Caffeine Crawl – San Diego

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee!
And…tea.
And…chocolate.
And…brownies.
The song I sing…
Last weekend, my husband and I set out on the 2016 San Diego Caffeine Crawl. The offerings involved several routes to choose from and included options in San Diego and North County. There are approximately 10 crawls during one weekend to celebrate all things caffeinated!
Be sure to book in advance, as tickets do sell out for some of the routes (ours was one of them).
We originally considered Route 4 and ended up choosing Route 5, which were similar with a few variances in locations. The routes consist of walking, biking or driving options. Our itinerary took us to the coffee houses, cafes, roasters, and suppliers that are shaping the coffee scene in our city. We chose the itinerary of places we have never visited or places where we may have purchased the brand, but never viewed the facility. Each site offered a unique program and taste test for us to consider.
The only thing missing from this walking tour was a playlist between locations. Not long ago, Esquire Magazine put together a list of coffee tunes and I chose to download the songs that were available on iTunes! In the future, I would plan to bring this playlist… as it adds to the ambience.
Caffeinated places we toured with a song for spaces in-​between (and there is something for everyone, rock, country, jazz and reggae):
1. InterAmerican Coffee — A green coffee broker. Award winning coffee from Burundi was discussed and sampled in both, natural and washed forms. This was an educational learning experience!
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Black Coffee by Humble Pie
2. Café Virtuoso — The brand we drink daily. We enjoyed a «Cortado» sample and a chocolate tasting. We are enjoying a Virtuoso Cortado at home as I type this…
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Espresso by Todd Rundgren
3. Bean Bar — Offered an instagram contest involving their unique bicycle serving cart. We learned about and sampled a carbonated tea made of the cherry skins of coffee. A refreshing way to break up the day.
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Black Caffeine by Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell
4. Copa Vida — Focused on their business concept: Go, Enjoy and Experience! This is great way to break down coffee drinkers. An honor bar for those in a hurry, hot and cold beverages as expected at a coffee house to be sipped and savored and a learning experience like our own by visiting on a tour!
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The Coffee Song by Frank Sinatra
5. Coffee & Tea Collective — Provided a look into the roasting experience at different stages with tastings for light, medium and dark roasts. To me this has always been more about taste preference than caffeine levels. However, if you didn’t know… Light roast = Higher Caffeine, Dark roast = Lower Caffeine.
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One More Cup of Coffee by Bob Dylan
6. WestBean — An experience in cold brew extraction! Nitro fan here ! We enjoyed, coffee over ice cream with a mini brownie. A fabulous way to end the tour.
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One Cup of Coffee by Bob Marley
The best thing about the tour was the variety of experiences, meeting other coffee lovers in the community and spending time with some of our fellow Unilocalers from San Diego!
The worst thing about the day… was all the caffeine! You may not sleep on the day you visit!
The true crawl comes the next day… where myfavorite coffee tune comes alive…
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Black Coffee in Bed by Squeeze
As we re-​visit each of these neighborhoods, we will stop by the locations of the day to enjoy a favorite beverage at a leisurely pace!
#IHeartCortados
#SDCaffeineCrawl
#BlackCoffeeinBed

I got my kicks (caffeine kicks, that is) on Route 5 of the Caffeine Crawl — San Diego 2016! Warmest of thanks going out to Omar S. for the invite, prepaying for our group’s tickets at $ 33 each, for enlightening me on the fact that such an event was even in existence, and for agreeing to be the Leader of our Unilocal pack that day. Special thanks goes out to The LAB (whose goal is to meet the marketing needs of the craft beverage culture), the team that worked so diligently in bringing this fun and educational event to the public.
We were part of Saturday/​Route 5, a route consisting of the following sponsors, each having its own vibe and unique offerings:

— Stop #1 (InterAmerican Coffee): The Caffeine Crawl started off at this cool venue across from the San Diego Central Library, where Sadie (from The LAB), equipped us with our route itineraries and a San Diego Coffee Network tote filled with a chocolate square sample, Unilocal pins, mint tin, and lip balm, another burlap tote, a small burlap bag of natural coffee beans, a couple of healthy snacks, some stickers and coupons, an InterAmerican Coffee pencil and a mini clipboard on which to take notes during our tour.
