51 - Novo Coffee Gilpin, Denver

I have been to the Novo Coffee downtown before, and it was memorable and great, but I had not been to this specific shop before. It was memorable and great.

Coffee Shop:
Novo Coffee Gilpin
http://novocoffee.com
1700 East 6th Avenue
Denver, CO 80218

Date Visited:
Sunday, June 2, 2019
About 2:30 p.m. -  4:30 p.m.

Purchased:
12 oz vanilla oat milk latte: $5.25
*vanilla syrup was $0.50 - and house-made! Hence why I got it.
*oat milk was $0.50.

From what I remembered of my previous visit to a Novo coffee shop, I had so much faith that this was going to be an amazing beverage experience. And it totally was. Novo knows what they're doing. Quality control seems awesome.

It's a great little set-up inside. Totally feels like a great coffee shop. It's so classic. An aesthetically pleasing arrangement and assortment of smaller tables with a larger accent pieces, complementing the coffee bar. So classic. They have really large, storefront windows, which I always appreciate. Sometimes that doesn't work out when blinding sunlight is streaming through, so you gotta get the right angles. It seemed good there, but most of the time it as raining really hard, so that was especially awesome with the windows and sidewalk views. It's a cool place to be. Classic, modern coffee shop vibe.

My latte was wonderful.

That wonderful. The way it looks is representative of the whole experience.

I had high expectations, so I was considering a cappuccino, but then I discovered that they made their own flavored syrups and was intrigued. One of my favorite lattes ever was an oat milk latte with maple syrup, so I decided to go with an oat milk latte with their housemade vanilla syrup. Though it was not the best latte I have ever had, it was excellent.

The espresso layer was soooo good. It was all soooo smooth and totally didn't need flavored syrup, but then the syrup was just another layer of good. I am sure the cappuccino would have been amazing and probably the best way to optimize my experience, but the latte+housemade syrup was a more broadening experience. And though I kinda wanted the cappuccino, it's kind of amazing to drink a latte and long for more espresso because the espresso is that good. It's like the feeling of having an amazing vacation spot that you love, and always want more of, but it's nice not to have more of because it's a vacation, not home, and if it was home, it wouldn't be a vacation. It was like that feeling as a latte.

I love it. Great place to hang out, great espresso options, so classy. I LOVE IT.

Parking was easy on the street, free and no time limit.

No wifi issues.

50 - Downpours Coffee, Denver (Congress Park)

Coffee Shop:
Downpours Coffee
https://www.facebook.com/DownPoursCoffeeShop/
[I also found this super basic web site, which does exist, but they'd clearly want you to go to their facebook page. http://downpourscoffee.com/index.html]
1200 Clayton St
Denver, CO 80206

Date Visited:
Friday, May 31, 2019
About 1:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Purchased:
12 oz lavender oat milk latte: $5.75
*lavender syrup was $0.50
*oat milk was $1.00. And it's $1.00 for anything, any size. They are out of control. Dealbreaker. (If I wasn't doing research. lol. It's worth it for the experience once.)

This was kind of a cool place, but I wasn't very enthused by anything. A blanket dollar charge for milk is ridiculous...I felt very constrained to lattes as opposed to anything smaller.

But anyway.  They had a sign about, "Try our new lavender syrup" or something like that, so I decided to. If I'm getting a syrup I like 12 oz anyway because there is room for the extra flavor.

This latte was not bad, but it wasn't outstanding and it was kind of confusing.

It was sort of mocha-y, but without the attributes of a mocha. Like, it was weirdly thick, like chocolate (mocha) syrup often is, but I wasn't entirely sure what with. I assume the lavender syrup, but the latte also wasn't very lavender-y. It also wasn't overly sweet. It was like...pasty mocha syrup that wasn't like chocolate, or very sweet. But not bad. Just not great. Also not a $5.75 latte (and I do believe those legitimately exist - I have had an oat milk latte with maple syrup that was phenomenal and totally worth $6).

Okay, so the latte had this weird taste and texture that got more pronounced (worse) toward the end. It totally had thick, pasty, weird stuff at the bottom of the mug...like the bottom of a mocha that is not well-mixed, but I guess it was lavender syrup? Maybe some espresso? The last bit was super sticky. There still wasn't much lavender taste. Or at least what I would call lavender, but it was probably the taste of this syrup. But I didn't taste much... This was all weirdly fun, but again, not that good. So...I wouldn't listen to the sign and try their lavender syrup, personally. But I'm not really sad I had the experience once.

Still, overall things weren't bad. There were no huge negatives. The shop was quite a nice place to hang out. I liked the layout. I was very productive while I was there, and there were a number of people working on computers, etc. But it didn't have an overly "workplace" vibe either. There were a number of individual (/dual-person) sized tables, and things like a long bar-like table by the window, so it was an efficient layout for that kind of thing, without feeling crowded. It would be fine to hang out and talk with someone also. The vibe was comfortable - the furniture wasn't particularly physically comfortable, but it wasn't bad.

However, the large outdoor seating area would be better for that, in my opinion. I did not sit out there, but it was significantly above average outdoor seating. There were a lot of tables and chairs, trees for shade, and it's on a quiet street, so it's a really nice place to hang out. They had the garage-door-type storefront door open, so it was nice and airy even though I was sitting inside, but it wasn't overly breezy and distracting either (or blowing pollen on me when I'm trying to escape), which is nice and why I like to have both options. It was also a really nice day, so there's that. The outdoor area was dog-friendly and they had dog treats and things, but I heard multiple times that dogs were NOT allowed across the threshold of the inside area.

Oh, there was a giant mural of people on a motorcycle flipping the room off with a middle finger. I figure some people mind that kind of thing, so it's an interesting choice unless you're trying to make a statement about something, but I don't know what they would have been making a statement about. I feel a different option would have resulted in a better vibe, but I always appreciate interesting choices.

Parking on the street nearby was easy and there was no charge or time limit.

No wifi issues.