☕ Straight answers

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything people ask about Crema, answered the way I'd answer over a cortadito. No fine print, because there isn't any.

What is Crema?

Crema (sipcrema.com) is a free web app that finds great coffee shops near any location — with a soft spot for the independent cafés the big apps bury under sponsored pins. Type a city, neighborhood, or ZIP (or tap “use my location”) and you get a ranked list with real ratings, photos, opening hours, an open-now filter, walking times, a map, and one-tap directions. No account, no download, no catch.

Is it really free? What's the catch?

Really free. No ads, no sponsored placements, no “premium tier,” no selling your data. The catch is that there isn't one — Crema is a passion project by one coffee-obsessed person, built lean enough to run on free infrastructure. A shop can't pay to rank higher, which is exactly why the rankings are worth trusting.

Do I need to create an account?

No, and you never will. Saved shops and shared lists live in your browser, not on a server. Crema will never ask for your email — it doesn't even have a place to type one.

How does Crema decide which coffee shops are “best”?

Rankings blend real customer ratings with how many people bothered to leave one — a 4.8 from 900 reviews beats a 5.0 from three. There's no pay-to-play and no editorializing: the data decides. You can also flip on the Hidden Gems view to re-rank in favor of independent shops, or filter to what's open right now.

What's a “Hidden Gem”?

An independent, non-chain café that locals rate highly but the algorithmic front pages overlook — the roaster on the side street, the family-run window that's been pulling perfect shots for thirty years. Crema badges them so you can support local without doing detective work. Finding these places is the whole reason Crema exists.

Where does the data come from — can I trust the hours?

Shop data, ratings, photos, and opening hours come live from Google Places, with OpenStreetMap as a fallback — the same sources the big map apps use, fetched fresh when you search. The open-now status is computed at the moment you look, not copied from a stale article. Holiday hours are the eternal exception: on major holidays, glance at the shop's listing before you cross town.

Does Crema track me?

Your location is used for one thing: finding coffee near it. Searches go to the map data providers to fetch results; Crema itself has no accounts, no ad trackers, and stores your saved lists only on your own device. Close the tab and you were never here — except now you know where the good coffee is.

Can I use Crema offline or install it as an app?

Yes — Crema is an installable web app (PWA). On your phone, choose “Add to Home Screen” and it opens like a native app. Repeat visits load fast even on weak connections, which is exactly what you want when you've just landed somewhere with one bar of signal and a caffeine deficit.

What's the best way to find good coffee in a city I've never visited?

Skip the first Google result and the hotel recommendation — both optimize for convenience, not quality. Search your neighborhood on Crema, flip to Hidden Gems, and pick the independent shop with a high rating and a real crowd of reviews. Walk the extra three blocks; that's usually where the city actually drinks its coffee. (The long version of this advice is a whole guide.)

What is a ventanita?

A ventanita is the little walk-up window on the side of a Cuban café or bakery — a Miami institution — where you order a cafecito, colada, or café con leche standing on the sidewalk, usually for a couple of dollars. It's the fastest, cheapest, most authentic coffee experience in the city. Our Cuban coffee guide covers how to order like you've done it your whole life.

Which cities does Crema cover?

Every city — the live search works anywhere Google Places or OpenStreetMap has data, which is essentially everywhere on Earth with coffee. On top of that there are written local guides for spots like Miami (including Little Havana and South Beach), Austin, Seattle, Portland, and New York, plus traveler pages for Miami Airport and the cruise port.

Who made Crema, and why?

Crema was built by Adolfo, a coffee lover who kept losing an hour in every new city to the same ritual: digging through map apps, cross-referencing reviews, dodging chains, hunting for the one café the locals actually love. Eventually he built the tool he wished existed — free, fast, independent-first — so the search takes thirty seconds and the hour goes to drinking the coffee instead.