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.
Downtown shop poll results
We forgot to post this when it appeared in April. Downtown Boulder Magazine posted the results of a poll (page 37 of the pdf) about the best downtown coffee shop (presumably from this list of 18 shops). (We posted during the poll’s run).
Here are the results (actual screenshot from the magazine pdf is below the fold, but we had the full results emailed to us), and I have to say I’m scratching my head on a couple of these:
1. The Cup (18%)
2. The Unseen Bean (15%)
3. Laughing Goat (10%)
4. Great Awakening (8%)
5. Tee and Cakes (7.5%)
6. Amante (7%)
7. Trident (6%)
I’m good with the top-3, but Great Awakening? Are you kidding? And Saxy’s or Sidney’s didn’t make the list? And while I like Tee and Cakes, Spruce Confections is roughly 346 times better. One of three explanations are possible: 1) all of 14 people responded; 2) Readers of Downtown Boulder mag are not representative of actual coffee shop denizens; 3) ballot-box stuffing. Either way, more grist for the mill that public polls like this are next to useless, which is exactly what one of our commenters noted on the post announcing the poll.
COFFEE and Cakes
It’s kinda a no-brainer combination. Add a little sugar to that food and a bunch of great flavors and you’ve hit the jackpot. It’s the recipe Tee and Cakes has keyed in on and by all accounts, they’ve got it dialed. Tee and Cakes custom and gourmet cupcakes have already made a big splash in Boulder. I see their cupcakes all over the place and routinely hear folks talking about a “great new cupcake shop just off of Pearl and 14th.” And as a bonus for you Boulder vegans, they’ve got vegan cupcakes. One of the very few locations in Boulder to offer that, and they’re incredible. The coffee is coming along and I’ve noticed that over the last few weeks it’s become way more consistent and balanced. Hoping this trend will continue.
Food: 9
Coffee: 6
Tee & Cakes
Basically Cafe M without the shakes and with better pastries. The place has a good work area, solid internet, a respectable coffee and tea selection, and a fantastic assortment of pastries. As one poster to this blog will tell you – the chocolate croissant is delish. But overall, it’s really no change from Cafe M. Not that that’s a bad thing. Cafe M was great and we were bummed to see it go.
Cafe M is now Tee & Cakes
We would have written about this long ago if we had realized that when Cafe M closed and reopened as a new shop, it retained its tables and wireless. We were under the assumption that the idea behind Tea & Cakes didn’t include a work environment. We were wrong. Oh well.
So, where Cafe M left off, Tee & Cakes took over. T&C’s deal is being run by the locally semi-famous Kim Boos, master pastry chef. Co-located in the shop is Side B Apparel, Kim’s boyfriend’s clothing line. T&C is continuing Cafe M’s service of Boulder Organic for its coffee line. We don’t strongly disapprove, but we don’t really approve, either. Ok let’s be frank, the coffee is sub-par.
14th between Pearl and Walnut.
