Coffee love
Coffee love
Mobile caffeine, taco burgers, ALL the local beer events + more food & drink news
Two downtown area baristas have launched their own coffee cart, named Cinchona Coffee. Their plan is to pop-up at both public and private events, and they’re now taking bookings for winter coffee-catering gigs.
Shihong Zu and Andrew Shepherd Combs remain in a pre-official-launch, R&D phase with their rotating menus and cart service. I caught them at a recent practice hosted by Chiba Bar one morning. Combs will be a familiar face to anyone who’s frequented Frankly Coffee and Zu should be recognizable from his work at The Well’s Gift Horse Bar & Cafe. They’re both keeping those jobs as they launch Cinchona.
From the test menu I order The Akira and an iced blueberry matcha latte. The latter is made with the powdered green tea, a milk of choice and blueberry cheong. It drinks typically tannic, rich and fruity/sweet — I taste the blueberry skin in particular. The Akira is essentially a clarified, homemade soy milk punch made with pandan, longan, anise, ginger, pineapple, five-spice, green tea and lemon. Combs says it took a month to prep everything for it: “so much work.” That includes capping sodium bicarbonate and citric acid pills that are meant to be dropped in to tingle the tongue (a clever reference to the cult anime cyberpunk movie and capsules a character takes). The Akira sips light, floral and nuanced given all the complexity of ingredients.
I initially shot this video as a way to capture all the drink descriptions, not intending to publish it. But on a rewatch, I appreciated how thoroughly Combs articulates the making of these drinks. It’s indicative of the type service you can expect at Cinchona from the seasoned and passionate baristas. Give it a watch. (Check their instagram for future pop-up dates.)
Get Tossed (salad, that is)
Speaking of The Well, above, the philanthropic food hall has launched a series of dinners to spotlight its current batch of vendors. Sept. 28 will feature Sivar; Oct. 19 will be Formosa Bites’ turn; and November 16 closes out with Shovel Ready. (Click each date to get tickets, and each business name to read my recent-past coverage.)
Notice who's missing from the lineup? Yep, Tossed.
That’s because Chef/Owner Morgan Bryson and her team already hosted their four-course menu on Aug. 24. I attended, and appreciated the wide use of local ingredients, including a lamb dish that utilized products from Frost Livestock. Down to an amuse bouche course (a blue corn chip with goat cheese, honey, smoked trout, peach and tomato-jalapeño salsa, all from Colorado sources) Bryson’s mindful meal was farm-fresh and colorful. (What you’d expect from a biz specializing in salads and wraps and generally healthier fare.) And the Gift Horse Bar & Cafe pairings I tried (I went à la carte on drinks vs. the full pairing) were spot-on. Here’s a snapshot of the evening:
Creekwalk chai
A locally owned Just Love Coffee Cafe franchise location opened up at the beginning of this year at Creekwalk. I hadn’t yet made it by until this past weekend — needing coffee while running errands nearby.
Owner Michele Draper has appointed Maria Menendez manager; Maria’s son Victor also works some shifts alongside the other baristas and cooks (the place has a fairly wide food menu, made to-order). I recommended dropping by to speak to them about the coffee, as they’re fourth- and fifth-generation in the coffee industry, respectively. Maria’s father operates 10 farms around El Salvador and the family sells green beans to notable people internationally — as well as to spots like Switchback Coffee Roasters locally. She’s fascinating to talk shop with.
We enjoy a drip coffee and oat milk latte, but are also talked into trying the house chai, something Draper recommends (we happen to meet her as she stops in). Both in hot and cold form, it’s excellent, big with the traditional spice aromas but well balanced with clove essence in particular popping. We get one dirty for some java influence. And we also get hungry and nab a waffle stuffed with sausage and egg with a side of gravy and a breakfast taco, also panini-pressed with full breakfast fillings and a side of salsa. Both are serviceable, but the standout bite for us is a Cuban sandwich (on panini-pressed sourdough which gives it a waffle appearance) with house-marinated/cooked mojo pork and a side of the zesty sauce for dipping.
Double patty
Another spot I finally made it to off my long list of newer places to dine: El Chapin Handmade Burgers & Shakes. Set up just outside Side Dish sponsor Ranch Foods Direct’s Fillmore location, El Chapin’s four-month-old burger truck parks directly beside its longstanding (locally loved) taco truck. (I first reported on it in this post.)
