MOCHA - Hooked on Colfax

Coffee Shop:
Hooked on Colfax
http://hookedoncolfax.com
3213 E Colfax ave
Denver, CO 80206

Date Visited:
Saturday, May 28, 2016
About 3:45 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Purchased:
12 oz Almond Milk Mocha: $4.70
(.40 cent charge for almond milk)

I noticed that they had a housemade chocolate syrup for lattes.  I asked.  IT IS VEGAN.  Plus, housemade syrup is super cool.

I LOVE MOCHAS!  I was so excited!

Maybe I could get them more often, but I've mostly stopped asking.  Sometimes syrup has milk in it, or places don't think their syrups are vegan offhand.  Or they are just flavored, weird, not-food syrups.  This was a cool housemade, vegan chocolate syrup.  I GOT A MOCHA.

MOCHA

I loved it because I was watching the barista craft my amazing mocha, mixing the gorgeous espresso and glorious chocolate syrup and almond milk...and then she finished and I noticed the latte art was not entirely beautiful to go along with this amazing drink experience...and she was like, "Sorry...my flower is a little off."  I said I was judging, but it was okay.  I love that she apologized for the subpar latte art.  So...my mocha was not as picturesque as it was delicious, but it was delicious!

I think that when I asked about what size small and medium were and ordered there was a mild miscommunication that I didn't really pay attention to.  Both small and medium have two shots of espresso.  Since I am all about the strong espresso/milk ratio these days I would have ordered the small, but I guess I ordered the medium.  In this case I was also okay with there being more chocolatey mocha goodness, so this was cool too.

It was really tasty.  I liked the chocolate syrup taste quite a bit.  The espresso was a but more hidden as I mentioned so I didn't form a strong opinion, but it was a good backdrop.

Another note - my receipt said soy/rice/almond for the alternative milk charge - their menu didn't say they had rice milk, but I would have gotten it.

Crema at Crema!

 

Beautiful, amazing cappuccino with crema at Crema. :)

This is definitely one of my favorite places.  They were SO friendly again and my drink and food were delicious.  And I don't know that there is anything particularly amazing about the shop, but it's a very enjoyable place to hang out.

Coffee Shop:
Crema
http://cremacoffeehouse.net
2862 Larimer St
Denver, CO 80205

Date Visited:
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
About 12:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.

Purchased:
Almond Milk Cappuccino: $3.75
PB&J: $8.00
Tip: $1.00
*I even tipped them because they rock my socks.

I had heard conflicting things on what a cappuccino is, which is possibly why I hadn't ordered it.  But I needed to get an espresso drink at Crema and I had faith their espresso would be really good so I wanted to use the opportunity to go heavier on the espresso.  Remember, according to Crema's web site, crema is "the lovely layer of thickly effervescent foam that defines well-crafted espresso..."  So I needed try Crema's crema!

I asked about the cappuccino and macchiato when I arrived.  I have heard that the drinks include specific amounts of foam as well as liquid milk, but the barista said for them it is really just more or less milk.  Their cappuccino was 2 oz espresso and 3 oz milk.  This sounded good and I ordered an almond milk cappuccino.

The barista was super awesome and friendly while talking to me about the macchiato vs cappuccino.

Mmmmmmmmmm I may have found my drink.

It was ridiculously delicious.  And the espresso taste was really, really good.  It lived up to the crema hype I created.  And I really liked the ratio of espresso to almond milk.

Also - they did not charge extra for almond milk!

"Espresso is all in the nose,"  their web site continues.  "The aroma of espresso lives in the crema so swirl it around. Get your nose right down in there. Inhale deeply."

I sipped my drink and held it up in front of my nose and inhaled deeply.  It smelled delicious.

This place rocks.

And there was a little star when I finished!  Awwww.

AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH.

Last time I was at Crema I noticed that they had a PB&J on their menu for $8.  I wanted to ask if it was the best peanut butter and jelly ever.  This time I did.  I was also hungry and pretty sold on trying it because I was intrigued.  This is a very reasonable coffee shop, so if they are charging $8 that must be a reasonable representation of how amazing the PB&J.

The answer is basically yes, it's the best PB&J ever.  But it's not really a PB&J.  It actually has almond butter mixed with peanut butter.  And DATE jam!  (That's just fun.)  And goat cheese.  I just had them hold the goat cheese.

And it came with a side of quinoa or greens (or other things, but they weren't vegan).  I opted for the quinoa.  It had veggies mixed in and was delicious!  The plate came out very hot and the almond butter was drippy and gooey and delicious.  I gave it time to cool and started with the quinoa.  Both were really good.  The sandwich was legitimately one of the best toast-like-foods I have had.

Or maybe it was all just an amazing surprise after being listed on the menu as "PB&J". :)

21 - Stella's Gourmet Coffee and Such, Denver

Coffee Shop:
Stella's Coffee House
http://www.stellascoffee.com
1476 S Pearl St
Denver, CO 80210

Date Visited:
Saturday, May 21, 2016
About 7:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Purchased:
Iced Coffee: $3.25
Burrito: $4.45

Stella's has a LOT of seating options!  There is a nice outdoor patio area in front, and another on the side.  Inside there is a room with a couch and tables, more tables, and another room that doesn't have music playing and seemed like it stays quiet.  There were a lot of people working.  The couch is quite comfortable.  There are also bookshelves!  You can read books and also purchase if you would like.  There was a little corner with a tiny table for kids as well.  This place has pretty much any kind of atmosphere you would like.

