Sodoi Coffee Tasting House

Sodoi is tucked inside an alleyway off Telegraph Ave near UC Berkeley. The Berkeley spot draws students and faculty who name it as one of the best price-per-cup options near campus, and the drink sizes are notably large for what you pay. The room is spacious and pleasant, with solid free WiFi and big tables that get filled with laptops and textbooks on study days. There's no outdoor sun, since the building sits back in the alley, which is a feature during midterms week and a limitation in fair weather when other spots have patios that catch the afternoon. The hand-drip dark roast is the cup. A red velvet latte and a red velvet mocha are the signature flavored drinks people come back for and the orders that show up in writeups by name. Smoothies round out the menu for people who didn't come in for caffeine in the first place. The real flag in recent writeups is the matcha. Quality and pricing on it have slipped, and the one-dollar-per-pump charge on vanilla draws complaints from people who didn't expect it at checkout. The complaint isn't the dollar. It's the surprise. If matcha is your drink, this is no longer the move. If you want a big affordable coffee in a study-friendly room with WiFi that holds and tables that fit a laptop and a book at the same time, Sodoi still is. The crowd skews student-and-laptop on weekday afternoons, which is part of the deal and part of why the room runs as well as it does. Best for Berkeley students and remote workers who want a long sit at a reasonable price near campus. Less of a fit if you want intimate quiet seating, or if you're sensitive to add-on pricing for syrups that other shops include for free. The alley setting is part of the appeal once you've found it. The matcha is part of the warning. Coffee yes, matcha maybe, vanilla pumps with eyes open before you order.