BeverageLife ~ Houston Highlight Reel

~ Highlights from a rainy, caffeinated weekend in H-Town ~

Caffeine Crawl Houston kicked off at The Honeymoon Cafe and Bar, home to Boomtown Coffee & finger-licking beignets. Joining us for the high-energy and humid buzz before the Crawl was Mill King Creamery & Tejas Chocolate, kindly providing samples to kick-start the caffeine highs.  Crawlers checked in and collected their swag bags from Yelp Houston, complete with LOCAL Houston Magazine's latest issue, customized coffee Sleeves from Sleeve a Message, coupons from Boomtown and a sneak peek at Retrospect Coffee Bar (more on that in a minute.) Jason welcomed everyone to Houston's second Caffeine Crawl, and Matt dived into insights on Boomtown's roasting & vision. 

When in Houston - and when it's National Margarita Day weekend - you do as the locals do and indulge in Tex-Mex and a round of Margaritas. El Tiempo Cantina did not disappoint  - vivacious birthday accolades from the fluently bilingual servers for celebrating guests created a spirited atmosphere, and we celebrated a weekend well done with plenty of queso. Read more about what we drank (plus some Q+A) in our tribute to National Margarita Day (which was yesterday, by the way, and if you celebrated by watching the Oscars with a margarita in hand, here's to you.) 

Retrospect Coffee Bar blew us away with an other-worldly experience on the Crawl. Blending Ethiopian traditions with modern coffee culture in a magical old gas station from the 1940's, we were whisked out of the rain into the 250 square foot building that will soon be Houston's newest coffee spot. Three fantastic ladies from Blue Nile Restaurant prepared a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony, complete with coffee freshly roasted in a pan in front of us, incense to "drive away bad spirits and draw good karma," greenery to represent growth, and popcorn to eat together as part of the community. Learning Stephen and Caleb's plans for the cafe's future was exhilarating, and we can't wait to return to H-town to see the finished product! 

Stay tuned for more highlights in Top Ten Tuesday tomorrow & Houston Caffeine Crawl recaps! 

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