The Shocking Disappointment that is the Village Roaster

I had heard tell of the Village Roaster.

  Located a hop, skip, and a jump away from my university in Lakewood, and the only non-corporate cafe for miles,  I was anxious to try the place. How had it stood the test of time since 1979? I have no idea.

  Full of high hopes and expectations I waltzed into the joint, I fell in love with the set up. It was all eye candy, picture the Central Perk from Friends ran into Luke's from Gilmore Girls. I spent a good ten minutes just looking at the funny mugs and the high tech coffee-ware they were selling. I then ordered my go-to, a vanilla latte, and proceeded to chat with the barista. He had all the right qualities: tattooed, kinda flirty, and steady on the drink-making front. I thanked him for my latte, sat down, and set up shop to work on some projects I had going on. After waiting a Lana Del Rey song later, I took a sip.

   Milk. Foamy vanilla milk. You couldn't taste the espresso and there was an aftertaste that reminded you of the discomfort you feel when your grandma has had too many eggnogs and starts talking about sex and vodka at Christmastime. Not good.

   Maybe I just needed to take another sip? And another? And another? No improvement. Maybe I should ask him to remake it? It's a latte, how do you mess up a latte? And then I had a horrible realization, this is the Village Roaster product. Take it or leave it.

I threw it away. 

   Will I come back? No. Am I sad that it was not on par? Yes. I feel my best comment on this establishment was on snapchat. 

I'm sorry cute barista. 

-CR

The Fluid Coffee Bar

       My roommate and I celebrated my birthday this Saturday (yes, I'm a Valentine's baby) at 16th Street mall in Denver. And what would a day in Denver be without a trip to a cool coffee joint? I went to Yelp for inspiration and picked the closest spot next to us, the Fluid Coffee Bar. We walked about 3 or 4 blocks and found this little niche spot with a neon coffee sign. 

I want a neon coffee sign. 

       We walked inside and were immediately greeted, our questions were answered and our drinks were made for us. I got my usual, a vanilla latte, and my roommate ordered a strawberry smoothie. Looking around, the place was a study haven. Outlets galore, office chairs and couches strategically placed everywhere, and the whole bar had this quiet vibe, talking almost felt wrong. Which is great when you're studying, not when you wanna chat. It was also really hot inside the shop, which was weird because it was nice outside.

       My latte was divine. It had a smooth taste and finish, I was very pleased. My roommate's smoothie was also surprisingly very good, and I'm not a big smoothie person. We wanted to stay, but the sun was going down on our adventure. We will definitely be returning for our midterms studying. 

My latte  

Fluid Coffee Bar=Solid coffee study joint.