I got a cold brew coffee - wanted a chunk of caffeine early in the morning.  They called their cold brew an iced toddy.  I thought an iced toddy involved other things, but perhaps it is iced coffee made with a Toddy coffee maker (I gathered this possibility after googling).  It was pretty good cold brew.  No strong opinions, but I liked it.  I drank a bit black, then added almond milk and sugar.

I was there a while so I also got a burrito for lunch.  They didn't have anything vegan out, but I went ahead and asked to check - and they produced a vegan burrito.  So that was cool.  It was from Trader Joe's and pretty good.  It had a number of ingredients (as in, not boring or just beans and rice), like quinoa.

Almost-empty cold brew and burrito

They have a small parking lot with about three slots for 30 minute parking, but there is free 2hr street parking outside and unlimited street parking on adjacent blocks (it varies a lot from street to street, but there was some behind the shop and one block south).

The wi-fi was decent, but it seemed like they have to frequently reset it.  They have three networks so sometimes you have to bounce around.  It was occasionally out and sometimes slow, but useable without a whole lot of annoyance.

My First Cortado! - Black Black Coffee

My cute little cortado!

Coffee Shop:
Black Black Coffee
http://www.blackblackcoffee.com
3459 Ringsby Ct
Denver, CO 80216

Date Visited:
Thursday, May 19, 2016
About 10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Purchased:
Almond Milk Cortado: $3.75
Beetwich Sandwich (avocado instead of cheese): $8.50

Black Black Coffee was the place that introduced me to the idea of enjoying a cortado.  I also LOVED the latte I had and loved the strong espresso taste, so I came back to try amping it up!  A cortado is half espresso (2 shots), half milk.

I was thinking that they had a housemade nut milk (they don't...but I've been to a lot of places), but when I asked they said they just had almond.  I had cashew milk last time with the latte and I wish I had specifically asked about it because I think it was the best, but I didn't.  Maybe they were out or something anyway, but I didn't make sure.

But oh, well.  Still mmmmmm.  The cortado had a really good flavor.  The espresso was pretty strong, but blunted enough to feel like an actual drink to me (as opposed to an espresso shot).  I think I would have been more in love with it with cashew milk, but the espresso was the standout anyway.  It had a very substantial taste.  Good stuff.

Even though it seemed like a drink, it was still a niche drink.  In general I still prefer more of a "drink" I can sit with for a while and that is not quite as strong.  I sat with this, but more "sipped occasionally" than "drank" it.  Of course there is a niche for this!  Just in general a latte still wins.  Although I now prefer strong lattes with really good espresso and cashew milk, like the good budding coffee snob that I am.  Still, I was pleased with the cortado experience!

I also tried their kitchen!  I got a Beetwich, which was a very cool sandwich with beets and stuff like golden raisins.  They let me sub avocado for the cheese with no charge (as is reasonable, good on them).  I think it would have been GREAT if it had had good bread.  And I was expecting it to be a classy sandwich with good bread.  Instead it had good stuff inside, but was on a pretty cheap bun.  With better bread it would have been worth $8.50.  As is...I don't regret trying it, but it wasn't amazing.

20 - Tattered Cover, Denver

Tattered Cover is not primarily a coffee shop.  It is a bookstore!  But you can get coffee there - at the Tattered Cover Coffee Bar, as I saw on my receipt, which made me happy.  And I did.  While I hung out for 6 hours.

"Coffee Shop":
Tattered Cover Book Store (Tattered Cover Coffee Bar)
http://www.tatteredcover.com
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO 80206

Date Visited:
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
About 1:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Purchased:
Small Almond Milk Latte: $3.35

This is not a place one would go specifically for coffee, so I am really not very picky.  Although, I think very good coffee in a bookstore is a strong asset and would add a lot because it's SO great to drink really good coffee in a cozy place like this.  I just also accept it as fine if it is not.

My almond milk latte was adequate.  It was very not-sweet, but in a way that worked, and it was pretty creamy.  Not the best, not the worst.

The coffee bar has a few literary themed drinks, which is a nice touch, but this was just a basic latte.

The store wasn't as cozy as I would have liked.  It was kind of cold, especially near the door, which is where the coffee bar is.  And seating isn't the greatest.  The location is also near a high school, so there were a lot of students coming in and out, especially around the time school ended (I assume).  I kind of love that it is such a hangout for students, but some of them were a bit disruptive, in multiple areas of the store.  From working really loudly to being loud on phones and stuff.  So mixed feelings about that (and of course there were students who were fine, and probably non-students who are disruptive sometimes, but this was just a large crowd because of the proximity, I believe).

