Passed through Cincinnati and figured I'd check out a local specialty coffee shop and I was not disappointed with my find. Collective had a variety of different coffee roaster's beans on their shelves, my barista Ashley was friendly and made the experience pleasant. The espresso was dialed in, drip was great and the pastry was delicious! I hope to stop by the next time I'm in the city and grab more dank bean from ya'll! Til' next time.
Collective Espresso is a nice community coffee shop just off the park. The surrounding street Was under construction while we visited so it appeared closed but it is not!
Got a latte and hot chocolate. Thought both were a solid 4, hot chocolate a little watery.
Great customer service.
Talented and friendly baristas, wonderfully cozy environment and a nice place to work on schoolwork while waiting on the pool to open 🥹
Good coffee. Had an espresso because was looking for an unsweetened milk option and unfortunately did not have any. They didn’t have almond milk either in case this is important to you. Latte felt a bit more foamy than anticipated also.
• Great coffee, neat/deinty small location, a but higher prices (and beans actually fairly expensive)
• The coffee tasted great, full nutty rich flavor with good creaminess in the macchiato, the art on it was as you'd expect as well. :) The barista forgot about my water even though it wasn't loud or too busy, but oh well.
• Prices are a tad higher than other coffee shops serving nice espresso-based drinks and the beans were actually fairly expensive, but definitely a great shop to visit!
This OTR coffee shop is right before the Ziegler pool on Woodward, just off Main St. I usually visit for their great coffee, but they have pretty good pastries too (and a decent selection of them).
If there's a line, it tends to move fast. Most people get stuff to go, but they do have some inside seating too. All the servers seem pretty chill and know about the different coffees and know what they're doing.
Coffee is good, made right in front of you. The people there are always nice. I will say that I had the best drink there, an espresso lemonade. The combination sounds awful at first, but man, it is so good. The sourness of the lemonade really brings out the flavors in the coffee
Collective espresso was a wonderful reprieve from the rain. I enjoyed a cappuccino at the bar. The espresso was wonderfully smooth and the small heart drawn with milk shows off the expertise of the baristas.
I will be back here for sure! Thanks for making a drab day much better.
A very respectable shot of espresso. There are two small tables and some seats along the bar. The road in front has been converted to a park. It's easy to park on Main Street and walk to Collective.
A perfect place to sit down, have an incredible cup of coffee, and lose track of time. Joel is an excellent barista and customers here are all friendly and pleasant to talk to! So good I had 4 cappuccinos here in two days.
fine coffee. i got a dirty chai with oatmilk. and my boyfriend got a honey latte with whole milk. his latte tasted only of whole milk. environment also gave off a weird vibe and wasn’t very welcoming.
Love this shop! Small and cozy, but most importantly they pulled the best espresso and poured the best pour-over I had in the handful of Cincinnati coffee shops I visited.
They didn't use a machine (is this common?), but did pourover by hand and it was great. Definitely will come back in future Cincy visits!
Strong cappuccino. Friendly staff. Kickapoo Coffee from Wisco too... A very essential place to support in the OTR. ☕
Coffee is excellent. Music is on point. WiFi is fast and reliable. Allows dogs. Seating is SO uncomfortable, probably to avoid loiterers like me... Didn't stop me from working all day, however!
PS Go for the scone. It's worth it
Coffee was great tasting, but the place is super small, so Saturday morning means you'll probably have a bit of a wait outside. Definitely not a place you can hang out and chat with friends for very long.
Also, the cashier didn't flip the screen during tipping which is a little intimidating that she's watching your tipping action. I'm usually a generous tipper, but that was a little off-putting.
Otherwise, pretty good overall experience.
2023: 4/5 stars. Collective has lost some of its magic over the years. It's still pretty good, but the costs have just gone up a lot. Pour overs that were once $3–4 are now $6–7, when they actually have them, for example. They are using North South for pastries now which is a big win. They have largely stopped doing lots of the fine touches that used to make them what they are, such as the single origin espresso option. I still visit, but a lot less than I used to. There are so many other options now compared to OTR in 2016... the newest spots, Redtree and Coffia are both worth checking out.
2016: 5/5 stars. It's the best coffee shop in OTR and in Cincinnati. The espresso drinks are nice, pour overs are great, and they do some weird stuff like espresso lemonade ("spronade"). The baristas are very friendly and the owners are down to earth and around most days. Very good neighborhood spot.
The chai latte is to die for! Friendly staff, cozy location, and great products.
This place does espresso right! The iced Americano was perfect for a 95 degree day. If you love good coffee, Collective Espresso will not disappoint!
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