InterAmerican Coffee is not a coffee store, rather a Coffee Importer of quality specialty green coffee, supplying our North American Roasters. Its Traders are very knowledgeable of the trade, able to answer all question posed from its captive audience, such as the purpose of a washing station and its importance in production process (the process in which defects most occur), the Burundi harvesting time (March-​June), how critical the drying rate is to the process (drying too slow can result in bacteria, while drying too fast can cause damage). On a table lay 3 piles of Mpanga Kibenga and Mpanga Natural beans — fully washed and natural. Sample cups were handed out to show the comparison in taste of each. The natural being the grittier, most acidic, and more cherry-​flavored.
Jeanine Nyonzima-​Aroian, Founder and Chair of Burundi Friends International, took over with a slide presentation and brief history of Burundi (an East African country, considered to be one of the hungriest in the world), the Burundi Mpanga Washing Station, managed by her cousin, Jean-​Clement, and the Washing Station’s contributions back to its community. Amongst 1,000+ entrants, this Washing Station earned the 2015 Cup of Excellence, the most prestigious competition and award for high quality coffees.
— Stop #2 (Café Virtuoso Coffee Roasters): As we waited in line for our coffee sampling, Valerie of Nibble Chocolates shared pieces of their organic dark chocolates originating from Madagascar, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and Peru. Valerie prefers those in its most purest cacao form of 85%, whereas I most enjoyed those at the mid-​grade 77% from Brazil and Peru. The Ethiopian-​Amaro Gayo espresso was served with milk and was my second favorite beverage of the tour. Balanced with a sweet finish. After finishing our sample cup, Nelson served the same espresso from beans straight from the roaster, as well as several hours after. My own taste buds could not readily distinguish the difference, but both were noteworthy by themselves, without the addition of sweeteners or creams.
— Stop #3 (Bean Bar): A nice change of pace on the tour, where Sarah offered refreshing cups of cold brewed Cascara Tea from her cart. Here, I had a photo opportunity with some Unilocal friends with whom I’d finally had the pleasure of meeting in person, Elle N., Vin T., and Isabella B. On the left wall read, ‘DRINK delicious COFFEE’. I am making a point to return here for their coffee, as Elle N. mentioned theirs to be one of her favorites.
— Stop #4 (Copa Vida): Ah, Copa Vida. Translated from Spanish to English means ‘Cup of Life’. Here, Joel shared a brief history of the company and its concepts, while pouring some of its offerings for us 1) Go. Cold Brew — their coffee blend that is truly brewed with chocolate and caramel flavor 2) Enjoy. The Freddo — a cold pressure espresso sweetened with brown sugar and chilled. MY ULTIMATE FAVORITE OF THE TOUR! I WILL BE BACK FOR THIS! 3) Experience — a coffee inspired by a friendship.
— Stop #5 (Coffee & Tea Collective): His passion for the craft was very evident, as Steven shared his knowledge of the roasting development of coffee. He explained the many cups containing beans on a long counter, lined up in time sequence in the development process. Following, we sampled brews at 5%, 10% and 18% of their development.
— Stop #6 (WestBean Coffee Roasters): We all won here at the finish line, where the WestBean Coffee Roasters treated us to a nice, nitro cold brew topped with gelato (I believe) and a Bake Sale Bakery brownie.
Such a great way to marry consumers and those so passionate about the craft. It opened my eyes, literally and figuratively, to the caffeinated world of San Diego and I look forward to the next crawl (peppy walk)!

Luckily I was invited to try out the annual San Diego Caffeine Crawl which is presented and hosted by The LAB. The LAB group’s goal with the crawl was to help inform more consumers about higher end coffee and local roasters in the area. With the support of awesome organizations like InterAmerican Coffee, Unilocal,and other local roasters, they were able to make this possible. Coffee plays a very big role in our current culture and is enjoyed by many. Coffee is important to me; I can never start a day without some to get me moving. Quite literally I drink the stuff all day long and all night long if I’m up working still. Whether it’s drinking a quality cup of coffee from a local third wave coffee roaster or simply grabbing some drip coffee out of the machine, I love the stuff. Thanks to my friend Omar for getting me and some other Unilocalers together to try the crawl out, it was an informative and great experience. The event took place on the course of a Saturday morning where we were taken on foot to several different coffee roasters in the local downtown area. There are quite a many different routes to choose from, and we had selected route #5.
