Coffee Shop Connection
Jan 17th, 2008 by Lawrence J. King
Each Boulder Coffee shop and teahouse offers a different sense of flavor, flare, and environment pending on where you visit. With over 35 shops in Boulder to choose from, one can find a specialty cup, a good book, poetry, music, culture and more. The coffee shop scene varies from place to place here in Boulder.
I have visited our shops around town, and this is what I’ve found:
Spruce Confections
Baking one cookie at a time, Spruce Confections opened the 767 Pearl Street location in ’95. Known for their freshly baked goods (banana spice bread, streusel, and espresso sour cream brownies), this shop maintains a French European feel throughout their décor and style. Simple red and white tables and chairs offer a place to sit and enjoy Spruce’s treats. Operating off of 100% wind power and through recycling and composting up to 80% of waste, Spruce adds a unique green element to the West End coffee shops.
Trident Booksellers Café
Established in 1982, Trident Booksellers Café (940 Pearl Street) is known for their coffee, extensive tea program, books and community environment. The interior design of this quaint little café encompasses wooden booths, tables, and chairs, local art (changed every three weeks), and a phase III wood burning stove. Offering a variety of books (from history and romance to religion and fiction); you can browse and buy while enjoying your favorite cup of tea in the bookstore - making Trident a unique café here in Boulder.
Saxy’s,
Saxy’s, also located on the west side of town (2018 10th Street) offers elegance and style. The atmosphere & décor at Saxy’s Café presents an Italian theme with vintage crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, marble top tables, and pictures as well as paintings created by local artists displayed on the walls. A bookrack filled with magazines and newspapers, wireless internet outlets, and comfortable couches set the stage for an enjoyable and relaxing experience.
I like that Boulder has a variety of shops that offer a number of different environments, specialty drinks, treats, and culture. I will continue to explore the Coffee Shop Connection here in town, and I’d be interested to hear from other’s their recommendations on where to visit, and why? What makes each Boulder coffee shop or tea house worth visiting?
I am interested in the other 32 coffee shops in town.
I have visited a couple of others Amante,Laughing goat,ozzo,folsom street, illy at moto, vic’s,starbucks,bookends, brewing market, espressoria.
I like to sit and drink my coffee in the ‘outdoor seating’ alleyway at Spruce Confections during the warmer months. It is great that this outdoor extension exists, and that wasn’t developed into an indoor expansion… a good place to sit and sip is an important coffee shop component.
I personally enjoy the cup once or twice a week. I would really enjoy it if these coffee shops had waiters and good food. Something resembling a cafe in Paris…
It’s often overlooked because it’s one of the newer shops in town, and off the beaten path (i.e. not within a two-mile radius of Pearl Street), but Ozo Coffee Company at 53rd and Arapahoe is serving up some of the best stuff in town. The owner has been involved in the coffee shop scene in Boulder for over a decade and has recruited some of the best baristas from around town. One of the few places around with fully-manual espresso machines, too…no button-pushing in sight.