Godspeed Coffee
Coffee as a Cocktail: How Godspeed is Rewriting the Brew Rules in Columbia’s Five Points
Finding a great coffee shop is easy, but finding one that leaves you speechless is rare. But that’s what Godspeed Coffee — in Columbia, SC — did for me. They approach coffee like a craft cocktail. By treating espresso, teas, and syrups like mixology components, baristas Roger Caughman and Kailey Cunningham build incredibly unique, layered, and balanced signature drinks.
What started as a buzzy pop-up with a mission to "break the mold of what coffee can be" has officially found a permanent home in the Five Points hospitality district. Here’s the rundown on everything you need to know.
The Vibe: Midcentury Modern Desert
The shop has a super cool midcentury modern, desert vibe. The floor looks like clay tiles broken up to look like stone, which gives it a neat terrazzo appearance. There’s walnut wood paneling walls and coffee bar, which is topped with stone, along with wooden tables and wire metal barstools that run along the counter. There are also tons of green plants scattered around, and huge windows that let in natural light.
The Drinks: Coffee Like a Cocktail
If you just want the classics, they do them all—cortados, cappuccinos, lattes, chai lattes, and matcha lattes. But the creative signature drinks are the reason people line up. And I mean line up — it’s always PACKED. I mistakenly thought they opened at 8:00 AM on a Sunday and arrived at 8:30 AM—30 minutes before the actual opening time. It turned out to be a lucky mistake, because by the time the clock hit 9:00 AM, there was a line of 40+ people waiting behind me to get in.
The Signatures
Magpie: If coffee were an Old Fashioned, it would be this. It’s delicately bitter, but balanced out by slightly sweet, caramelized molasses notes from brown sugar. It’s finished with a delicate hint of orange, cream, and espresso.
Neapolitan: This tastes exactly like Neapolitan ice cream, but it stays perfectly balanced instead of being an absolute sugar bomb. It layers espresso, chocolate, strawberry milk, and a vanilla bean cream top. They even garnish it with a waffle cone piece.
Nectar: Made with saffron and rose, this is an incredible drink that I highly recommend ordering hot. The saffron milk balances beautifully with the coffee, and the rose dust on top gives it a really nice floral quality. It's stunning.
Movin' to the Country (Special): A sweet, earthy, and fruity matcha special. It mixes ceremonial-grade matcha with Sprite, lime juice, and peach nectar. It's fizzy and completely crushable, topped off with a peach ring gummy.
I didn’t try these because I would’ve gone into a full panic attack from the amount of caffeine, but based on the above four, I have no doubt they are equally spectacular:
Jam Jar: Shaken cold brew concentrate, Sakhar strawberry habanero jam, sparkling water, and bitters.
PB&J: Espresso, berry jam, oat milk, brown sugar, and a peanut butter cream top.
BBL: A mix of matcha, blackberry, lavender, and lemonade.
The Baked Goods
They also have a small pastry case if you need a bite with your drink. I tried two:
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie: Rich and packed with bitter dark chocolate and a pop of salt. The brown butter gives it great flavor, and it’s a little crumbly in the best way possible.
Lemon Blueberry Muffin: This one has a slight hint of lemon, tons of blueberries, and sugar on top gives it a slight crunch.
The Verdict (and the Line Reality)
Godspeed completely changes the game for what a coffee shop can be—not just for Columbia, SC, but for the entire country. By bringing craft cocktail complexity to caffeine and pairing it with a gorgeous midcentury space, they have built something truly phenomenal. They took the ordinary and made it extraordinary through pure creativity. If you want to experience your morning brew in an entirely new way, this spot is an absolute must-visit. Just remember to double-check the clock before you go—they are open Wednesday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Set an alarm, get there early to beat that 40-person deep crowd, and definitely order a signature.
