throughout the store.  Some of their different blends include green coffee, Mexican, Guatemalan, Colombian, Costa Rican, and Brazilian blends, which are also all available for sale by the bag, if you are interested in taking the coffees to make yourself at home.  

The staff was very friendly towards me which is always nice. I got an iced vanilla latte which is one of my go to orders. The latte I got was not my favorite but, I also don’t think it was bad. It was very milky with minimal vanilla flavor. When it comes to my favorite coffees and lattes, I like a pretty strong coffee flavor and not a lot of milk.  I was also asked what kind of milk I wanted the latte to be made with and I said whole milk but, I saw them make the latte with all half and half, which I am not particularly a fan of usually.  I would be careful at this coffee shop when asking for a certain thing to make sure that is what they actually use, especially if you have any allergies.  I felt that the aftertaste of the coffee was very bitter, which is not something I personally like.  

I think that this coffee shop has the potential to be a very good one, having a very friendly and welcoming staff, who were all very attentive to me while I was there.  I was one of the few people in there, and the only person actually ordering something from their coffee and food section of the store, which makes me think that this coffee shop may not be very well known, because it seems that the people that do know about it really like it based on the reviews.  I wish I had liked the latte I got more than I did but, overall, I am pretty partial on the experience I had at Busy Bee Coffee Roasters, and would be willing to give it another try.  My final rating on the overall experience would be a 5/10.