Caffeine Crawl Fort Collins & Boulder 2015

~ Weekend #1 in Colorado was a sunshine filled, caffeinated success! ~ 

We kicked off Caffeine Crawl Colorado with a Thursday Night Throwdown for the books at Barista Pro Shop in Loveland, complete with a keg from Loveland Aleworks, shots via a Stella di Caffé espresso machine, milk for pours from Pacific, and prizes from Barista Pro Shop, Dragonfly Coffee Roasters, Sweet Bloom Coffee, Barista Magazine and The LAB. Good people and good times - a great way to start the weekend! 

Fort Collins routes started at Harbinger Coffee, with Andy Sprenger of Sweet Bloom Coffee joining Jonathan with roasting and sourcing knowledge. Jonathan discussed brewing and served up delicious Ethiopian Reko hot and iced. 

Crawlers stepped behind the bar at Bindle Coffee for a lesson on espresso extraction and soaked up the charming new (now open!) space. A bike ride to Eastside Park was rewarded with kegged cold brew from The Coffee Registry’s pedal-powered coffee bar, and John kept the coffee flowing while David talked about the part it plays in the journey of everyday life. 

Bean Cycle kicked the cold brew game into high gear with a refreshing Kyoto based “coffee arnold palmer” and invited Crawlers to help brew an iced Chemex and V60. Matcha tea was a great change of pace at Happy Lucky’s Teahouse, and Starry Night Espresso Cafe passed out frappes and fresh baked biscotti.

We were thrilled to add Everyday Joe’s to the lineup this year, and we sipped root beer milk lattes as Chris shared their mission for community connection through quality coffee and dedicated volunteer baristas. Toby told the story of how he and his wife came to be chocolate makers, and we sniffed our way through each part of the bean to bar process at Nuance Chocolate. 

Caffeine Crawl Boulder began bright and early Saturday morning, and Crawlers grabbed Yelp swag bags filled with samples of Prana chai to brew at home, a coffee flavor wheel magnet from Midwest Coffee Trading, swag from OZO and Boulder Channel 1, Earnest Eats bars for between-coffee snacking and more. Dragonfly Coffee Roasters served a Clover-brewed geisha alongside an ‘espresso mint julep" - a creative twist on traditional iced espresso drinks. 

OZO brewed two coffees (a natural and a washed Ethiopian) three ways - french press, chemex and v60 - to highlight flavor differences between processing and brew methods. We sipped ice cold glasses of nitro tapped coffee at The Cup and learned a little more about their focus on sustainability and investing in farmer relationships from Chris. 

Gerry shared his journey learning to roast coffee while blind, and we sipped his coffee, inspired at The Unseen Bean. Sarah pours her passion for chocolate into every piece she makes, and Piece, Love and Chocolate delighted in every way.

Espresso and poetry were the perfect pair at Innisfree Poetry Bookstore and Cafe, and brew method comparisons of an Ethiopian coffee from Conscious Coffees enlightened our taste buds at Buchanan’s Coffee Pub. Trident Booksellers and Cafe served tea two ways on their back patio - different processing of teas from the same estates, including Oolong, Darjeeling and Pu-erh. 

Pekoe Sip House served an icy blended matcha drink titled “The Green Buddha,” and the team happily answered all our questions about different types of tea.  Josh of The Coffee Ride set up shop at The Pro’s Closet (fittingly, a bike shop) to serve cold brew topped with San Pellegrino and tell us about his bike-delivery service of fresh roasted coffee to the residents of Boulder. 

We ended the weekend on the patio at Upslope Brewing, hosted by Dragonfly Coffee, with cold beers and great people - Boulder and Fort Collins know how to Caffeine Crawl in style! 

Check out the Caffeine Crawl Colorado Springs recap & stay tuned for Denver, coming soon!

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