You’re en route to a meeting in Carbondale with just enough time to grab a hot beverage to go. Since you could have had drip coffee at home, you decide on a simple latte. Where should you go? According to The Sopris Sun’s latest blind taste test, you might want to consider Pollinator Chocolate’s Cocoa Club.
That’s out of a total of eight possibilities we could find at 9am on a Thursday. Rounding out the competition were Bonfire Coffee, Dos Gringos’ Café Olé, Granetta Panini, Plosky’s Deli, Starbucks, True Nature Café and The Village Smithy. Tiny Pine Bistro’s announcement of Tuesday and Wednesday morning hours came after we’d already set our date.
As in past taste tests, the “contestants” were not notified, though they may be getting wise to the author placing a slew of uncharacteristic takeout orders. And yes, this whole analysis was conducted by a tea drinker who typically consumes a single cup of coffee per year (out of the cauldron at Potato Day), but that’s why the actual judging was left to a panel consisting of Sopris Sun Editor Raleigh Burleigh, contributors Ken Pletcher and Luke Wander and community members Camille Backman and Kirstie Smith.
They were asked to rank each latte (whole milk, 12oz with two shots if the option was offered) and guess where it was from. Despite a sense that they should be able to taste the coffee’s proximity to chocolate, burritos or healing crystals, only two members were able to identify even a single cup: Wander, who took meticulous notes, and Pletcher, who mostly took shots in the dark. That suggests we successfully mitigated personal bias — which brings us to the mermaid in the room. “My mission was to not choose Starbucks as the winner,” Burleigh admitted.
He needn’t have worried. The corporate contender received middling marks and few adjectives, as you might expect from an outlet designed for mass appeal. Otherwise, the panel found something distinguishing about each latte.
Dos was fairly sharp with a strong punch of caffeine, True Nature was mellow and Granetta struck a robust balance. The Village Smithy had the least coffee flavor, suggesting their default is a single rather than a double shot of espresso.
Bonfire earned its place on the podium with a freshly-roasted cup that the panel speculated might be single-origin. “It doesn’t taste like the other coffees at all,” Pletcher noted.
Plosky’s, meanwhile, took runner up with a singularly smooth experience.
“This feels like one I could drink the whole thing and not be pushing through it,” Smith said. “I don’t want to keep thinking about it for several minutes after I had a drink.”
But something about Pollinator’s coffee charmed the panel most of all, with descriptions of “interesting,” “complex” and “special.”
“Theirs was distinguished, which I think helped them win this contest,” Burleigh mused. “But I imagine latte drinkers want to know what to expect, so it seems sensible that many of these tasted fairly similar.”
Agreed Backman, “I thought it would be really clear and stand out, but it seemed like a lot of them were really close.”
Indeed, while several members of the panel expressed interest in delving deeper into Pollinator’s offerings, none would suggest you skip the other offerings.
Your takeout choice might be more a matter of convenience. They all ranged from $4 to $6 before tax and tip. Most offered online ordering through third-party systems like Square or Toast, while Starbucks’ app took the most setup but would likely be the easiest to use repeatedly. You’ll have to call or drop in to Pollinator and True Nature, which also open a little later (at 8 and 9am, respectively).
And while a latte seemed like a good stand-in for whatever blended drink you might grab on the go, it’s probably not terribly illustrative of an outlet’s drip coffee — much less the full experience of dining in.
“I probably get coffee out once a month, and if it’s not a place I enjoy sitting down, I probably won’t go back,” Wander observed.
In the end, there’s plenty of opportunity to find the right fit for you.
“Considering you had eight pretty-decent sources in our little town, I think that’s pretty good!” Pletcher said.