Are You Missing Your Favorite Coffee Shop?

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There is nothing like your favorite cup of coffee in the morning. It is almost like a routine in the morning when you make your own. But when you rely on coffee shops for your Morning Joe, it can disappointing when that store has moved or replaced with another store (Starbucks anyone?). For the serious coffee lovers, or travelers venturing to the city, here are some apps to help you get acquainted with the various coffee stores in your neighborhood.

The rise of coffee houses has been a blessing and a curse for coffee lovers. If you’re far from your favorite spot, the search for a decent replacement can be excruciating.

Mobile software should be able to solve this problem beautifully. It’s not quite beautiful yet, but it is passable.

Smaller developers are building indexes of cafes, and a few are off to a promising start, including ones from Blue Crow Media (New York’s Best Coffee, $1 on Apple and Android) and Coffee Trip (free on Apple). But depending on your location, you may be best served by a couple of behemoths that offer free apps — Google Search (Apple and Android) and Yelp (Apple and Android).

People in bigger cities will have an easier time finding apps that are devoted to their areas.

In New York, for instance, NYTimes the Scoop NYC (free on Apple), offers information on entertainment and dining options in the city and lists roughly 100 coffee shops. The reviews are authoritative and brief sometimes excessively so.

The app has earned a three-star rating (out of five) from iTunes users, with some criticizing the app for its emphasis on downtown Manhattan. Indeed, a vast majority of the coffee shops listed are in downtown and Brooklyn.

In other cities, local newspapers aren’t providing much mobile coffee coverage, but independent developers are starting to fill the void.

Blue Crow Media, for instance, has released cafe-finder apps in San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and New York.

The New York version, New York’s Best Coffee, features 75 listings, slightly fewer than the Scoop, but smarter technology and more information.

Read more at The New York Time