A few years ago, when I was still living in Colombia, I took a week long training with the Colombian Coffee National Federation where we learned the difference between Arabica and Robusta coffee varietals. During that week we also experienced the different grades of beans and the styles of roast. Arabica coffee is consider the best bean, it is delicate, highly aromatic and it is the bean grown in my beautiful Colombia. I like to compare the production of coffee with the production of wine, or chocolate for that matter. The best beans, or grapes, produce the more distinctive coffee to land product or "terroir" as the french will say, and the roast is the "wine makers touch" the end result is a premium product, be it coffee or wine.
I was quite glad to find a coffee shop here in Denver where the coffee, and its true flavor and nuances, is the main objective, no frills sugary syrups of flavored coffee, which I still can't understand.
The coffee is well balanced, nicely roasted, not too light and definitely not too strong, or almost burnt as many places I had visited.



Talking to Hani Yaafouri, co-owner and creator of Steam Espresso Bar on 1801 S. Pearl St, Denver, I could see his passion for a truly well made cup of coffee. Hani has an extensive experience in the coffee shop business, after successfully running many Starbucks shops in the Middle East. He had a vision of a coffee shop with a light and welcoming atmosphere where the focus was the coffee. He traveled the country looking for the right coffee to be served at his new shop and found it here in Boulder, Colorado, Boxcar Coffee Roasters. They serve only Arabica coffee, which is the more rounded and delicate of the two varietals. Another amazing ingredient used in their signature Mocha is the TCHO ground chocolate, it is pure delicious pure chocolate, perfect for either a hot or iced mocha drink.


My absolute favorite has to be the single brew cup of coffee, you can't get any fresher than that. Perfectly understandable if you don't have the time to wait, but if you are planning on spending a little time in the shop reading or working on a project you must give it a try. Let me put it this way  it's like going to a breakfast place and getting your over-medium eggs cooked right before you eat them instead of having them under a heating lamp all day. The flavors are sharp and just developed and the aromas are haunting, I think I might have to go back tomorrow for another one!
My advise: Go, order a cup of your favorite coffee drink, then sit and enjoy. Life is too short to be drinking bad coffee.
The coffee is so good I almost forgot, yes they offer pastries such as croissants, some gluten free items and of course our French macarons. Be sure to stop by!




By Paula Thomas