A hazelnut iced latte with oat milk from The Oak House in downtown Elon has received a high rating from  TikTok coffee creator, Ryan Keane, known as “Ryan’s Coffee.”

“This is getting a 9.1 from me. This place is very, very solid,” Keane said.

This coffee connoisseur is attempting to find the best coffee in North Carolina — and he’s made it pretty far. 

Keane, who lives in Charlotte, has traveled all over North Carolina and has reviewed over 50 coffee shops on his TikTok account, @ryaankeane. He said his idea began after filming himself trying a coffee shop he’d always wanted to visit. 

“That video did really well, way better than I expected,” Keane said. “So I decided, you know what, maybe I can make this a thing.”

Over 9,000 TikTok followers later, Keane found his niche. Keane travels from Charlotte to Raleigh on the weekends and recently traveled to Burlington to try heavily requested coffee shops. 

“I went to Salvation, and I absolutely loved it,” Keane said. “I went to The Daily Grind, and I really liked that spot as well. And I just made a day there. I had lunch. It was a really good time. And it was such a cute little town.”



Keane said his reviews are a stepping stone for a bigger dream of his — to break into the coffee industry. 

“If I'm doing something like reviewing coffee all the time, being able to turn that into a career, and have that growth, film it, show it to people, get people's opinions on it, and eventually turn that into starting my own coffee business — that's the path for me,” Keane said.

Keane’s videos have anywhere from thousands to hundreds of thousands of views, and each one is filmed in his car. Keane said he has received support and positivity that he would have never expected. 

“I have people who tell me, ‘I look forward to your videos,’ which is the craziest thing in the world to me,” Keane said. 

Keane said the TikTok account has turned into more than just happiness — but helping others as well. 

“I can actually bring more business to local places just from a video that I'm making,” Keane said. “It just fills me with so much happiness and gratitude, the fact that what I'm doing is actually helpful to others, and it's just literally just me trying coffee.”