Sample Coffee

Founder Reuben Mardan spent nearly a decade roasting and brewing for Single O and Mecca before opening this corner espresso bar on Devonshire Street in 2011, meant as a place to taste, or sample, different origins and roasters without ceremony. A couple of years in he began roasting his own coffee at a facility in St Peters under the Sample name, trimming the shelf down to only the coffees he stood behind.

The shopfront itself is barely bigger than the espresso machine inside it, walls left a little rough around the edges, with the day's roasts chalked up on a blackboard behind the counter. Regulars know to expect the house Pacemaker Espresso Blend on the everyday list, filter options that shift with whatever Mardan is roasting that week, and a batch of doughnuts that shows up every Friday.