Celebrations in the Coffee World
From fundraisers to drag performances, to special menus and live music—join us to find out how our readers celebrated Pride.
BY EMILY JOY MENESES
ONLINE EDITOR
Featured photo courtesy of Ceremony Oregon
Just like that, this year’s Pride Month is coming to a close. For the past several weeks, coffee shops around the world have celebrated with creative beverages, fun events, and charitable efforts to support the LGBTQ+ community.
Below is a recap of how our readers celebrated Pride in 2025.
Makea Coffee
Located in Panama City, Panama, Makea Coffee served up a special pourover Pride blend all month long: a variety of Caturra with notes of fruit, nuts, and chocolate. The coffee bar describes the blend as “a vibrant mix—complex and full of character, just like Pride.”
Aura Coffee
Aura Coffee shares the multitude of Pride Month events they held at their shop in Denton, Texas: a free haircut day, a free makeup class including both drag and natural looks, and a bingo night that raised over $1,000 for local queer-run organizations.
“(We also) put up a Pride Month display handmade with love, with reminders that the queer community in Texas isn’t going anywhere,” the coffee shop wrote to Barista Magazine Online.
Mad Llama Coffee
On June 23-30, Cincinnati’s Mad Llama Coffee donated a percentage of sales from their lavender latte to Transform: a local organization that gives free gender-affirming wardrobes to trans and gender non-conforming youth.
“(We were) really feeling the need to (help) kids feel welcome and comfortable in the world this year, so we were glad to learn about the organization,” the café team wrote to Barista Magazine Online.
Kittitas Cafe
Kittitas, Wash.’s Kittitas Cafe hosted their third annual Pride concert featuring a local funk band. “It rained, but no one cared—they just danced in the rain!” the team shares.
The shop also offered three exciting Pride drink specials, dressed up with ingredients like blueberry syrup, lavender cold foam, and limoncello sauce.
Lost Shoe Brews
The community of Marlborough, Mass., came together on June 28 for brewery/roastery Lost Shoe Brews’ first annual Pride Block Party—the first event of its kind for the city. The block party was hosted by drag performers Anitta Redbull, Freddie Xowie, and Nubivia, with special appearances from Dro Lopez Fierce, Yung Onyx, and Heather Rose. Apart from drag performances, the event also featured live music and local vendors and artisans.
Ceremony Oregon
Talent, Ore.-based coffee shop Ceremony hosted their first-ever latte art throwdown in honor of this year’s Pride Month. “It was a full-on celebration for Pride and included a drag emcee (The Lady Redden Risqué)—one of our baristas!” the team shared with Barista Magazine. “The throwdown was also a fundraiser for You Can Play: an organization that advocates for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and safety in sports.”
A Year-Long Celebration
Pride Month may be ending, but we’re cheering on all of the queer members of the coffee community all year long. And a huge thank you to all of the coffee shops that shared their Pride happenings with us—we can’t wait to see what’s in store for next year.
If you haven’t already, sure to check out our guide to queer-owned coffee shops across the United States.
