It\u2019s been great fun traveling these lands for coffee finds recommended by people I know and trust<\/a> because they know and trust coffee<\/a>, all in duty to the notion we\u2019ll eventually select one spot for the Houston Press\u2019s approaching annual Best of Houston\u00ae<\/a> series. As I\u2019ve stated, these companions were known and loved, so it occurred I really needed an expert guide on this journey, someone wise and vastly experienced. In short, I needed a Gandalf.<\/p>\n So, I turned to the wizards of social media, examined some spellbinding work by Houston\u2019s many food influencers and reached out to Shawn Singh. Singh is known as shawnthefoodsheep <\/a>to his quarter-million Instagram followers, the food (and coffee!) curious who have helped Singh rack up 10.5 million likes on TikTok.<\/a> Singh is extraordinarily prolific and has refined his content to perfection. His profile as someone who is deeply ensconced in the city\u2019s culinary scene is ever-growing, with podcast and TV appearances, magazine articles and now even a weird, LOTR-themed story asking for his top three Houston coffee spots.<\/p>\n I asked for Singh\u2019s background and he took it way back, stating he \u201cwas actually born at Texas Women\u2019s Hospital in downtown.\u201d That\u2019s the kind of detail he provides in his content and what this series really needs. After he left Texas Women\u2019s Hospital, he grew up in Houston and got his undergrad degree from the University of Houston\u2019s Bauer College of Business. He didn\u2019t begin life as a social media curator until he started post-grad work in California. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I didn\u2019t do anything related to food. I wasn\u2019t a foodie or a coffee person at all. In fact, I actually didn\u2019t drink my first sip of coffee until 2023,\u201d Singh admitted (no worries, y\u2019all, he has made up for lost time \u2013 you\u2019ll see). \u201cBut basically, I was doing my master\u2019s at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, saw social media was doing really well and I just decided to set a goal to post every day for an entire year.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like my situation was kind of unique in the sense of I knew nothing when I started those things. So, you\u2019re kind of learning while you\u2019re posting. I always tell people my 2021, 2022 and 2023 posts are me kind of learning myself. I wouldn\u2019t consider myself an expert. It was kind of me just showcasing myself going to spots, but right now I feel pretty confident at this point. You know, it\u2019s been almost five years\u201d.<\/p>\n When Singh returned to Houston in January 2024, he had moved past posts which rated spots on a 1-10 scale and took deeper dives into culinary experiences. Not criticism, just curation.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of consider myself a showcaser and a curator just because that\u2019s how my content shifted. I also don\u2019t want to be known as the food reviewer guy for the next like 30, 40 years of my life in Houston. There\u2019s different kinds of content that I want to do, so that\u2019s a big reason why it kind of shifted towards that as well. And it\u2019s a huge reason why I got into coffee and things to do in various vlogs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, it\u2019s actually really funny. The reason why I got into coffee was not even for coffee, for coffee\u2019s sake. Basically, I was eating out so much that I was like, I need to mix it up. I need to find a way to keep the calories down. So, I was like \u2018there\u2019s this thing called coffee\u2019 and that became a journey in its own right.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember the first time I ever had a cold brew. My friends took me to Starbucks. I literally just spit it out. I was like, this is the most disgusting thing in the world, I don\u2019t know how people drink this,\u201d he laughed. \u201cAfter that, basically, just slowly over time, I was a guy drinking a mocha latte and then I shifted towards a vanilla latte, and now, you know, my drink of choice is primarily pour overs and, if I\u2019m in a rush, cold brew or an iced Americano, because I feel like Houston\u2019s so hot, I just enjoy iced drinks a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n From keeping the calories down, Singh\u2019s coffee pursuits have led him to \u201cfind a beautiful community, a beautiful coffee community in Houston. Coffee shops are becoming part of the third spaces because Gen Z is drinking less than ever. People \u2013 Gen Z, millennials \u2013 aren\u2019t going out as much. I\u2019m sure you know about it in terms of the wine industry, the liquor industry, they\u2019re getting absolutely destroyed right now. And so that shift is happening towards coffee shops. Also, you know, for affordability reasons. If you want to be at a coffee shop, you spend five, six, seven dollars. And, you can have a good time with your friends without having to expend an enormous amount of money.\u201d<\/p>\n For the record, Singh has been to and posted about more than 70 coffee spots in Houston. There are still hundreds to visit, according to the data. But Singh\u2019s got a solid stockpile for his top three selections.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first one, I\u2019m going to say is New Heights Coffee Roasters<\/a>,\u201d which also happened to be where Singh was answering questions for this interview. \u201cIt was really founded by a guy named Charlie McIntyre, so I feel like I\u2019ve gotten to know the staff here really well. They originally started off as a roastery, so they were just supplying various other coffee shops, restaurants, hotels. And then they opened up in the Asch Building.