Dark Matter Coffee

Dark Matter are my favorite roasters - not just in this city, but anywhere. The key thing here, and what a lot of roasters struggle with, is CONSISTENCY. While some blends are not to my personal taste, the ones that are (and there's a lot of them) simply knock it out of the park every single time. Unpretentious and fun, the staff are always very cool here. You come in to buy a bag, and you also get a free hot or cold coffee. That's service and paying attention to the customer experience. Stop by and give them a try.. Places like this absolutely need our support in this town!

If you don’t like dark roast coffee, you’re probably not gonna love this spot but if you do like dark roast coffee, then you can definitely get a good cup here. I feel like the location is super convenient. I’ve had no problems with customer service and they work pretty quickly with getting you your beverage so you can get out the door. It’s right around the corner from my spot and I visit it frequently. Love it here.

The vibes the minute you walk in here peak your excitement. The place is decked out in themed colors and graphics that heighten the experience even further. The espresso? by far the highest quality I have ever had. They take good proper care into pulling their pours correctly, and the gentlemen that made my cortado made a beautiful graphic with his pour on top. We got some of the cold brew cans to go and they were delicious. The chocolate is also a must-get.

West Town has long been one of fave bakeries in Chicago so I don’t know how I missed that Dark Matter is from the same company. I would have been here a lot sooner! The interior of Dar Matter is fun and eclectic. We got two drinks - both delish, a bag of coffee beans, and I got 4 cold cans of “vanilla Suburbs.” Description from website: “Far from the apocalyptic funk of Chocolate City exists the Vanilla Suburbs. Lavish and decadent conduction of coffee, vanilla, and cocoa. This brew will delight with explosive vanilla and cocoa flavors.” I kid you not, Vanilla Suburbs might be the best cold coffee I’ve ever had. I poured it over ice, added a bit of cream, and my mind was blown. I’m already planning my next trip to Chicago specifically to go back to Dark Matter.

Cortado was excellent. Definitely one of the best that I have had. Barrel aged mocha was excellent. Unique flavor and subtle warmth. It reminded me of the warmth you experience after a whiskey 🥃 👽 The Mothership was such a cool experience. ☕️ Great coffee. Great atmosphere. Great service. Located outside of Downtown Chicago, it was a little drive out of the city 🏙️ but absolutely 💯 worth it. If visiting Chicago and you know coffee, I would make a point to stop by! Unicorn 🦄 blood 🩸 espresso blend beans are definitely recommended to take home! They roast their own beans so… 🤩 of course it’s taking some souvenirs home!

Dark Matter is known for their impressive specialty coffee concoctions. After multiple people told us we needed to visit while in Chicago, we went to their location known as The Mothership on N Western Ave. They’re known for their Draft Iced Coffee list, which are coffees at triple strength brewed hot then flash cooled. The Chocolate City Draft Iced Coffee was very smooth and an easy drinker for a regular warm day, one of their Draft Iced Coffees had beer hops that reminds me of an IPA-meets-Stout, and the Vanilla Suburbs Nitro is infused with cacao nibs and vanilla beans without any added sugar. As I was very indecisive and it was my first time there, the barista Rosemary was so kind and let me do small samples of these three Draft Iced Coffees, which was a great experience and honestly I think they should start selling coffee flights because their offerings are so unique and great for side-by-side comparisons. From their specialty drink menu, I went with the Iced Cafe Miel, which looked a lot like the iced caramel macchiatos you see at Starbucks because the honey drizzle around the sides looks like caramel. The Latin America espresso blend that they used for the Cafe Miel is called Unicorn Blood, and it went really nicely with the honey and oat milk in the drink. I loved learning that the honey used is sourced from the same farm in Guatemala as the coffee! They also make their own high-quality chocolate bars that are absolutely delicious, and there are three different designs/chocolates that you can choose from at the front counter. Chris went with the Barrel-Aged Mocha, which included barrel-aged espresso, vanilla syrup, chocolate, and milk. He said he couldn’t really taste the barrel-aged aspect but that it was a nice beverage. We also ordered the draft oat milk latte, which I would recommend for anyone who doesn’t want their coffee to taste too strong, as it was mainly the flavor of oat milk.