Photo courtesy of the LAB
Can’t start a morning without a fresh Cup of Joe? With 18 local coffee shops, artisan chocolatiers, and bakeries participating, along with six routes throughout the Twin Cities, the Caffeine Crawl is your perfect excuse to finally visit all the local spots you’ve wanted to try. But don’t worry if you can’t tell a French roast from a breakfast blend—samples will also include tea, juice, soda, and chocolate.
At each stop, the coffee shop will give a short presentation—from tutorials on how to make the sample beverage, to stories about a recent visit to a coffee farm, to a break-down on the types of bean roasts. Stick around for the after party at the end of each route—UP Coffee Roasters will be serving coffee mocktails such as the Nitro Virgin Chocolate Milk Stout, a cold press coffee brewed with chocolate, malts, barley, and oats.
Created by The LAB, a specialty beverage marketing company based in Kansas City, the Caffeine Crawl started as a way to bring customers closer to local coffee shops. As pub crawls gained success around the country, The LAB founder Jason Burton realized locally-owned cafes could benefit from a similar outlet. Caffeine Crawls takes place all over the country. Since the Twin Cities’ last crawl in 2014, the event has doubled in size. “We think this speaks to the exciting growth in the Twin Cities specialty beverage scene as a whole,” says LAB team member Sadie Renee. “Local businesses are providing awesome products and service to a growing audience of specialty beverage enthusiasts.”
Side effects may include jittery laughter, tapping fingers, and the urge to run from café to café. But at least you won’t have the hangover of a pub crawl!
Some tickets for Saturday, June 25th’s event are still available at caffeinecrawl.com.