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they do really unique that other coffee shops don\u2019t is that they have these rotating seasonal menus. They\u2019re almost built like cocktail programs more than your standard coffee menus,\u201d Singh said. \u201cYou know, you could have a clarified milk punch coffee drink, you could have a bacon rosemary flat white, you could have a raspberry balsamic cold brew spread. I think that\u2019s what really makes New Heights special, is that their creativity is just never ending.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s serious sourcing as well. The roasting gives their drinks structure and they\u2019re making all their syrups, sugars, every drink component, it\u2019s all in house. So they have a lot of fun with it. I always tell people, if you want to have fun, and if you\u2019re a big cocktail person but maybe you don\u2019t drink anymore, definitely go to New Heights.<\/p>\n \u201cNumber two, I\u2019m going to say Un Caff\u00e8<\/a>. I\u2019ve been posting about it on social media since 2023 and its founder and roaster is a guy named Soonkack Kook. He went to the University of Houston as well and I\u2019ve gotten to know him, he\u2019s become a friend over the past few years, but it\u2019s the coffee shop that I\u2019ve personally visited the most. I think I\u2019ve probably spent over $500 or $1,000 there over the past few years just ordering coffee,\u201d he said. \u201cHe roasts the coffee on site and the menu moves pretty comfortably between classic espresso, you have lighter roast brewing, and he is popular for doing the Korean drink, the\u00a0Einsp\u00e4nner. It\u2019s very creamy, almost like an ice cream style drink.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really based on community and good coffee,\u201d Singh said of Un Caff\u00e8\u2019s feel, which is steeped in its Midtown neighborhood. \u201cI always tell people, if you\u2019re moving to Houston and you want to meet people and you have the ability to work remote, work at Un Caff\u00e8 and you will meet people very, very quickly. I\u2019d say it\u2019s like a community center point for Houston right now.\u201d<\/p>\n @shawnthefoodsheep<\/a> <\/p>\n Every Houstonian needs to visit Mexico City \ud83c\uddf2\ud83c\uddfd\u2708\ufe0f I loved CDMX so much that this was my second trip in just three months, and this time I brought my entire family. It is one of those cities I could visit every year and still discover something new. A few of my Mexico City favorites: \ud83e\udd50 Favorite bakery: Panader\u00eda Gala \ud83c\udf2e Favorite tacos: La Once Mil in Roma Norte \ud83c\udf7d\ufe0f Favorite restaurant: Voraz \u2615 Current obsession: Espresso tonics and cold brew tonics Mexico City has one of the best food scenes in the world. You can spend the morning bakery hopping, grab tacos from a neighborhood taquer\u00eda for lunch, and finish the day at a Michelin Guide restaurant. Beyond the food, the weather is beautiful, the city is extremely walkable, and neighborhoods like Roma Norte, Condesa, and Polanco are filled with museums, parks, boutiques, local designers, coffee shops, and restaurants. We averaged more than 20,000 steps a day and still felt like we barely scratched the surface. #cdmx<\/a> #cdmxtravel<\/a> #mexicocity<\/a> #mexicocitytravel<\/a> <\/p>\n \u266c Moonlit Bossa \u2013 Johnny Pipes<\/a> <\/p>\n For Singh\u2019s last selection, he said \u201cI feel like this is like the coffee purist kind of pick. It\u2019s probably the most uncompromising coffee-first experience of the three. It\u2019s Simply Coffie<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s run by a husband-and-wife duo. It\u2019s a guy named Eric. They moved here from Taiwan and this dude is just really, really passionate about single origin specialty coffee. It\u2019s a really cool shop. I think it\u2019s one of the most vibey shops as well. It\u2019s kind of out of this two-story modern bungalow and their emphasis is really on rotating single origin coffees. They work with a lot of individual producers.\u201d<\/p>\n Google reviews might be slightly lower for Simply Coffie than the others Singh mentioned because \u201cthey do no syrups, they do no flavoring, it\u2019s simply coffee,\u201d per its moniker, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cGuests are really encouraged to notice the origin, the processing, the various taste profiles, what makes everything unique. I\u2019d say when you\u2019re at Simply, they almost treat every cup like wine. It\u2019s like an expression of the land, climate and craft. And, the baristas, they really make it approachable, it doesn\u2019t feel intimidating at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Singh\u2019s relatively newfound devotion to coffee has grown beyond Houston\u2019s borders. He recently has fashioned a sort of love affair with Mexico City. Since we\u2019ll be traveling there soon with our friends Jon and Nayeli, whom readers met earlier<\/a> in this series, I ask for a recommendation.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I would say their specialty coffee scene is just truly insane. I got my recommendations from a barista named Jordan, she actually works at Simply Coffie. She sent me four or five spots, but if you\u2019re in Condessa or Roma Norte when you stay there, there\u2019s just going to be so many amazing spots. We went to two or three coffee shops almost every day because, it\u2019s not only like the coffee\u2019s amazing, but it\u2019s just such cool vibes. It\u2019s almost like it doesn\u2019t feel like you\u2019re in North America at all. It almost feels like you\u2019re in Europe a little bit.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/shawn-singh-1320.jpg\")
Shawn Singh Credit: John Sanson<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/simply-coffie-1320.jpg\")
\u201cAll forms of additive are unavailable at this establishment\u201d: At Simply Coffie, it\u2019s simply coffee. Credit: Jesse Sendejas, Jr.<\/p>\n