Charleston Coffee Exchange

I wanted morning coffee, so I searched for local coffee shops in Charleston and found Charleston Coffee Exchange. I went there. The coffee shop had a beautiful and welcoming ambiance. I discussed fan favorite coffee options with the server and ordered a medium latte. My to-go order was ready in 10 minutes. The coffee was well made, tasted amazing, and the perfect way to start my morning. The beans were freshly roasted, which added to the flavor.

I used to love this place but I guess today I walked into a coffee shop where making coffee is apparently optional. I went in with no line, ordered a single drink, and somehow still waited 15 minutes while the barista prioritized their riveting (read: painfully boring) conversation over, you know, doing their job? They spent a solid five minutes talking before starting my drink, and then I was forced to over- hear every dull word while they spent what felt like eternity pouring milk into the cup like they were performing slow motion art. Terrible customer service skills!

Very cute and cozy coffee shop. When I arrived, their line was 6 people deep, so plan accordingly. I worked from here for about an hour or so. They offer self-serve bottemless coffee, which is wonderful if you're hanging around for a bit. It is a smaller shop and can get loud if you're trying to do remote meetings.

I hate leaving bad reviews, but feel obligated to warn others. So here it goes….. 😔 I’m a bit of a food tourist, so we visited this coffee shop from out of town on Christmas week, since the visitors center said it makes a lot of the coffee in town. So far the coffee we bought from here is "ok" but my review is mainly negative because of my experience here. Going in, I asked the woman who was behind the counter about bean recommendations. She said she’d help after what she was doing, but in a way where it felt like I was bothering her. When she was ready to help me pick beans, she was much friendlier. While waiting for our beans to be packaged, we bought some prepackaged beans, food to go, and I asked for a large flat white. The gentleman said my flat white "come with 5 shots", so I asked for half to be decaf. He then said he’d hold my pre-packaged coffee behind the counter to combine with the beans I was waiting on. We patiently waited 20-30 minutes (with a tired but cooperative toddler and baby) for everything to be ready. We ended up spending $90 in the shop. When we left, my flat white was mediocre. I saw afterwards in the receipt that the gentleman charged me for extra shots… I only got 5 shots bc he said they were included. And the flat white still tasted watered down, which was disappointing. When we got to our Airbnb, I saw the shop forgot to give me my prepackaged coffee (they only gave me the newly packaged beans). I called and the woman was very apologetic, offering to ship me the items they forgot. I thought that was a fair solution and appreciated it. She said they’d be shipped by Friday (it was Tuesday). The next day I called back because I noticed the freshly packaged coffee I bought was ground instead of whole. The woman quickly sounded hostile and angry, saying "I KNOW you asked for ground beans!" Needless to say I was taken aback by her accusatory tone. She eventually said if I went back to the store she’d remake the order, but I didn’t have that option given our travel arrangements. So I just basically had to let it go. By the next Monday, I knew my prepackaged beans still hadn’t been shipped to me, because USPS sends me notifications when a label is created to our address. I sent the shop a message in their website politely asking for the tracking info, figuring it was a polite and subtle reminder to please send the beans. I also included the name of each item I was anticipating. My package was finally shipped. When it arrived, one of the 2oz coffees was the wrong flavor. So all of this to say, I went to Charleston Coffee Exchange excited to treat myself and some friends at home to new coffee. I’ve never spent more than $40 at a coffee shop before, but thought I was spoiling myself when I spent $90 at this store. Instead I got: 1) overcharged for a drink 2) falsely accused of trying to "pull a fast one" when I found they ground my whole beans, and 3) sent a partially incorrect order after they accidentally forgot to put my prepackaged coffee in the bag. Even if the coffee knocked my socks off, I’d never be a repeat customer because of the accusatory conversation. So….. good thing the coffee is average?

My girlfriend and I were planning on going to the downtown area of Charleston but ended up getting rained out. We wanted something else to do near where we were staying and decided to take a chance on a little coffee shop. The shop itself is clean and cozy, the pastries were incredible, the coffee was even better. There was even adorable sample sizes of coffee grounds that make 8 cups of coffee which we bought two of. The staff is knowledgeable and very kind. We took the food + coffee home for a nice brunch in bed. We couldn’t have found a better place to stumble upon!!

Went straight to Second State for a coffee & tossed what I was given at your store. Use to be my fave coffee shop. Service & drinks have gone down hill. I was greeted, but not helped for 10 minutes. To add insult to injury, my latte was not made well. Not enough oat milk or ice. I felt that I needed to write this review because the last five or so coffees I have received have gone down the drain. And it’s too expensive to not be good.

The only place I buy my ground coffee. I drive from Goose Creek every other week, or when I run out, to get more. My favorite is the Rainforest Crunch but the other flavors I've tried are good too and the staff is always friendly.