To start off the tour we all met at InterAmerican coffee which is right off J street in downtown. Here we were given an awesome presentation by a family who runs a washing station in Burndi. Jean, the man who runs the station only selects the best coffee from all the farmers who harvest it. By using this process he is able to produce high quality product that places like InterAmerican can import into the country for our roasters. It was a very informative lecture and it was great to hear from the people who are actually making the coffee trade possible.
Following the presentation at InterAmerican, we walked down to the Barrio along National Ave. to stop at a favorite place of mine called Café Virutoso. This roaster has been in San Diego since about 2007 and only serves the finest organic fair trade coffee. Not only do they roast all their own beans on site but they also provide a café and sell brewing products for their customers. During this stop of the tour we were given a sample of freshly roasted coffee and some that has been done days prior. This was to dispel the myth that the fresher the roast, the better the coffee. The process is so complex and there are so many variables to consider that it’s hard to apply a blanket statement like that.
After walking up towards the Central Library, we were treated to some refreshing tea made from the coffee cherries. Bean Bar’s aim is to move this cart around town and let people try this sparkling tea for themselves. I quite enjoyed the stuff very much and hope they do well with the product. I’ve been to Bean Bar before as well and always enjoy my coffee when getting some there. After that we were off to Copa Vida.
It was my first time visiting Copa Vida even though I’ve passed it on many different occasions. At this café and eatery we were given the opportunity to try several different coffee drinks from this Pasadena roaster. They wanted to share their concept of «Go, Enjoy, and Experience» with us and how it serves to function as their business motto. Copa Vida is another quality café that serves not only great tasting coffee but their food menu looks good as well. They talked about an interesting experiment where they will provide coffee outside for people to take and give money on the honor system so they can quickly grab a cup and go. I’m wondering how successful it will be.
The second to last stop was done at the Coffee and Tea Collective off 9^th avenue right past Market Street. I actually never knew about this place before but was happy to try it out. Here they were able to explain the roasting process to the group and how the beans take different flavor according to how long they are roasted. We were able to sample three different ‘dimensions’ of their coffee.
Our final stop was one of my favorite downtown coffee places off Broadway called Westbean. I’ve visited this place many times during my morning work commute. When I was too lazy to brew some coffee at home or didn’t feel like any ordinary cup would do, I would visit this place. Westbean is another local San Diego roaster who believes in finer coffee. They also have a huge selection of different cold brew coffees which makes this place unique to me. I’ve tried their Kryptonite cold brew which is nitro with a hint of mint and its pretty damn good stuff. The group was treated to a brownie made by Bake Sale and a cup of cold brew coffee.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Caffeine Crawl by the LAB and glad I was able to learn that much more about the coffee business. For about $ 30, this was a quality tour which gave us lots and lots of options to try different stuff. Not only did I enjoy the walk and coffee but the company as well. The Unilocaler group I was able to go with made it that much better.

This is my third year going on the crawl. I discovered this event perusing Unilocal a couple of years ago and I’m glad I did because this is a great event for coffee lovers.
First I’ll discuss how this event is organized. When you go to their website, you’ll see that there are a variety of routes with 6 – 7 coffee shops/​roasters. You will be driving to each route, they also offer Zipcar or Car2Go deals if you choose not to drive your own car. When you choose your route, you are then given a follow-​up email verifying your chosen route and a reminder the time and location of where your route kicks off. Your ticket is physically mailed to you unless you order your ticket closer to the day of the event, which will then be in Will Call. Your ticket price also includes a swag bag with coffee samples, stamp cards, and miscellaneous items.
I went on Route 6 where we went to
1. Café Virtuoso
2. Dark Horse Coffee Roasters
3. Eclipse Chocolatier & Bistro
4. Dane Coffee at Subterranean
5. Café Callabria
6. Coffee & Tea Collective
Café Virtuoso was one of the more informative stops on the crawl because the guy was demonstrating the difference between coffee that was made after being freshly roasted and coffee that was made with roasted coffee that was allowed to settle. You definitely can taste the difference. Now I’m a huge coffee drinker and I’ll let you know there are people who will ask the most in-​depth questions ever, but hey, this event is for varying levels of coffee lovers. Aside from the coffee demonstration, Café Virtuoso also had samples of Cortados and caffeinated chocolate.
