Year four in the Gateway to the West lived up to its predecessors with fizzy coffee concoctions, roasting lessons, and a brave bike route crew.
Drizzly weather set a cozy vibe for kickoffs around the city, and Crawlers arrived and chattered excitedly as their first cups of coffee took effect. The bike route gathered at Kaldi's Coffee for a tour of their new roasting facility - 3 times the size of the old one! Following their fearless leader Michael into the rain would later be rewarded by affogatos at Comet Coffee, among other things.
Chauvin Coffee welcomed us with Costa Rica La Minita, donuts and an open coffee bar at their roasting space cafe. Verner and his team split us into two groups, and showed us through the warehouse while explaining the sourcing and roasting practices they've been using since 1930. Crawlers "oohed" and "ahhed" over the goodies in their Yelp tote bags, including Earnest Eats bars for between-stop munching and tea samples from S P I R I T tea.
Park Avenue Coffee welcomed Crawlers with their newly renovated location on The Hill, and ushered us into their roasting space. Dale poured everyone side by side pairings of their regular and nitro cold brew on tap, and we savored the smooth flavor alongside fresh baked pastries. Crawlers watched wide-eyed as roasted coffee came to life in front of us - a live roasting demo played the backdrop to Dale's narration of their roasting practices as the most eco-friendly roasting facility in the Midwest. Chocolatey goodness awaited us at Bissingers - we sipped hot chocolate and savored vanilla caramels and sea salt dark chocolate pieces. Kakao served up coffee-meets-chocolate deliciousness, with coffee studded chocolate bark and bourbon barrel aged Brazil cold brew from Stringbean Coffee Co.
At Kaldi’s on Demun, we sipped shaken Honey Almond Toddies and learned the origin of their “700 espresso blend” - the street number of the Demun shop, which housed their original roaster in the cozy back room. Northwest Coffee Roasters welcomed us with Guatemalan and Indian Monsoon Malabar pourovers, and took us "behind the scenes" with a start-to-finish roasting demo with bean samples pulled at various times to demonstrate color change. Kayak's brought the coffee bar to us with hands-on brewing demos and lots of samples - we made and tasted Chemex, French Press, cut and uncut toddy and left a little wiser in the ways of coffee brewing.
As we sipped a fizzy kyoto & tonic complete with orange garnish at The Mud House, the possibility of cold brew diversified deliciously. Blueprint pulled all the stops with a flavorful tasting presentation on terms like "astringent," "bitter" and "sweet, and used pineapple, chocolate, tea and under extracted coffee to help us associate them with taste. With a brunch line out the door, Benton Park Cafe accommodated Crawlers on the patio and offered orange confit cinnamon rolls, scones and Chauvin coffee cold brew with a house made espresso caramel sauce. Scott at Sump presented a slideshow of his trips to origin and explored the journey of coffee, emphasizing the beauty in each part of the process.
On Saturday night, Blueprint opened the doors after hours for an after party complete with a tasting competition, great prizes, snacks from Mission Taco Joint and brews from Boulevard. A fantastic wind down in between days of caffeination, and a great way to catch up over more great drinks. Passionate roasters, enthusiastic Crawlers and a myriad of tasty beverages made St. Louis awesome, and we’ll be back for more next year!
Drizzly weather set a cozy vibe for kickoffs around the city, and Crawlers arrived and chattered excitedly as their first cups of coffee took effect. The bike route gathered at Kaldi's Coffee for a tour of their new roasting facility - 3 times the size of the old one! Following their fearless leader Michael into the rain would later be rewarded by affogatos at Comet Coffee, among other things.
Chauvin Coffee welcomed us with Costa Rica La Minita, donuts and an open coffee bar at their roasting space cafe. Verner and his team split us into two groups, and showed us through the warehouse while explaining the sourcing and roasting practices they've been using since 1930. Crawlers "oohed" and "ahhed" over the goodies in their Yelp tote bags, including Earnest Eats bars for between-stop munching and tea samples from S P I R I T tea.
Park Avenue Coffee welcomed Crawlers with their newly renovated location on The Hill, and ushered us into their roasting space. Dale poured everyone side by side pairings of their regular and nitro cold brew on tap, and we savored the smooth flavor alongside fresh baked pastries. Crawlers watched wide-eyed as roasted coffee came to life in front of us - a live roasting demo played the backdrop to Dale's narration of their roasting practices as the most eco-friendly roasting facility in the Midwest. Chocolatey goodness awaited us at Bissingers - we sipped hot chocolate and savored vanilla caramels and sea salt dark chocolate pieces. Kakao served up coffee-meets-chocolate deliciousness, with coffee studded chocolate bark and bourbon barrel aged Brazil cold brew from Stringbean Coffee Co.
At Kaldi’s on Demun, we sipped shaken Honey Almond Toddies and learned the origin of their “700 espresso blend” - the street number of the Demun shop, which housed their original roaster in the cozy back room. Northwest Coffee Roasters welcomed us with Guatemalan and Indian Monsoon Malabar pourovers, and took us "behind the scenes" with a start-to-finish roasting demo with bean samples pulled at various times to demonstrate color change. Kayak's brought the coffee bar to us with hands-on brewing demos and lots of samples - we made and tasted Chemex, French Press, cut and uncut toddy and left a little wiser in the ways of coffee brewing.
As we sipped a fizzy kyoto & tonic complete with orange garnish at The Mud House, the possibility of cold brew diversified deliciously. Blueprint pulled all the stops with a flavorful tasting presentation on terms like "astringent," "bitter" and "sweet, and used pineapple, chocolate, tea and under extracted coffee to help us associate them with taste. With a brunch line out the door, Benton Park Cafe accommodated Crawlers on the patio and offered orange confit cinnamon rolls, scones and Chauvin coffee cold brew with a house made espresso caramel sauce. Scott at Sump presented a slideshow of his trips to origin and explored the journey of coffee, emphasizing the beauty in each part of the process.
On Saturday night, Blueprint opened the doors after hours for an after party complete with a tasting competition, great prizes, snacks from Mission Taco Joint and brews from Boulevard. A fantastic wind down in between days of caffeination, and a great way to catch up over more great drinks. Passionate roasters, enthusiastic Crawlers and a myriad of tasty beverages made St. Louis awesome, and we’ll be back for more next year!