I run into owner Luis Guerra while shopping at the market, and he talks me into his pineapple double cheeseburger (huge for $13.99, which includes tallow fries) as part of my to-go order. I also nab a burger ($8.99 with fries) which comes with standard fixings plus the signature Chapin sauce (chipotle mayo). I don’t notice until Guerra directs my attention to it, but he builds his burgers with the fixings on the bottom and the meat patties (with cheese slices) on the top, to spotlight his use of RFD’s Callicrate beef.
I’ve long been a fan of El Chapin’s taco truck, and know several friends who’re regulars as well. I can now say I’m going to have a hard time choosing between it and the burgers, as Guerra’s team presents them beautifully (cooked to requested temp). It’s everything I want in a burger, especially one with a double patty of locally sourced, sustainably raised beef, for under $15. The pineapple adds predictable sweetness that delights, offset by the mildly spicy, tangy Chapin sauce. (Side note if you can’t decide: Try El Chapin’s taco burgers, which are patties broken into taco shells with toppings.)
Beer briefs
• From Focus on the Beer: Raices Brewing’s Suave Fest is happening Sept. 30 at Steam on the Platte in Denver. “Suave Fest is a bi-annual event that celebrates Latino culture through music, dance, food, and art. The festival brings together people from all over the country to celebrate and appreciate the diverse contributions of the Latino community to the craft beer industry and society as a whole.”
Focus stopped by Red Swing Brewhouse last week to document brewer Peter Hall and owner Claude Burns brewing a collaboration beer with José Ortíz from Dragon Stone Abbey/Brew Taller Experimental (two sister breweries from Río Grande, Puerto Rico). You can try that beer at Suave Fest, and read descriptions of it at Focus’ Substack, Focal Pint. While there, catch a list of other beer events throughout September, including ALL the Octoberfests coming up at Springs breweries and nearby.
• Bristol Brewing Co. and Metric Brewing have collaborated on two brews due out Friday, Sept. 8: the “Five Below Cold IPA created in honor of Metric’s fifth anniversary, and the fan-favorite Fresh Hop Pale Ale.” During September and October Bristol will also screen movies in their schoolyard on Saturday nights: “Bring a chair, bring your dog, munch on popcorn+beer+scandalously inexpensive retro movie theater candy and just relax under the stars with us.” Visit their website for a list of upcoming movies and dates.
• A reminder about The Fountain Creek Brewshed Alliance’s Impactful IPA that releases at participating breweries across town on Tuesday, Sept. 12. $1 from every pint sold will go to the Fountain Creek Watershed Flood Control & Greenway District. Click the above link for more.
Upcoming events:
• Saturday, Sept. 16: the 2nd annual Best of the West Wing Fest and/or Bines & Brews Beer Fest.
• [SCHNIP EVENT] Monday, Sept. 18: Bar Battle Round 3 at Tipperary Cocktail Parlor. Free samples.
• [SCHNIP EVENT] Thursday, Sept. 21: Sip with Schnip at The Carter Payne with Distillery 291 — whiskey tastings, limited-release anniversary bottles from both Local Relic and 291, special cocktail and food menus to include a 291 whiskey stave-smoked brisket. Free entry.
• Sunday, Sept. 24: Taste of OCC. **Side Dish is giving away a pair of tickets, and I’m curious what your favorite Old Colorado City restaurant is? Come take a silly selfie with me at the next Bar Battle or Sip with Schnip to get entered.**
• Thursday, Sept. 28 to Oct. 1: Buffalo Lodge Bicycle Resort hosts the Folk’n’Flannel Festival & Fundraiser for UpaDowna. Craft beers and spirits plus food trucks.
• Sept. 29: Dead Man’s Brewfest includes beers, wines and liquors at Weidner Field.
Parting shot(s)
I greatly enjoyed attending Tails, Tunes & Tastes at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Aug. 31. Dates are already live online for July and August, 2024. The food samples were overall delightful and drinks were plentiful (a Bristol beer for me please and thank you) — but once again my highlight was (mouth) feeding the giraffes. Always.
Love all the new things happening!
Also El chapin burgers uses our brioche Kaiser for all the burgers.