Cold Brew at Corvus

Coffee Shop:

Corvus Coffee
Flagship Roastery & Espresso Bar
http://www.corvuscoffee.com/pages/1740-s-broadway
1740 S. Broadway
Denver, Colorado 80210

Date Visited:
Saturday, April 23, 2016
About 11:30 a.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Purchased:
Single Origin Iced Coffee: $4.00
Bialy: $3.00

Ha...this was so great.  I got to Corvus and I was thinking I wanted to try their cold brew, as I had thought after my first visit.  But then I found out it was nitro on tap, which I hadn't liked when I tried it at La Belle Rosette.  And I SORT of wanted to give nitro cold brew another try, but today I really wanted a coffee that I liked.  It was such a quandary!  There was a line so I let people go in front of me while I was fraught with indecision, then after the others were taken care of I ended up talking with a different barista.  For some reason everything was confusing and I had to get a list of all their iced drinks before getting back to the nitro stuff so I could ask a question.  It was one of those conversations where both of you know there is a simpler way but for some reason neither of you can find it.  So I checked again, and they had two kinds of cold brew, both nitro on tap.  This barista saw my quandary...and offered a sample of both!  Problem solved!  So then I got to try both, see which one I liked, and not risk spending $4 on a coffee I didn't like on a day when I would have been really disappointed by a coffee I didn't like.

My impression is sketchy after two conversations with two baristas, but I believe one was single origin and the other was "hopped."  I asked what "hopped" meant and after more confusion he ended up trying to explain what hops were to me.  Remember this was a unreasonably confusing conversation.  But it was more enjoyable all the time because now I was sampling two types of nitro on tap cold brew.  (It was a hilarious conversation.  I loved it.) Hopped means it is infused with hops, I eventually confirmed.  Which makes total sense and maybe is so obvious it resulted in the further confusion.  The coffee was lukewarm coming off the tap so it was a little harder to judge, but I decided that I liked it, and that I liked the non-hopped a bit more than the hopped.  So I ordered a single origin iced coffee.  Then I returned to the line and finished drinking my samples, since I had them, while he got my order ready.  That was a quick process so he called me back up to pay shortly.

Whoo!!

The whole process did not actually take very long, but it was a two minute roller coaster.  I loved it.  I also think it's great that they were a little busy (not really busy, but maybe 4 people in line) and they managed to completely accommodate me more than I was expecting (I don't usually ask for opinions or recommendations or chat if there is anyone in line behind me) while not inconveniencing anyone else or slowing service.  There were four people working behind the bar and they were very seamless about service, switching between getting drinks or taking orders, whatever, so it was efficient.  But then I also had a great time sampling at the same time.  Anyway, I thought they rocked.

And as I indicated, I liked the cold brew enough to order it.  The hopped sample was foamier than the other.  Perhaps it is actually something with the hops that I don't like.  I did think that the nitro cold brew I hadn't liked had a very beer-like essence.  Perhaps it was also "hopped."  However, I don't know for sure.  I will have to do more investigating now.  The cold brew that I got at Steam was on tap...though they didn't say it was nitro and I wouldn't have thought it was different.  But maybe it is the same as what I got here...  This drink didn't strike me as decidedly "different" cold brew either.  There was a very small amount of foam stuff, but none of the "cascading" effect or layers after it settled, like happened at La Belle Rosette.  It didn't taste bubbly or more "full."  I think I will have to inquire further about this, possibly in multiple shops.

Ultimately, I liked the iced coffee quite a bit.  I drank it black.  The flavor was sort of mild and in the middle - I had no reaction of it being strong either way.  I would say it did have a distinct...black coffee kind of taste.  Okay...sorry I suck with that right now.  I would maybe say a mild "earthy" or "wood" undertone.  In the pleasant way that flavors are like that.  It actually tasted significantly different with the ice in it than the sample I tried, which was interesting.  I almost got a "floral" type thing with the sample.

Anyway, this tasted like normal cold brew to me.  Even though I didn't like the "nitro" aspect when I tried it for sure before, I get why it's a bit more expensive because of the process involved.  This seems a bit expensive without getting that effect.  There may be some other reason though, I will continue to investigate.  It was good, so perhaps the flavor was enhanced.  Steam did say that there's is on tap and it gives it a bit of a different flavor, which makes sense, but that's still not the whole nitro process.  Also, if this was full nitro cold brew and so was the one I had at La Belle Rosette, I want to know why they are so different.  Coffee adventure continues...

Also, they asked if it was for here and gave me the gorgeous cup for it.

I decided I wanted a snack and asked if any of their pastries were vegan.  It's a pretty small selection and I had no expectations.  But there was one!  It was a bialy.  I have no idea what that is.  It was not sweet.  It was savory.  It was a pretzel dough base with caramelized onions, sesame seeds, and I think cardamom!  I have never seen anything quite like this.  So I was TOTALLY up for trying it.

I liked it all right.  It was a good snack.  I don't desperately want it again or anything, but it was worth eating.

It seemed weird to eat it cold to me, so I asked if most people ate it cold or if it should be heated.  They said they didn't really know, but it sounded like a good idea so they heated it on the toaster for me.  I think it was better like that.

Overall, very good coffee adventure.

No wi-fi issues.