The worlds of coffee and theater...together. :D
Coffee Shop:
Backstage Coffee
http://backstagecoffee.com/
1000 14th Street 1B-1
Denver CO 80202
Date Visited:
Sunday, June 4, 2017
About 4:45 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Purchased:
12 oz Almond Milk Latte: $3.50
(I was not charged for almond milk. POINT to reasonableness!)
So disclaimer...I don't live in Denver anymore. My coffee shop tour was cut short. But I am still determined to do what I can. I was there again, saw a play, and went to Backstage Coffee! I had heard about it before, but never been. It was really difficult to get motivated to go to a downtown coffee shop without a special occasion. And it was perfect to pair this visit with a play because the coffee shop is BACKSTAGE COFFEE. It is right by the theaters and they do cater to the theater crowd, and even stay open "until shows end." :D (I love it.)
The inside wasn't particularly theater-oriented, but I loved it. It's really spacious. It extends like halfway down the block and has lots of indoor and outdoor seating. There were lots of different kinds of tables, lots of windows and light, classic coffee shop photograph art on the walls..the whole package. It was really quiet and peaceful while I was there, but I'm sure it can be crowded and lively as well. But like I said it's really spacious, so I think it would trend toward "lively" instead of "busy" and "annoying." It is not pretentious in that MOST of the tables and chairs matched and were reasonably un-marred, but there was just a little of the "worn" coffee shop sort of vibe. It trends toward "classy" instead of "cozy" with "mellow" sprinkled in.
Very nice atmosphere.
They do the thing where cappuccinos are the same size as lattes, but with more foam. I asked if the almond milk foamed okay and received an affirmative. One of the baristas was apparently very good at foaming, and the other one not too much, so the first one made it for me.
It was the foamiest cappuccino (/latte) I've ever had in my life.
That foam has serious depth.
It was actually maybe really half full of foam. Which is trending toward being a real cappuccino, though giant-sized (and a smaller espresso part of the ratio).
It was different than any other drink I've had, so I am not entirely sure how to compare it. I actually didn't think it tasted that great, but it was a fun (and therefore reasonably great) experience because of all the foam. It seemed like a lot of almond milk foam, with espresso mixed with sort of "flat" (thin?) almond milk beneath it. I think that I was not a huge fan of this particular espresso, which was the reason I didn't like it as much. And even though there was a lot of foam (seriously impressive), it wasn't the best foam I have had. It was more like the foam that previously gave me the impression that I didn't really care about foam (but since doing this coffee shop tour I discovered that I love really good foam).
I am not entirely sure if this was more like a real cappuccino than what I have had before and that's why it was different, or if it simply wasn't that great of a cappuccino. Since most cappuccinos I have had trend toward foamy lattes, I will not pass full judgement right now. However, the espresso was pretty bitter and had that generic coffee flavor without really anything going for it, and it didn't have good smell, which often indicates the best cappuccinos. And the impressive foam wasn't impressively creamy. It would have been really fun to try this particular cappuccino with really good espresso, but alas...(it was not).
Parking is stupid and annoying. It's downtown. I was there on a Sunday. I drove around the general area, trying to navigate all the one-ways and hoping I would end up on the side of the street that I wanted to be on when I found a place to park. I hoped for an open (free :) ) metered place since it was Sunday, but did not see one. I found a $5 Sunday garage, had to drive around the block to pass by the entrance on the correct side of the street, then parked and discovered I was about half a mile from the theater. I would not have cared up to a mile. It is not worth navigating around downtown to try to be any closer. Have I conveyed that parking and driving downtown sucks? Anyway, at least I could chill out and not have to worry about a meter or my parking fee increasing every twenty minutes...but only because it was Sunday. Because navigating and parking downtown sucks. Perhaps if I still lived in Denver I would eventually get better at it, but this is the sort of thing I am not motivated to pursue. Ugh.
However, this is the sort of situation in which it is best to visit Backstage Coffee. Paired with theater and with extra time to chillax when walking around downtown. :) And it is interesting because now I am a tourist. :)
For the wifi they gave me a little slip of paper with a username and password (and the network code: caffeine-nation - I love it). The session lasts two hours. That's a little on the short side for me, since I like the freedom to hang out forever, but it's also reasonable.
(For the record...I was there slightly longer than two hours and I went and asked the other barista for a wifi code later and got a second one... Since they weren't busy I may have been able to get another one even if they recognized me. :p)
Also: This location is a portal.
Yessss.
This location is not a pokestop, but there are two pokestops accessible. I mean, it's downtown. I would hope so.