Other than that...I mean, I hung out for 6 hours.  It clearly is a nice place to hang out.  It is quite a large store, with multiple levels and shelves set up to make different sections with different genres.  There are at least a couple seats arranged in each section and I had fun sitting all over the store reading.  And I made sure it was okay to take the coffee around the store everywhere, and it was fine. So that was what I did.  I sipped my latte sitting in different quaint chairs by quaint end tables reading stuff.

Since it wasn't as cozy and comfortable as I would have liked I wouldn't do it a lot, but it was very fun for a day.  I also don't think it would be the best place to get productive work done since the atmosphere was kind of hectic at times with the noise and stuff (which was the disappointing part because sitting around books can be so inspirational and settling).

Also the wi-fi wasn't very good.  Maybe it is if you're sitting right inside the coffee bar, but I don't know.  I wasn't connected most of the time.  When I was things had trouble loading.

They have a 30 minute parking lot in the back of the store.  There is also unlimited street parking on the side street and a free garage (just no overnight) next door.

Kombucha at Nixon's

Coffee Shop:

Nixon's Coffee House

http://www.nixonscoffeehouse.com

871 Englewood Pkwy

Englewood, CO 80110

Date Visited:
Thursday, May 12, 2016

About 1:30-4:30

Purchased:

Medium Kombucha: $4.95

It is gorgeous!  I think the kombucha reviews will be pretty much the same wherever I am, since most places I have seen it use Happy Leaf kombucha.  But Happy Leaf is good!  As is my impression anyway.  This was cranberry lavender kombucha, which was a really cool combination.  The lavender was very soft in the background and the cranberry wasn't too strong, so it was a really nice, unique blend.  If I hadn't known it was lavender I don't know if I would have been able to place it, I just would have known there was a really cool flavor in the background.

It was very nice and cold and refreshing on a nice day.

The wi-fi was annoyingly slow this visit.

EDIT: I thought that most places used Happy Leaf, but it turned out that some of the places I thought used Happy Leaf actually use Upstart (like City O' City - I had thought it was Happy Leaf because I'd had the same flavor in Happy Leaf, but then I found out it was Upstart).  I think Upstart might be more common.  And I really like Upstart.  I don't usually get kombucha when I'm doing these, so I had to come back here and mention.

19 - Hooked on Colfax, Denver

Coffee Shop:
Hooked on Colfax
http://hookedoncolfax.com
3213 E Colfax ave
Denver, CO 80206

Date Visited:
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
About 2:15 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Purchased:
12 oz Drip Coffee: $2.25

I ordered a drip coffee, which came with one free refill (all sizes do).  I never get more than one refill anyway, so it worked out swimmingly.  I drank the first cup black, then put almond milk and sugar in the second.  It was pretty good coffee.  I liked it.  I am not sure that I will ever be impressed by regular drip coffee.  I am going to keep tabs on the situation, but it doesn't seem to be the kind of thing I end up loving.  This seemed like good coffee, but I just didn't have strong feelings.  However, I did like it both black and with creamer and sugar.  And this place definitely had a standard for coffee (as opposed to just having coffee to serve so they can call themselves a coffee shop).

Even though I don't seem to have strong feelings on drip coffee, I REALLY liked drinking my coffee at Hooked on Colfax.  Because I REALLY liked the coffee shop.  It was so nice to sit and sip my good-tasting coffee.  The whole shop was really quiet and peaceful.  Significantly so - it struck me as I sat down and I still thought so as I left.  There were a decent number of people there.  Most were alone, but a few were talking.  So it wasn't because it was deserted.  I also don't think being deserted makes things peaceful...but I think this place would still be peaceful if it was deserted.  They have a very nice, relaxing atmosphere.  There was jazz music playing and I didn't think it could get much better unless there was actually a live musician playing softly in the corner while we were all chilling with our drinks.

There were a few rooms in the coffee shop.  What I would call the main area had some booths and counter space and there were a couple of small tables in the room where the barista was (there were sort of adjoined).  The booths were taken up by one person, which was kind of annoying because it was a lot of space for one person, but there was also plenty of other seating while I was there along the counter/bar.  I had the sense of it being an awesome, chill bar at the complete off-peak time, so it was super relaxing.  Later I saw they have alcohol as well, so maybe this was more true than I knew! There was also a downstairs basement that had ridiculously ornate couches and lighting and things.  I was almost overwhelmed by the amount of character.

I checked it out, but then went back to my seat upstairs.  Which I loved because the atmosphere of this place was so great and relaxing and nice and peaceful.

I only used almond milk as creamer, but I noticed that they have staggered charges for adding it to drinks: .30/.40/.50 cents for small/medium/large.  I have to shout-out because I appreciate the internal consistency.  It's not an arbitrary charge, it actually applies to the amount being used.  It is also a low surcharge, which makes me think it may possibly be reasonable, depending on the quantities they go through as a business, etc.

The wifi that I was on was slow enough to be annoying, but I also didn't check to make sure it was actually their wi-fi.  I think it was, but I didn't care enough to check.

They don't have parking, but I parked a few blocks south on the street, where parking was unlimited.  There was 2hr parking in the vicinity.