For this year’s National Coffee Day, Redfin, a national real estate brokerage, collaborated with Foursquare to track down the top 10 cities in the United States with the most coffee shops. Boulder ranked number three, surpassing Denver, San Francisco and San Diego.
Whether the city ranked so well because it’s populated with caffeine-dependent college students, or if it’s simply Boulder’s reputation for being the motherland of creative types, is to be determined. Regardless, Boulder is filled with coffee drinkers.
This year, the number of coffee shops and cafes in the downtown area and University Hill alone has jumped to more than 20. Boulder has everything from Italian espresso cafes to Latin American coffee shops to a poetry-only bookstore that doubles as a coffee shop.
With such a wide selection to choose from, the majority of visiting students, as well as Colorado natives, already have one or two shops to grab a pick-me-up. Here is a list of some of the best coffee shops Boulder has to offer.
Buchanan’s Coffee Pub and Innisfree Poetry Bookstore and Cafe
Both located on University Hill and owned by Brian Buckley, these two coffee shops serve almost all of the same brews. Buckley is involved with volunteer work overseas and his shops’ roasts are fair trade.
Uganda Peaberry, Sumatra and Mantecca are a few of the most popular, and can also be bought in bulk. Both cafes sell all of your typical espresso beverages, such as vanilla lattes and straight espresso shots. They have nine different types of syrup, including irish crème and pumpkin spice.
On weeknights and weekends, both Innisfree and Buchanan’s hold a variety of different events such as writing workshops, poetry readings and live music. You can check out their monthly calendar on Innisfree’s website.
The Laughing Goat
Because of its location in Norlin Library, The Laughing Goat is likely the best-known coffee shop within the CU community. But many students and faculty don’t know about the business’ second location, which is much larger and located in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street. Like Buchanan’s and Innisfree, The Laughing Goat also hosts a variety of events at their location on Pearl, including live music.
All of their coffee is brewed by the Kaladi Brothers in Denver. Their hot and iced coffee is a darker roast, and is perfect for early morning study sessions. If you’re a fan of lighter blends, the Venetian Cream is strongly recommended. It’s a highly caffeinated, sweeter iced drink. You won’t be able to taste the coffee in it, but you will definitely feel it.
Boxcar Coffee Roasters
Boxcar Coffee Roasters is a shop located in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street near Snooze. The business opened in 2010. All of their coffee is roasted in-house in small batches using an altitude brewing method called the “Boilermaker”, a term coined by Boxcar.
They sell eight signature blends; #7 House Blend (a chocolaty, citrus-y blend), Costa Rica Los Lobos #1 (a nutty blend) and Sumatra Lington Nihota Peaberry (a decaf, sweet Brazilian blend) are a few customer favorites.
The business has been honored several times, including making New York Magazine’s Grub Street list, “Caffeine Fix: 58 Extraordinary Coffee Shops Around America.”
Brewing Market Coffee
Brewing Market Coffee first opened their doors in 1977, making them the oldest and one of the most successful coffee houses in the downtown Boulder area. Today they have six locations (three in Boulder) and still manage to maintain an intimate environment in each. If you’re looking for a particularly Boulder-ish coffee experience, this should be the first stop you make.
They brew seven dark roasts, twelve flavored coffees and eleven blends. Their Red Sea Blend, Indonesian Dark and Viennese Cinnamon are must-haves.
Portland and Seattle still have us beat, but Boulder’s best coffee shops have collectively transformed the town into a national hotspot for caffeine connoisseurs. The next time you need a fix, try one of these local spots.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Katie Garry at katie.garry@colorado.edu.