The next stop was Dark Horse in Golden Hill were they presented the game changing Cold Brew with their homemade Vanilla ice cream. It was interesting to learn their process in making a cold brew but it was completely overshadowed by how good the product tasted.
Next was Eclipse Chocolatier near Golden Hill where they presented chocolates and delicious hot chocolate. What I appreciated the most about this place was their carafes of cold water that was MUCH needed at this point of the crawl. I happily drank three full glasses of water. They also presented good information about the processes of using caffeine in chocolate to bring out the flavors.
Next up was Dane Coffee which was located in a tent outside Subterranean in North Park. They presented an AWESOME Guatamala and Peruvian blend with this ice cream I can’t remember the name of with brownie bits. Both were delicious and even more delicious mixed together. Since they were located outside, you really had to get in close to hear their presentation. But their sample was pretty awesome, I’m actually considering dropping by Dane’s to grab that Guatemala/​Peru roast for the future.
Since the last three stops were in complete walking distance from one another, I parked closer to Subterranean Café and walked the last three routes. After walking 4 minutes to Café Callabria, we were treated to the BEST presentation between the six locations we went to on the route. We were given a tour of the entire roastery and we got a chance to get a view of the suprise second story that was available to the private parties. We were also given the opportunity to taste their alcoholic drinks infused with coffee. I had the Hard Coffee (Coffee with Bourbon) which was really good with several flat bread pizzas. The people I went with really enjoyed this stop at Café Callabria as well.
The last stop was Coffee & Tea Collective where we had the most interactive presentation. Their presentation was the minute by minute process of how the coffee beans look when they are roasted. Their sample was okay but that presentation was really fascinating to see.
Overall, I had a great third time going to San Diego’s Caffeine Crawl. It has grown exponentially since my first visit. This is especially reflected with the ticket prices, it was $ 25 at first at this year I paid $ 33. I still think the coffee sample and the swag still exceed that ticket price. I mean flatbread at Café Callabria, a Cortado, and a Hard Coffee should be more than half that price. I did have some technical issues with my hard ticket not coming on time for the event and receiving the follow-​up e-​mail, but after I contacted the company I received an answer within the 24 hours of the event. They are really on top of their planning and really nice. There is always a Route Leader and every year I’ve gone they have been really receptive to critiques and genuinely interested in your experience. Each coffee shop brings some new information even if they’re all talking about how they roast their coffee. I highly recommend this event for all kinds of coffee lovers, there’s always something new to learn each year I go and I think you’ll find something new whether it’s a technique or a new study place, you will find something new to learn.

The Caffeine Crawl is the coffee version of a pub crawl or wine tour. Organized by the folks at The LAB, it presents itself as a platform to bring coffee enthusiasts and purveyors together via a common interest through educational and interactive activities hosted by participating businesses. The intended purpose of such a crawl is to be more knowledgable about coffee and/​or other caffeinated products and to hopefully check out a coffee-​related business that would interest you enough to visit on your own in the future.
Omar (a much-​bigger coffee enthusiast than me) got together a good-​sized group of people to do Route #5 of the 2016 Caffeine Crawl. Tickets were $ 33 and focused on the Gaslamp/​East Village. We visited six businesses within walking distance of one another and have different approaches to how they sell their coffee. Each stop had a story to tell and the samples revolved around their story.
1. InterAmerican Coffee
They are a coffee broker — they usually act as the intermediary between the growers and the vendor. They specialize in green coffee (needs to be roasted). They introduced us to one of their suppliers, Jeanine and Jean-​Clement representing the Mpanga Washing Station in Burundi. Because his incentives to farmers and pickers are higher than the government is able to provide, he can be more picky about the beans that are harvested. As a result his coffee has earned him awards in Burundi.
The samples provided are a comparison between natural (dry) and fully-​washed coffee, which is how African coffee is usually processed. Natural is more fruit-​forward and gritty while the fully-​washed coffee is more smooth and creamy.
2. Café Virtuoso Coffee Roasters
One of the roasters lectured on the misconceptions behind the desire of «freshly roasted coffee». The point is that once roasted the coffee beans are to sit for a little while for the flavors to develop and mature. Samples were given for a freshly roasted and brewed coffee and a roast that was roasted several days ago. The freshly roasted coffee was too watery and the one that was roasted several days ago had all the coffee taste.
