Coffee tour for Christmas

I was out with my wife today and she mentioned going to a coffee shop of my choice since we were in downtown Columbus. I found Cafe Brioso was close to us and it had been on my list of places to go. When we got there she handed me one of the Columbus coffee tour cards on the counter and told me Merry Christmas. I have been wanting to do this for a while now and since we don't live in Columbus we've only been able to visit 2 of the places so far. We usually get something to drink and I like picking up a bag of whatever fresh roasted coffee they are selling. She further explained we would be visiting the 8 different coffee shops at some point over the next year to get one of the shirts that come with completing the tour.

I started this off with a cappuccino while my wife had a hot chocolate. Both were excellently prepared and did not taste like I expected but were very good. I will update this as we get to the other coffee shops.

When you go to a shop on the list, do you get a discount?

-jim

What a thoughtful gift! Of course we'll be looking forward to regular updates!

gearchow said:

When you go to a shop on the list, do you get a discount?

-jim

Click to expand...

No discounts but the prices are very reasonable at the ones I've been to...especially considering the quality. I did get a complimentary espresso when I bought a pound of coffee at one of the shops though.

A thoughtful gift, sounds like a nice tour

Since we have welcomed our second child into the world we haven't had a chance to go anywhere else but I thought I'd update this since my father in-law went to Stauf's on my recommendation of a local roaster. He ended up with 12 pounds of coffee! Some for me but mostly for them since they go through about 2 pounds a week in their Jura. They use a half caff blend and went with the Baba Budan and Brazil decaf beans. I tried the Baba Budan on its own before mixing the rest they gave me. It was delicious both ways and I'm excited to check out Stauf's on my own now.

This is so awesome! I look forward to more updates!

Congrats on the second!

2nd stop of the coffee tour today at Stauf's in Grandview. I got a double cappuccino and the Mrs got a decaf buckeye latte. Also picked up an airscape canister with the Stauf's logo.

Made the third stop of the tour yesterday at Cup O' Joe in Clintonville. It was nice to get out of the house with the Mrs. since this is my on-call week and I'm up all hours of the night checking on server alerts.

I had a medium cappuccino and she got a decaf buckeye latte. They serve Stauf's coffee since they were bought out a few years ago and the quality was the same as I remembered from there.

The décor and clientele of this location was much more eclectic than we are accustomed to. It is on High Street and only a few blocks from the Ohio State University which makes sense. It was comfortable though and the newspaper wallpapering from around the world provided some entertainment.

My wife mentioned she will need to start enjoying decaf coffee more since we are visiting all these coffee shops. She normally drinks tea or milk streamers (since I got my espresso machine last year) which i reminded her all of the coffee shops can do as well. I have to say I am very happy to have a great wife that tries to enjoy my passions with me though! I am really enjoying this coffee tour and looking forward to the next visit.

This next shop wasn't part of the coffee tour but has become my favorite coffee shop due to location. About 5 mins from my house on the Mount Vernon Nazarene University downtown campus, there is a new coffee shop called Happy Bean. When they first remodeled Hunter Hall last year, it included a cafe which served Starbucks. The hours were limited due to being run by campus staff and it was never very busy. After the school year it was announced they were closing the shop. Just a few months ago they found a couple, who are alumni, that were interested in expanding their coffee shop.

It is very convenient and quite delicious. We have been there many times in the few weeks they've been open and it is always busy. They also have extended hours and better coffee. Stauf's is the roster of choice with the cerrado espresso blend for espresso and a few others used for pour overs/drip. From what i can tell they have a Rancilio classe 9 2 group machine and a Mazzer mini.

I tend to get cappuccino's most of the time but also had a latte. My wife thoroughly enjoys their hot chocolate. I will continue going back in hopes they stay in business but so far they seem to be doing very well.

I am enjoying the commentary and pictures of your Columbus coffee tour. Thanks.

Went to one line coffee in the short north today with the whole family. Got an espresso and tonic which is supposed to be one of the trends this summer. I was a bit skeptical but thought it was worth try considering I like gin and tonics in the summer. It was actually really good and the flavors mixed really well. Like an iced americano with tonic water

Live crazy- visit all 8 in the same day. That will keep you up for a while I love your area of Ohio, BTW

After stopping at one line we realized the cards only required 4 stops for a shirt. So we stopped and picked them up! Hopefully we will get a chance to stop at the other locations we haven't been to yet. I also found out they expanded the tour to include crimson cup which is another shop I have been visiting over my work lunch break. They have a few locations around Columbus and also roast they own beans. I picked up a bag of wayfarer's espresso blend a few weeks ago after having an espresso in the shop. It had hints of citrus and a nice strawberry finishing note.