The Java House

Great coffee but the internet is consistently bad and it’s hard to find a table.
Lets start with the fare. Coffee is phenomenal. It is pour over, so you will have to wait a while while yours drips down but its well worth the wait. Get a Giant of the Earth, my favorite coffee roast in town! Pastries are expensive but good.
The downside is this place is really popular. People park for hours so its not uncommon to not be able to find a seat. Additionally the internet is AWFUL. Without hyperbole its maybe the worst location in terms of wifi consistency. This is a deal breaker for me with regards to studying here.
That said, if you are just looking to hang out and get some wonderful coffee check it out!

Java house has great coffee, maybe the best coffee in Iowa city. Pastries are just ok if you’re into that.
The downtown location has very poor Wi-​Fi, if you need to do some work on your computer you might as well just go somewhere else. On a side note, there’s quit a bit of homeless people here as well.

Good food, and great service.
I have been coming here for over 15 years, in addition to sister stores around town.
I had an order snafu this morning. They bent over backwards to make it right, including delivering my order to my meeting. I love this place, and appreciate that they go so far above and beyond what a chain would do.
Thank you, Java House. I remain loyal. And I love your food and drink.

This is a nice place to study while downtown. During the school year, it can get pretty packed. I’m not much of a coffee drinker so my go-​to is the Java House Black Tea or the Chai Tea. I hope in the future there will be more tea options.
Poppy seed muffins are soft and delicious. It’s also great when you can snag some discounted muffins from the day before.

I come here for the tea and a place to write, so I can’t comment on the quality of the coffee. This is a busy, energetic coffee shop in the middle of the hustle and bustle of downtown Iowa City. Good people watching, decent music, good service.

This is a students dream; coffee, baked goods, plenty of seating (unlike Starbucks), outlets, and wifi. Peaceful atmosphere really makes studying or relaxing a pleasant experience. If you need to get some work done with some chai tea or a cookie, this is the spot.

Quiet as a study hall! Even with a book and my phone ringer off, I thought I might get in trouble for moving in my seat. This is clearly a student spot, and I think I would appreciate it much more in the summer months. Or I would just get a coffee to go, because they do make a damn good latte. (See pic below of Pumpkin Pie Latte.)
The food was okay – butter croissant would’ve been better if heated, but the barista never offered that. In fact, she barely acknowledged me before going back to chatting, and then awkwardly informed me that my latte would pop up at the other end of the bar. (I really want to support local coffee shops downtown, but Starbucks has at least two of them beat with customer service, this one included.)
There are several rooms, and it feels really cozy, but the music stood out in all the quiet. (Maybe that’s why almost everyone had their headphones on?) If you’re a student, I’m sure this is a great place to come and get some work done, but for those wanting to just kill some time with a book for a bit, this is not the spot. (At least during the school year.)
Again, the coffee is great, so I hope they’ll work on service.

I fought it for years, but this is the preeminent place to study for law students in Iowa City. Forget the stuffy law library with its rigid rules and forced isolation. Forget trudging to foreign libraries with their eerie lights (med school) and their enviable awesomeness (MBA & engineering). Sure parking is a hassle and yes, you will have to accept the awkwardness of sharing your table with a complete stranger, but after your first sip of their fair trade coffee the warm, soothing feeling that blossoms from within makes it worth every damn inconvenience. You win Java House, I surrender.

Large coffee house with great coffee, pastries and food! Lots of seating with outlets and large tables– place gets packed with students, naturally. I enjoyed my Masala Chai. It’s also attached to a restaurant, and I bet people will know you came from the Java House after chilling there for an hour or so (smelling like coffee + food isn’t too bad). Baristas were friendly, and overall, a bustling place to hang out!

Very spacious and delicious coffee. The pourover bar was a very cool touch and something I haven’t really seen before. I also enjoyed how they got the order before I got up to the register. I got the conversation coffee, which I’m not quite sure what exactly it was, but it suited my palate fine.
I would’ve liked to see more of a variety among the coffee, going into single origins instead of just 5 blends (ranging from very dark to somewhat light). For this reason alone, I have to knock off a star. Everything was delicious though, and the next time I’m in Iowa City, I will definitely stop by again.

Good, strong coffee! Ghirardelli syrups. Pumpkin spice latte is on point today. Yum.

OK first coffee, GOOD coffee second time. We really enjoyed our lattés and the space was very open, able for those with kids to let them play, studiers to study, and talkers to talk. My reduction of one star is because our first set of lattés were uneven and not very enjoyable. Consistency in coffee is very important, I hope all baristas are well trained!

Pros:
1. Excellent selection of pour over coffee — they have a rotating conversation brew that changes every few hours throughout the day. Great way to try some solid coffee.
2. The bakery items are always excellent with great variety. Special shout out to their delightful sugar cookies.
3. Free wifi.
4. Connected with the Heirloom Salad Company to get lunch and a drink at the same time.
5. Great loose leaf tea selection — they steep it for you there on the spot.
Cons:
1. I personally do not like the style of the Java House side, much prefer the clean modern look of the Heirloom Salad side.
2. Since they use loose leaf tea (see pro #5 above), they do not give you the tea to resteep later.
As a side note, they can be extremely busy during the school year, but are very open during the summer with fewer students around.

