All along 14th St
It’s kind of a long street, but along its entire stretch there are only two coffee shops, and they’re next door to each other in the block between Pearl and Walnut: Belvedere Belgian Chocolate Shop (website) and Tee & Cakes. We’ve written about Tee & Cakes a few times, but have missed Belvedere, both in its new location here and its previous location at the same latitude but on 15th. Belvedere we’ve probably ignored because it sells itself primarily as a chocolate shop that also sells espresso. In a city saturated with good coffee, that doesn’t work well. People are spoiled and know that a shop doing espresso as an add-on is very rarely worth the trouble.
I decided to confirm or refute directly. I mean, they’re right next door to each other, how hard can the comparison be? So I finally visited Belvedere for the first time and T&C for the 20th. Results? It’s like the over-run clip of Dennis Green flipping out about losing to da Bears.
Yep, Belvedere is what I thought they were. They serve Novo Coffee (out of Denver), but not well. Wasn’t the worst coffee I’ve ever had, certainly wasn’t the best, somewhere just about slightly below average. They shop isn’t something you want to work from frequently. You can do it in a pinch, but it just doesn’t feel right as a work space. And you’re going to be relying on Pearl St. Mall wireless because they don’t have their own.
Tee & Cakes is also who I thought they were, mostly because I’ve been there a bunch. I don’t like their choice of roasters (Boulder Organic, just a half step above Allegro), but they make it well enough (read: better than Espressoria pulls it off). My bone to pick today is how they confuse — like many — latte with cappuccino. Here’s my rule of thumb: a cappuccino is espresso with a bit of milk flavoring. A latte is hot milk with some coffee flavor. You should NEVER be searching for the coffee in the cappuccino because the coffee should be by far the dominant component. For most coffee shops, even most in Boulder, when you order a cap you’re still getting a latte, and there is very, very little difference between how a shop makes the two. There should be a huge difference, but for most there is not.
Rant aside, we still love T&C’s cupcake line up and the place is worth visiting for that alone. Belvedere? Go there if you need chocolate.
