take a triangle, elongate it to one corner….
and you’d have the ridiculously cramped back area of Pekoe. Only my left arm is crushed up against the wall but I feel like both arms are being squeezed by one of those crushing moving walls on batman or something. You know, the caped crusader gets dropped into some room with no door (how’d that happen?) and the walls have big spikes on it like Kerry King’s armband 
and the walls start moving together. How’s our hero gonna get himself out of this jam?
I’m back here because working in the front (the big side of the triangle) looked totally unappealing as a work space. The chai was good (I think homemade) and the tea selection is wide, but I just can’t recommend this place as a work stop. Come here for a tea to go.
Location: Ideal Market on Broadway just north of Alpine.
our new cards
One of us (me) made some cards (standard 2×3.5 bidness card size) to get the word out about this blogshiz. Click here and you get a two page pdf of front and back cards so you can print them out yo’own’self and do some distro.
Here’s the front: 
And here’s the back:
Welcome
You know who you are. Even if your company possesses an ultra-hip office space you loath to inhabit it. After fifteen continuous minutes bathed in that unbearable office quiet you start to long for the aroma of coffee, the casual din of lightly employed patrons, some sublime musical ambiance…the clock slows and your mind tunnels into your next excuse to escape to… ahh, the perfect environment for creative productivity…
Some of us have cast off the chains of pretense and no longer suffer the expense, guilt and banality of offices, we have gone completely nomadic.
the tourney is on at Saxy’s
enough said. if you haven’t been here, Saxy’s has a huge plasma TV on one wall.
Has it lost its appeal?
The newness is gone. The hipsters are noticeably vacant, the outlets are abundant and there’s plenty of room for both of the “briefcases” that are my life and work. It’s 3pm on a beautiful Boulder Thursday and Saxy’s is not the hot spot. Is it that other posters have deterred patrons with comments like, “…I refuse to go again, as it’s on Trident’s turf” and “Eight dollar sandwiches? What do you think this is, Manhattan?” I think not.
The novelty of the newest fix in town is no longer there and the nomads have landed back in the welcoming confines of Amante, Sidney’s and of course, Trident. But don’t shy away from Saxy’s, the flowers are in bloom and alive (at least today), bandwidth is abundant and the scenery is still pretty good. No to mention the seating variety is enough to make even the staunchest Trident die-hard smile, enjoying the flexibility of standing up to type.
But for me, when it comes to truly getting some work done, this new shoe fits as good, if not better, than those old soles.
clueless. totally clueless.
If you can get by the moneywall, there’s a little gem of an article in the March 1st Economist. Somebody else in these fine spaces (yes, there are multiple ppl with logins to post to this blog) wrote a couple days ago about Starbucks, musing about their internal wifi conversations. The Economist article backs it up.
The Economist’s point is that Pepsi and Starbucks are both worried about their branding — Pepsi because they realize that dark sugar water is just a commodity and there’s no logical reason people drink their fizzy bullshit. Starbucks because they finally realize that their maniacal push to hyperexpand (1000 stores to 13,000 stores in ten years) has made them a sterilized coffee factory, not unlike McDonalds for red meat. As the article points out:
But during its expansion Starbucks installed automatic espresso machines, rather than hand-pulled ones, added drive-through windows for motorists and started to sell hot food, mugs and even CDs. As McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts and other fast-food chains moved upmarket, Starbucks looked less distinctive. Consumer Reports, an American magazine that publishes reviews of consumer products, recently rated McDonald’s coffee more highly than that sold at Starbucks.
So what is Starbuck’s doing about it? Sounds like their CEO is hitting the panic button, and hard:
Thoughts on A Patron’s Bill of Rights, Article A (Free Wi-Fi)
The no-longer-Gray Lady and undisputed matriarch of journalism and c-shop staple, The New York Times this Sunday morning dared to broach the subject of free wi-fi and it’s notable absence from every Starbuck’s on the face of the Earth.
The article (see it here) draws a parallel to movie theaters of the 1920s boosting summertime attendance by installing costly and (for the time) high-tech air conditioning systems. The brim-full theater attendence created by rare oases of air conditioned space open to the public created such a boon to business that owners scrambled to upgrade and earn a quick payback. In the process they created one of the first and finest examples of technology transfer to the massess, not unlike the internet cafe’s springing up througout the developing world.
The writer (Randall Stross) argues that free wi-fi is the spiritual successor to an old-time theater’s air conditioning and lavish lobbies. In my opinion, Starbucks’ embracing of this spirit is unlikely and unwelcome.
guys, I miss Allison
And I’m not even sure why. It was filled with flies, the tables sucked (they were tiny, had uneven legs, and some of them were recycled sewing machine tables with a bunch of iron hardware where you wanted to put your knees), and the music usually sucked. But I loved it anyway. I was loyal to it like some people are loyal to Trident. The coffee was good, the prices were high but maybe low considering that everything was OG, I liked the baristas, and Allison was behind the counter regularly. I guess the biggest thing, though, was the people-watching possibilities: that garage door front meant that you could watch the Pearl traffic all day while procrastinating from your real work.
Alas, Allison decided to get out of the coffee shop bidness. She papered the place up and word on the street was that she sold to two friends who had plans to remodel and reopen. But that was months ago and the place is still papered. Allison, I hate giving your business to Laughing Goat. Please come back.
in the hinterlands, there’s this place….
I don’t get Espressoria. One day you’ll get there at 9 or 10 and the place will be fire-marshal-concern-worthy packed. By 1p the same day the place will be like Death Valley Junction in July. The next day will be reversed: two patrons and a barista looking lonely at 9am, then a line out of the door by 2pm. What gives? They don’t even know.
The tagline for Espressoria is ragtag. Maybe not in a bad way, depending on your preferences. Most of the chairs are plastic or vinyl and come straight from the SPCA thrift store. Tables a random assortment of big and small, round and square, packed in tight. Big windows on the north wall let a lot of light in and the outdoor area in the back is awesome in the warm weather, provided some fucktärd isn’t smoking next to you. (Who the hell smokes anymore?) Coffee is decent but the tea selection is wide and great (this author likes Rishi teas a lot). Best part, though, are the pastries, which are damn good and come out fresh all day.
How far out are the hinterlands? Only 22nd and Pearl. Folsom St. is further, but this place just feels like the hinterlands because it’s set back from Pearl and there’s just a big brick wall across the street.
I ♥ Sidney’s but not huckabees
Newly discovered. Been working from every damn Boulder coffeehaus for the past year and a half, but surprises still creep up. Sidney’s is downtown, hidden along the north side of Walnut between 13th and 14th, next to Wachovia. It is somehow lego’d in amongst some other oddly shaped law offices, making appearances deceiving: the place seems tiny at the bar but if you can find the hidden spiral staircase to the upstairs you get the treat of a totally unknown and empty (read: quiet) but bright, comfortable workspace.
As long as the rest of you don’t start camping out up here, this is going to become my new fave. Bonus is that they serve Conscious Coffees, currently of Breck but soon moving down to Boulder, according to my chance meeting with CC’s roaster this morning. Somebody elsewhere in this space bagged on Allegro (served at Vics). No such complaints about CC — it’s good stuff.
Walnut between 13th and 14th
