A great experience in denver, people I met, and a jam I enjoyed

Thursday was a blast, if you’ve never been to a ‘Third Thursday’ in Denver before, you are missing out. I meet some great people, had some amazing drinks, played with a ton of coffee, and actually felt a sense of community for the first time since moving to Denver. We actually had some honest-to-goodness fun playing with coffee, albeit with a theme in mind. This month was ‘signature drinks,’ a little bit of practice for the rusty (me mostly), and a great experience for the uninitiated.

For those of you not in the know, ‘Third Thursday’ is a gathering, event, and unofficial barista jam, for like-minded individuals interested in the pursuit of unadulterated coffee bliss. All you will find here is a sincere appreciation for coffee, in its most artful forms. This event is open to anyone with high expectations in their coffee, and it’s highly encouraged that coffee professionals attend, as these events will help with your skills and knowledgebase.

This is also a chance for getting to know each company and what role each plays in the community, a time to shake off the ’but their our competition’ complaints and just get down to what really matters, what’s in the cup. But enough about that stuff, and more about the people, like these people who I would like to point out and thank personally.

Herb Brodsky, the people relations person at Novo Coffee, an upstanding, passionate, caring gentleman, who’s company exemplifies the qualities of a excellent roaster, in both the human element, and the careful selection and roasting of coffee.

Stephen Carey, from Calder’s Coffee, who I went out and visited early the next morning, is a driving force behind getting better and better coffee’s in Colorado. He is a kind hearted fellow who would give you the shirt of his back to help you out.

Mike Strumpf, with Allegro Coffee, an extremely knowledgeable and honest gentleman, who helped with organizing the event, and judging the quality of the signature drinks. He helped educate many, many people that night.

Shawna and Jennifer, at Heirloom Café, for hosting the event and letting everyone beat up on your machines, use your milk, and messing up your counters.

Everyone at Novo for the coffee, ideas, and inviting me to come along and experience this wonderful event. (p.s. the adado espresso was wonderful, thanks!)

While I still haven’t found the café to call home yet, I have definitely found some great people, some great companies, and some amazing coffee. I really didn’t expect this level of commitment in a community not known for its coffee, but you know, they could be well on their way. So, to some up my little wandering blurb here, the Denver coffee scene has come around, even though it’s a little green (pun intended), its has excellent potential with its current crop (pun #2) of purveyors, and that you should come by, on the third Thursday of the month and experience your coffee for once.

The website for ‘Third Thursday’ is: www.thirdthursdaybaristajams.blogspot.com