Great American Coffee Roasters

The new coffee place downtown, Great American Coffee Roasters, really is great.

From the outside of the building, located downtown on South Magnolia, right before the S-curve, you would never guess this place would have some of the best coffee in town, but it does.

The coffee shop, which just opened on Monday, is the brainchild of a local couple who have an obvious love for coffee. The coffee they serve is roasted daily in a huge roasting machine that is taller than I am. This is the only place in Ocala, as far as I know, where the coffee is roasted so frequently.

The coffee is really good, and the prices are substantially lower than other coffee places downtown. Cough, Starbucks, cough cough. A large iced coffee is only $2. McDonald's can't even beat that price.

Actually, the coffee tastes better than what they serve at Starbucks. I find that their coffee is often bitter. And, I don't mean strong. I love strong coffee. Something is just off about the brew at Starbucks.

Great American Coffee Roasters also has a large variety of teas, both hot and cold, smoothies, ice cream and Italian soda: all things I love, especially Italian soda.

Just like other coffee places, you can also buy the coffee and tea in bulk to take home. If the coffee was roasted just days earlier, it is sold at a discounted rate. These people are serious about freshness.

Usually I don't care for sweet coffee drinks, but I tried a white mocha cappuccino, and it was delicious. And although the outside looks less than inviting, the inside is really cute and comfortable. I was impressed to learn that the owners completely revamped and constructed the inside on their own.

I am really excited about this place, and considering it is on my way to school, I will probably become a regular pretty quickly. I have to urge you to break from your usual Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts routine and support a local business. Trust me, you won't regret it.