Lately Denver has blossomed with unique coffee shops, offering not just a good caffeine fix, but flavors personal to the owners’ heritages. We’re talking salted caramel foam, bright purple ube, and emerald green pandan, a Southeast Asian plant that’s the area’s answer to vanilla. From lattes to iced tea to fruity cold drinks, now is the time to explore the world through drinks.
Carbon Coffee
Benny Panklang opened his Aurora coffee shop in September, 2024, and it’s been a hot spot for coconut pandan matcha and ube lattes ever since. Located right across from Anschutz Hospital, the clientele ranges from doctors and nurses to people waiting for loved ones to locals looking for a caffeine fix. It’s a small, clean-lined space with an open, airy feeling.
Hospitality, food, and community has always been part of Panklang’s life. He grew up in Aurora, and his parents operated Lotus Asian Market for decades. Later they ran a Filipino restaurant, and then another restaurant after that. Now, with his own coffee shop he can showcase some of his family’s favorite flavors. At Carbon Coffee you’ll find a whole list of macha drinks with nuances of ube, strawberry, and hojicha. Panklang also makes his own syrups, often with pandan and ube. 12230 E. Colfax Ave. Unit 120, Aurora, carboncoffeebar.com
Migas Coffee
You’ll find Migas Coffee located inside Green Spaces, a multi-use venue in RiNo. It’s a quaint shop run by Marisol Jurado and Alex Merriex, and the name is a shortened version of the Spanish word for “friends.” One of the reasons Jurado opened the spot was to create a safe and fun space in the sober realm, something she needed when she stopped drinking alcohol six years ago.
“My friends still wanted to hang out with me and they would reach out and I’m like, Can we get coffee?” said Jurado, who launched Migas in April, 2024. “Everybody was very receptive to it, so very quickly, getting a cup of coffee was my new way to socialize with people.”
The coffee at Migas is good too. On the menu you’ll find the usual list of espresso and lattes, tea and matcha, and multi milks options. Aside from a solid cup, what stands out about Migas is the community Jurado built around the concepts. They host parties with live DJs, specialty events, and other things to help bring people together and offer a safe space for everyone. 2590 Walnut St., Denver, migascoffee.com
Coffeegraph
Located in West Highland, Coffeegraph is a family-run love letter to Indonesia, owned by Brenda and Troy Carlson. The tie to Southeast Asia comes from Brenda, who was born and raised on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. She moved to Denver in 1996 to attend college, and met Troy through the hospitality industry. Coffee wasn’t in the cards then, and Brenda became an accountant and Troy a butcher. Lucky for us, last year the Carlsons and their son launched their dream shop on the corner of 38th and Julian Streets.
On the menu you’ll find pastries from Banh & Butter Bakery Cafe in Aurora, and an intricate line up of coffee and tea. The menu changes often, but on it you’ll usually find ceremonial grade macha, the Noir Bliss Latte with black sesame and black cocoa, the Hojicha Latte, made with Japanese roasted green tea that’s stoneground and served hot or iced. All the coffee beans come from small producers, with specials such as the Tubruk, or Mud Coffee, featuring Indonesia West Java Sadayana. Add on a housemade specialty syrup such as smoked vanilla, pandan, or gula aren ( coconut palm sugar) to any drink. 3800 Julian St., Denver, no website
Whittier Cafe
The place to dive into African coffee culture is in East Denver at Millete Birhanemaskel’a Whittier Cafe. Birhanemaskel herself is Ethiopian, so the beverage program focuses on beans from the country and traditional coffee ceremonies. Guests can order coffee in a sini, a small, handless cup, or try other drinks such as the Golden Milk Latte, which is laced with turmeric. There’s a large outdoor patio to enjoy, and the team hosts a lot of community events. 1710 E. 25th Ave., Denver, whittiercafe.com
Tí Cafe
The cutest coffee drink in town comes thanks to sisters Sashaline, Shominic, and Shasitie Nguyen, and their Vietnamese shop Tí Cafe in the Baker neighborhood. The menu showcases Asian flavors in classic coffee beverages, for example traditional milk tea, Vietnamese egg coffee, cherry rose milk tea, flan topped ice coffee, and more.
One of the most exciting things on the menu, and the cute part, is when the sisters run one of their themed beverage weeks and highlight whimsical creations based on a movie, icon, or show. We’ve tried intricate green drinks centered around the Grinch, bright pink and purple Sailor Moon lattes, and drinks topped with adorable Calcifer sweets from Howl’s Moving Castle. There’s truly nothing like it on the Front Range, and bonus, everything tastes so good. 30 N. Broadway, Denver, ti.cafe
VIVA! mexi-coffee-shop
We love the vibe at this East Colfax cafe, it’s bright, friendly, and the Mexican hot chocolate really hits the spot. Run by wife and husband team Elisa Garcia and Leonardo Munoz-Corona, the quaint Mexican coffee shop has been going strong since August, 2024. On the menu you’ll find café lechero and café de olla, which features a housemade syrup made with Mexican rock sugar and cinnamon. Add the sweet stuff to any of the drinks for a layer of pleasing sweetness.
The food program compliments the coffee menu too. Viva makes its own pastries, and if the guava one is available don’t miss it. You’ll also find tortas, burritos, and brunch specials. 4900 E. Colfax Ave., Denver, no website
Coffee Sarap
Owners Chelsey Solemsaas and Hannah Cambronero bonded over kids, play dates, their Filipino-American heritage, and cooking Filipino food for each other. Now, they have Coffee Sarap in RiNo, a shop dedicated to Filipino culture through coffee. All coffee served is made with beans from the local Denver roaster, Kaladi.
Two of the signature lattes on the menu feature ube and pandan, a purple yam and green palm-like plant respectively. The line up also includes ube presko and pandan presko, a bright-hued foam made from either ingredient and topping housemade cold brew. You can also combine them for the ultimate pairing. Palawan Dreams is another popular drink, created by the owners using an ube latte topped with pandan foam to pay homage to the picturesque island of Palawan. 3460 Larimer St., Denver, coffeesarap.com
Convivo Café
The goal of this woman- and immigrant-owned bilingual café in Highland is to be a good neighbor and celebrate the idea of convivo, a Spanish word meaning to be together. The Guatemalan-inspired café goes beyond fair trade and serves farmer-roasted coffee and tea, as well as food with a nod to Central America.
Kristin Lacy and Vivi Lemus opened the charming venture in 2022. On the menu you’ll find classic coffee shop items, as well as stand outs including the Chocolatado, made with chocolate from local company Bibamba. Add a shot of housemade cinnamon syrup to give the drink another layer. There’s also the Picosita, a latte with chocolate and chile cobanero, a spice from Guatemala. Also don’t miss Té Calientes, a unique line of blends coming from the highlands of Totonicapán, Guatemala. It’s made by a cooperative of Mayan women who grow all the herbs and processed them. 4935 W. 38th Ave., Denver, conviviocafe.com
Istanbul Cafe and Bakery
Head to one of the three locations of Istanbul Cafe and Bakery to get real Turkish coffee. Also on the drink menu you’ll find Turkish tea, Gazoz (Turkey’s answer to Sprite), and Turkish sour cherry juice. To eat, fill up on spinach feta borek, simit (a Turkish bagel), Royal Burma Kadayif (a sweet featuring layers of dough and pistachios), vegan lahmacun, Döner Baguette Sandwich, and so much more. Multiple locations, istanbulcafebakery.com
