--- title: Obama Just Bought Everyone At This Coffee Shop a Round description: Chai tea and coffee for everyone! canonical: https://time.com/3060222/obama-coffee/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-30T19:24:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:25:44.994Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Just Bought Everyone At This Coffee Shop a Round og:description: Chai tea and coffee for everyone! og:url: https://time.com/3060222/obama-coffee/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5571dc150dab660/69869de1adae445eec5445bb/ap909751481204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5804 og:image:height: 3265 og:image:alt: Barack Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Just Bought Everyone At This Coffee Shop a Round twitter:description: Chai tea and coffee for everyone! twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5571dc150dab660/69869de1adae445eec5445bb/ap909751481204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Just Bought a Round For Everyone At This Coffee Shop > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 30, 2014 7:24 PM UTC  President Barack Obama tries a sample of roasted coffee from Ethiopia at Parkville Coffee during a surprise stop along Main Street in Parkville, Mo., on July 30, 2014. President Barack Obama tries a sample of roasted coffee from Ethiopia at Parkville Coffee during a surprise stop along Main Street in Parkville, Mo., on July 30, 2014. Jacquelyn Martin—AP by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 30, 2014 7:24 PM UTC President Barack Obama visited a local coffee shop on his way out of Kansas City, Mo. Wednesday and gave patrons of [Parkville Coffee](http://www.parkvillecoffee.com/) a hump day treat — a round of beverages, on POTUS. “It’s not that often the President buys you a cup of coffee,” President Obama said, according to a pool report. President Obama filled the patrons’ orders of chai tea and coffee, though he personally opted for an iced tea. When an employee offered him a tea flavored with lavender, the President said, “I’m not confident enough to order that,” per the pool. The President spent the day in Kansas City, which is about a 16-minute drive from Parkville, to talk about the economy, before later departing back to Washington, D.C. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3060222/obama-coffee/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3060222/obama-coffee/"},"headline":"Obama Just Bought a Round For Everyone At This Coffee Shop","datePublished":"2014-07-30T19:24:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:25:44.994Z","description":"Chai tea and coffee for everyone!","url":"https://time.com/3060222/obama-coffee/","keywords":["White House","Barack Obama","President Obama"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5571dc150dab660/69869de1adae445eec5445bb/ap909751481204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd5571dc150dab660/69869de1adae445eec5445bb/ap909751481204.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Barack Obama","caption":"Barack Obama","creditText":"Jacquelyn Martin—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3060222/obama-coffee/","name":"Obama Just Bought a Round For Everyone At This Coffee Shop"}}]}] ```