Ranked number seven in the nation for coffee consumption, Reno is becoming known for its caffeine demand, according to Men’s Health Magazine. Even with 65 percent of Reno being employed through the trade and service sector, coffee shops are a significant part of the growing business in the Reno area, according to the City of Reno.

Within the past 10 years, Reno has turned into a coffee-conscious city with an expansion of local knowledge on what makes good coffee; the old cup of joe is not cutting it anymore, according to Quinn Jonas, barista at Hub Coffee Roasters.

“Reno has had an amazing coffee boom. I know of five or six really amazing coffee shops that have opened in the last two years, which is big for how small our population is,” said Matt Polley, Old World Coffee’s Director of Operations.

The competition in local coffee business remains amiable, driving community success, according to Jonas.

“You’d think this was Seattle or something, what with the great selection of good coffee shops,” said Standley White for About Travel.

The size of Reno is not a comparable measurement on how strong the presence of coffee business is, according to Matt Polley. Reno was named number one on the list of “Best Places To Do Business in America," based on job growth figures among 274 metropolitan areas, according to Inc Magazine.

Shops like Peet’s Coffee and Human Bean, from Portland and Northern California, have come down to Reno to join the growing coffee movement, according to Alex Polley, a barista at the Hub Coffee Roasters.

Hub Coffee Roasters is the first coffee shop that started brewing their own coffee in Reno seven years ago. “We’re the first third-wave specialty coffee. So we kind of set the bar for really good coffee,” said Alex Polley.

Specialty coffee is defined by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), as a coffee that scores above an 80 on a scale, evaluating aroma, flavor and taste, according to Jonas.

The focus on establishing coffee’s taste, without the flavors and syrups, is the foundation for being a specialty coffee shop, according to Jonas.

“At Old World Coffee, it’s about using quality ingredients, long practice techniques and allowing us to take the customer out of their hectic crazy life, put them on pause for a moment to really enjoy the experience of drinking coffee,” said Matt Polley.

Using ingredients such as lemon citrus, sage, lavender and even spices in their drinks, coffee at Old World is never boring or typical, according to Matt Polley.

“Coffee has been very closed-minded in terms of what you can do with it, so we use amazing ingredients that are very complex, to make a very beautiful drink. We really haven’t even scratched the surface on what you can do with it,” said Matt Polley.

These baristas who populate the little city of Reno are known by what they do best as, “extreme latte artists,” said Matt Polley.

The passion that drives these baristas is what the growing success of Reno’s coffee culture is all about today, according to Matt Polley.

2016 is the first year that Reno has been present in the US Coffee Championships, Brewers and Baristas Cup, nationally putting Reno on the map for really great coffee, according to Matt Polley.

“There is a very shared aspect of this love for coffee between all of us, baristas, customers and owners,” said Matt Polley.

Reno’s coffee culture is a collection of passionate businesses coming together in Reno and celebrating their own idea of the “perfect cup of coffee,” while making the customer experience genuine, according to Matt Polley.

Reno is always evolving because of its idea of never sticking to a confined recipe of coffee, according to Old World Coffee.

Reno keeps its loyal customers and still builds new ideas for its quickly modernizing city area by following the consistency of quality coffee, well-sourced coffee, but with new ingredients and using that to build on it, according to Matt Polley.

Though the urbanity and vision in Reno’s culture is changing by day, the value of Reno’s coffee culture is remaining what it’s always been — “a bigger city with a very small-time feel that cares about what we give to the people,” said Matt Polley.