Something about the way the girl at the counter couldn’t seem to explain the coffee of the day or differences between the tea categories without reading the signs to us verbatim didn’t make me fall in love with Java House. She giggled after responding to my tea question because she knew what she was saying didn’t make any sense. I imagine a little extra training would do the trick!
Now that the negative is out of the way, let me tell you about their mighty delicious and flavor-​packed Masala tea! Hold on to your hats, it’ll have you feeling refreshed in no time. I like mine with a drizzle of honey on top. Seating is plentiful — and by plentiful I mean you could fit four traditional coffee houses into this place. The walk to the bathroom was about two miles. Okay, not really, but it was close.
Fun fact: they offer conversation coffees that change on the hour for folks to mix up what they’re trying and learn about a new brew/​bean.

Well there are not to many places that take this great of care of the cup of coffee you are about to drink! Wonderful pour over service, with a smile! Good things come to those who wait! IF you are in a hurry this is not the place for you! But sit down and enjoy the comfy couches or the huge back room with lots of outlets for working!
They also do a live Iowa Public Radio show here called Java Blend live from the Java House in Iowa City! These shows are free and are really fun to both watch and I have gotten to play one as well!
The food here is great, the staff is wonderful, the bathrooms are clean, and the coffee is about as good as it comes! I love this place!

The only thing you need to know: they do pourovers.
Java House has the best pourover bar I’ve ever seen! They use fair-​trade coffee beans and have found a well-​balanced approach to please both coffee-​snobs (hello) and «I like coffee, what’s the difference?» patrons.
A few things I’m not so thrilled about:
The menu is confusing. I went probably twelve times before I figured out what exactly the conversation brew is. Did you know the conversation brew implies that depending on what time of day you are ordering, there is a different roast being served and you’re supposed to ask the cashier to learn more about it? I LOVE the idea now that I know what the heck it means, but reading the menu has a definite learning curve.
I’ve been disappointed a couple times on the quality control — there are a few baristas who rush the pourover process by dumping hot water on the grounds, waiting for it to stream through, then dumping more. This hurts my heart. I promise that slowing down and pouring the water properly makes a huge difference — it is called a pourover for a reason. So, the quality of coffee you have in your hand when you walk out can be hit-​or-​miss.
The seating area is always dirty and could use a refresh. I know it’s a college study spot but that’s maybe being embraced a little too wholeheartedly. It feels too much like an old man’s living room.

I was spending a nice Spring day in Iowa City and needed an afternoon espresso. I chose a local business rather than the corporate Starbucks a block away. I ordered a single shot espresso and must have gotten behind four customers who order fussy Starbucks like drinks. My shot took forever. It was a single shot BUT it wasn’t one ounce. It barely covered the bottom of my cup and it set me back $ 2. I appreciate the atmosphere and cool pour-​over bar but my lacking shot left me still needing a buzz.

If you haven’t had a Banana Bread Latte at The Java House in Iowa City, you’re not living your life properly.
Love this place, and it’s organic options!
Joe

I get why Java House is popular. It was one of the first independent coffee shops in Iowa City, and offers a warmer and more inviting experience than Starbucks or (shudder) Caribou. It also does made to order pour over coffee, which is a fantastic change from what you’ll get at Starbucks. Fresh coffee is the best coffee.
The atmosphere is quirky, which I appreciate. The lamps on the table are a nice touch that add charm, and overall the setting is one that is inviting and unique. I can understand why Java House is routinely listed as one of the best college coffee shops, etc. It’s a good place to get work done. And the coffee itself is above average. I’ve never tried the espresso drinks, but the pour over is well done and the baristas working the pour over station are appropriately attentive. They even have a Kyoto cold press tower on display, but I’m not sure if they ever use it.
And yet, I don’t come here often, and I’ve been trying to figure out why. If this were my only option for coffee in Iowa City aside from Starbucks, then I bet I would visit a lot, and be satisfied. But there are multiple options that I prefer in Iowa City (High Ground; Prairie Lights Times Café) and Coralville (Waterstreet; Press Coffee Company). One reason could be the beans: at the other locations, I know where the beans come from and how they were sourced, whereas at Java House that information isn’t disclosed. It could also be the traffic: at Java House, it often feels like a rush or assembly line, where internet use is curtailed so that the next customer can be cycled through the door.
In short, this place is a cool independent coffee shop that reflects the character of Iowa City. But I don’t think it’s the best coffee, or coffee shop, in town.

I don’t drink much coffee, but if I did, I wouldn’t go here to get it because the customer service is so annoying and frustrating. I find myself gritting my teeth if I have to go here.
I get the hipster coffee snob vibe they are trying to project, but there is a line that Java House employees definitely cross. Instead of achieving the desired atmosphere, they are just rude as hell. The staff act like they are too good to serve you, which is their job. What isn’t their job is being faux intellectual asshats that don’t give a crap about customer satisfaction.