Additionally they were giving out small cortados. It was my first time and is now my preferred espresso drink.
3. Bean Bar
Bean Bar introduced crawlers to cascara (a tea made from the skins of the coffee cherry), which is normally a byproduct of production as the seeds are extracted from the cherry. The result is a slightly fruity, slightly herbal-​y and slightly sweet «tea» made with carbonated water.
4. Copa Vida
Copa Vida’s presentation is about their business. Their business model is based on three tiers of the coffee drinking experience.
Go — honor bar for a hassle-​free way to get morning coffee. They served us one of their cold brews.
Enjoy — standard café hot + cold espresso drinks. We got to try their freddo (brown sugar + simple syrup, served chilled). It was the other best drink of the tour.
Experience — events where you get a more intimate experience with your drink.
5. Coffee & Tea Collective
The lesson was about the roasting process itself. The roasting process is integral to the final coffee taste. The lower a bean is roasted the more «native» flavors the bean retains. Three samples were evaluated — one at 5%, one at 10% and one at 18%, close to the final roast. 20% is the equivalent to a lightly roasted coffee.
6. WestBean Coffee Roasters
To conclude the tour WestBean introduced us to the concept of cold brew coffee — iced coffee that’s actually brewed at room temperature and uses time as opposed to heat to extract the flavor out of the bean. Their specialty is that the cold brew is served nitro (yes, like the beer!). They served us a nitro cold brew with ice cream to make a beer ice cream float. The cold brew was good on its own and the ice cream was decent but when mixed together it just tasted too watery — the ice cream did nothing when I stirred it into my beer.
As a casual coffee connoisseur, I came out of this crawl knowing a bit more about coffee than before. I was introduced to different espresso styles that I look forward to trying in the future (cortado, freddo and cold brew) and at least three of the businesses (Copa Vida, WestBean and Café Virtuoso) will be seeing at least another visit by me in the future. I would definitely recommend this to any coffee enthusiast or people that want to know more about what they’re consuming.

Just finished San Diego caffeine crawl 2016 route #8 and had a great time. Started at Bird rock coffee, next was James coffee, then west bean, dark horse coffee, dane’s coffee, and ended with caffe Calabria. Learned about where the coffee beans came from, how they are roasted, and about different types of coffees and how the way you make them changes the flavors. Plenty of caffeine to keep you up for the 4 hour tour. Definitely a good time for any coffee lover.

Definitely an event for all craft coffee lovers to experience!
I am doing the review for Route #2 (San Diego), which includes the following local SD coffee establishments:
1. InterAmerican Coffee
2. Bean Bar
3. Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
4. The WestBean Coffee Roasters
5. Ladies and Gentlemen Coffee Roasters
6. Café Moto
7. James Coffee Co (After party location)
This was my first SD Caffeine Crawl and it was definitely worth every penny. I stumbled upon the event at Café Moto where they had a flier describing it and I was hooked. Signing up for the event was easy — I just went to their website
and went to the link for tickets (you can also see past events). From there, you wait until you get a hard copy of your tickets in the mail (or if you order it after a certain date, you have to pick up your tickets at will call).
Going into this event I had no real prior knowledge on coffee and its origins. The terms like «fair trade», «direct source», and «certified organic» were all just random words to me and didn’t seem significant. Sure I can look it up online, but the definition given at the talks during the tour had more meaning (I got tangible connections and seeing it first-​hand). From what I’ve been listening to and observing from the presentations given at the coffee places, the aim of the Caffeine Crawl is to give the consumer a better understanding of what goes into making a cup of coffee at artisanal coffee shops. With the help of SD Coffee Network (
) running the show, the event went smoothly. In my opinion it was well coordinated. My tour guide was Jessica (co-​founder of SD Coffee Network), and she was great! She has been in the coffee industry for a while and she was awesome to talk to.
Stop #1: InterAmerican Coffee
Started out with donuts and other snacks while we wait. Once it got started, I got to learn where most coffee shops get their coffee greens if they don’t do direct source of origin (before it gets roasted). Also, you get to try «cupping», which is basically a process of experiencing coffee. We only got to smell the coffee and compare the differences amongst different origins of coffee (Indonesian, Ethiopian, etc). Pretty much the main purpose of this place is that they do the initial quality testing of coffee beans. Overall, it was very educational at this location.
