Review: Aroma Coffee and Wine

              I am always one to ask a friend to get coffee, whether it be “Want to go get coffee tomorrow?” or “Let’s meet up for coffee sometime!”. Coffee is a staple. Now, I don’t drink it every day, but I really do like it. And it’s everywhere so it’s easy to pick up and go or sit down and enjoy. 

              I was in the midst of a friend date at a coffee shop when I texted my mother a cute picture of me and my friend drinking the coffee we bought. She then texted back that I should do a blog post on coffee shops and little eateries. I thought it was a wonderful idea. ALAS, HERE I AM. I went to 6 coffee shops in two days and had so much coffee that I think I’m going to be wired for a week straight. But it was such a fun experience, even when I went alone! 

              I do have to say, this post is mainly for people who live in suburban Illinois (outside of Chicago) BUT it can also be for people who like reading reviews. Whatever you fancy is fine with me! I also wanted to do bullet points because it’s easier to read! So here I go, diving right in!

Aroma Coffee and Wine

I heard of this shop from a coworker before it opened since she had a family connection to it. She really got me pumped up about it just from hearing about its wine and coffee. I couldn’t go the opening day of Aroma because I had to work, but I wanted to go to support it and I ended up going on the Friday and Sunday of their opening week. I went with friends and we discussed what we liked and what we didn’t. Here’s our take:

Pros:

*Cute decor (a little rustic with metal chairs and very hip lighting).

*The cups for water are actually mason jars, so they’re reusable and eco-friendly

*They start serving alcohol at 11, which is good for a lunch time crowd

*They serve not a vast, but a good amount of alcohol (i.e. vodka soda, red/white wines/ moscato, prosecco)

*Small (only 49 people can fit in there) yet very quaint. 

*Caramel Macchiato is delicious and would recommend. 

*They DO have lavender syrup (which I LOVE), but you have to ask for it!

*Smart location. They are across the train station and have a salon in the same complex. So if you need to wait until your highlights set, go get a glass of wine or coffee next door!

*Friendly staff. Now, I’m going to try and keep this short, but I’m SO impressed with the staff as in they are so friendly and if they don’t know the answer to my question about something, they ask someone else, they don’t just say “I don’t know”. I’m going to name drop, but a barista named Kaitlyn (sorry if I butchered your spelling! SO SORRY!) was the nicest person I’ve met throughout my coffee hopping adventure. She asked my name, told me her’s, and then when I went in again that week, she remembered my name and made sure to come over and say hello. I just can’t get over how much it meant to me, as a customer, to be treated like a friend. (I HAVE TO SHOUT OUT THE

‘COFFEE EXPERT’ TOO! He made sure he came over to us to get feedback on what he could do better and I LOVE that!) All in all, the whole staff I’ve encountered is just amazing. 

Cons:

(I hate saying ‘cons’ because I want to keep everything positive, but it has to be done on reviews!)

* The menu was a little awkward. It’s a paper menu that you pick up in front of the register and my friend (who has some anxiety) felt rushed to order and just ordered what ever I got. I would suggest that if you pick up a menu, step to the side!

*This isn’t a con for most people, but I’m a plain eater sometimes. There wasn’t anything like a plain bagel and cream cheese. It was very millennial, as in, the avocado toast has things I haven’t even tried before on it. It was very fancy (which is totally cool!) and to be honest, this place makes me wish I had a better palate. But I’ll see if one of my friends would like something on the menu so they can review it for me!

* Not a ton of iced coffee items. You have to ask for them to see what they have. Which I’M fine with because I don’t like iced coffee, but my friend loves iced drinks. She ended up getting iced cold brew with lavender, vanilla and oat milk. She really liked it!

Price:

I would say the food is a little pricey. For example, $9 for a ham and cheese sandwich. A small caramel macchiato was $4.50, which wasn’t that bad, to be honest. My friend’s cold brew was $3.50 for a small and that lasted her a while, so great price there. The wine I got was $9 which I BELIEVE was the cheapest but I'm not completely sure.  So you have to pick and choose if you have so much you can spend, but it’s oh so worth it.

Other things I want to point out:

*The wine pairs with food. They did that on purpose and it’s so cool AND smart! I just got my Moscato D’Asti by itself (ALSO WOULD RECCOMEND!) and I was a happy camper. 

*I think this place will thrive even more in the springtime, since it’s on a street with tons of shops. But right now, it’s hot coffee weather and they’re doing great!

I hope you all liked my review of Aroma Coffee and Wine! I have a lot more reviews coming up but I had to write this one first because I was so excited about it!

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Location: 77 E Woodstock St.
Crystal Lake, IL 60014