Elle in Washington DC is Brad and Nick Deboy's Mount Pleasant Street all-day bakery-cafe-dinner spot, a James Beard semifinalist with sourdough at the counter and a wine list after dark.
Tip: Mornings are for the bakery counter; dinner books out a week ahead. The wood-fired bread is the headliner.
Address: 3221 Mt Pleasant St NW, Washington, DC 20010, Washington DC
The Wydown in Washington DC is the 14th Street pour-over cafe in Logan Circle from a Counter Culture and Ceremony partnership, a sparse white-counter room popular with laptop work.
Signature drink: Pour-over of the day
Tip: Outlets line the walls; the V60 hand-pours run faster at the bar than the table service.
Filter Coffeehouse in Washington DC is Maximilian Lacher's Dupont Circle 20th Street cafe since 2010, a third-wave room with Counter Culture and other guest roasters on the brew bar.
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: The window seats are the city's best people-watching coffee perch; the brew bar serves three rotating roasters.
Lost Sock Roasters in Washington DC is the Takoma neighbourhood cafe and roastery from Joel Shuler, a single-origin pour-over bar with rotating Burundi and Colombian lots.
Signature drink: Pour-over single-origin
Tip: Bring laundry; the cafe shares its building with a laundromat and the joke is the brand name.
Kramers in Washington DC is the Dupont Circle bookshop cafe on Connecticut Avenue since 1976, an all-day room with a full restaurant kitchen and a cocktail bar tucked behind the bookshop.
Signature drink: House drip with bookshop pastries
Tip: Sunday brunch with a stack of newspapers and the bookshop wandering hours is the city's quietest morning ritual.
Buna Coffee Bar in Washington DC is the 14th Street Ethiopian coffee bar in Logan Circle, an Ethiopian-roasted bean cafe with a daily coffee ceremony service and a small Habesha menu.
Signature drink: Ethiopian coffee ceremony cup
Tip: The coffee ceremony runs weekends at 14:00; sign up at the counter for the brewing, incense and popcorn ritual.
Compass Coffee in Washington DC is the Shaw 7th Street flagship of the local roaster founded 2014 by two Marines, with reserve filter coffees and a brewing-method counter.
Signature drink: Reserve filter coffee
Tip: The 7th Street roastery hosts free public tours on Saturdays at 11:00; sign up on the site.