Stop #2: Bean Bar
They provided cold brew samples (secret beans from 49^th Parallel) and a pour over (49^th Parallel small lot series). This location is a recent addition to East Village (2 months old when tour was taken place). The presentation here was a story of how and why the owners got to where they were (a 2.5 year-​long process to make this location happen). Awesome coffee, plus they will soon start to implement classes on how to properly pour coffee.
Stop #3: Bird Rock Coffee Roasters
Very educational while sipping on a cold brew. The owner gave a presentation on how Bird Rock came to be and how they do business with their origins (origins = wherever they get their direct source of beans straight from farmers).
Stop #4: The WestBean Coffee Roasters
Literally opened just for this event. I was talking to the baristas and they called it «a super soft opening». The guys were pretty cool — they were ready to answer all the questions that we eager crawlers had. They provided any drink on the house — just an awesome gesture. This is definitely a spot to check out if you’re in Downtown (aside from their other location in Mission Gorge).
Stop #5: Ladies and Gentlemen Coffee Roasters
Not quite open to the public yet. Joshua, the super chill owner, said that it might open in March 2015 and be fully functional. However, based on SD Coffee Network’s Instagram, they make special appearances at Bean Bar preparing the coffee. Joshua prepared a Japanese Style cold brew (basically a pour over on ice), with his own twist by using a cocktail shaker. Experience was just superb here.
Stop #6: Café Moto
The last stop of route #2. This was one of my favorite stops for a few reasons. One, you get this great production on who they are, what they do, and where they get their beans. Two, they emphasize the impact on buying craft coffee and why it is important (a great take-​home message for me). Three, the samples they provided was pretty cool — taking a single type of bean and doing it 3 ways. Lastly, they did a raffle and I won a hat –it made my day.
After Party: James Coffee Co.
Pretty chill, not a real «party» per se, more like a gathering to end things on a good note. There were tacos and more coffee.
I would certainly do this event again and try different routes. Caffeine Crawl will definitely be expanding as more roasters come in.

This review is for Route 5 of the 2015 Caffeine Crawl — San Diego. The route included:
— The Westbean Coffee Roasters
— InterAmerican Coffee
— Café Virtuoso Coffee Roasters
— Dark Horse Coffee Roasters
— Broke Girls’ Coffee Bar
— Bay Park Coffee
In large part, the Crawl was entertaining and informative, and offered enough comps and free samples to make the $ 30 ticket price worthwhile. The presentation at InterAmerican Coffee, a green coffee importer that provides beans to local roasters, was particularly fascinating, as traders Sheridan Owings and Dana Andrews talked about the supply chain they manage — from growers to dockside to the consumer’s cup.
Two of the shops we visited, The Westbean and Dark Horse in North Park, were not fully operational as of January 24, 2015, having a week or two left to go. Nonetheless, the staff at The Westbean and Dark Horse’s manager were gracious and made a solid effort to present great product (cold brews were welcome on this hot San Diego day) and useful information about the coffee and their respective businesses.
Café Virtuoso is a sort of warehouse with a café tacked on, and so seemed a bit impersonal. Nonetheless, the staff was welcoming and engaged as they presented samples of their coffee and a tasty Cortado.
More inviting were Broke Girls and Bay Park Coffee. Both places offered comfortable corners where I can imaging hiding with a book and a cup. The owners of both shops represented their businesses to we Crawlers with charm and kindness, answering our queries and providing us with an interesting array of free samples and complementary products.
The Crawl offered an «after party» at James Coffee Co., providing «music, tacos, and whole lot of fun,» but after several hours of sampling hyper-​caffeinated, Third Wave coffee products, I was done, and decided to leave the fun to the youngsters.
This was my first Caffeine Crawl. I liked the idea and was impressed by the execution. I look forward to next year’s Crawl and definitely recommend the event to any fan of coffee, tea or chocolate.
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— The Westbean Coffee Roasters:
— InterAmerican Coffee:
— Café Virtuoso Coffee Roasters:
— Dark Horse Coffee Roasters:
— Broke Girls’ Coffee Bar:
— Bay Park Coffee:
— James Coffee Co.: