We’ve got spirits, yes we do: Coffee shops around Greeley embrace alcohol
The Cardinal at Margie’s Java Joint is one of the shop’s new non-alcoholic specialty cocktails. Photo courtesy of Margie’s Java Joint.
By Dan England and Emily Kemme
The idea began percolating in T.J. Wilson’s head years ago when he had a drink he couldn’t forget: A Guinness with an espresso tucked inside the stout’s creamy liquid center, like a jelly donut with a wake-up call.
Wilson started John Galt Coffee, 709 16th Street, Greeley, back in 2012, a dream he’d had ever since falling in love with the idea of coffee and community. But that loaded Guinness sparked another idea: Why couldn’t he serve alcohol as well?
The concept made sense, but one rife with problems. He had a late-night place where people gathered, but some worried alcohol would sour the vibe. The easy answer was that since he operated in the same building in a partnership with Atlas, a non-traditional church, he occasionally needed a liquor license to serve at weddings.
He went for it, and two-and-a-half years later, with more than a half-dozen beers on tap and a full cocktail menu, he’s glad he did.
“We had more issues convincing people it wasn’t going to be an issue,” Wilson said, “than the actual issues that arose from it.”
Coffee’s long relationship with alcohol
Coffee houses have historically been considered gathering places, and you can associate human progress with them, said Justin Ghofrani, the head bartender of the Kress Cinema and Lounge and its lower level sister, the Kress Speakeasy.
“There was the Bronze Age (around 3000 BCE to 400 BCE) where beer was the original drink humans drank other than water, then after that in the Iron Age, there was wine. Spirits, coffee houses, tea shops and soda shops followed. With the coffee shops, a lot shunned alcohol because it was the Era of Enlightenment and people wanted to learn more and be able to focus,” he explained.
The tension between coffee and alcohol started early on, after wild coffee plants were discovered in Ethiopia, where the plants were native to the region. By the 15th century, coffee plants were being cultivated and their beans brewed in Arabia, but Islamic authorities who prohibited alcohol often prohibited drinking coffee because its stimulating qualities seemed intoxicating. Even so, coffee houses began proliferating in Mecca, Constantinople and Turkey; the bean brew was exported to Europe by the mid-17th century. According to The History of London, the first coffee house in England was opened in 1650 by a Turkish Jew named Jacob in Oxford during a period of Puritan rule when the Commonwealth banned the sale of alcohol.
Ghofrani’s wife, Margaret Thompson, owns Margie’s Java Joint near the University of Northern Colorado, 931 16th Street, after taking it over from her parents, Ron and Linde, who founded it in 1992.
Ghofrani and Thompson talked about serving cocktails when they took over the coffee shop almost four years ago. It helped that during an interim period when Margie’s was occupied by The Blue Mug Coffee & Roastery, the premises had a liquor license to sell beer and wine, Ghofrani said. Margie’s announced over a month ago that it was jumping into evening cocktail service.
Bringing cocktails to Margie’s was just another way to use Ghofrani’s bartending skills.
“That’s become an area he’s passionate about,” Thompson said. “He loves experimenting.”
Aunt Helen’s Coffee House, 800 8th Avenue, Suite 101, Greeley, another well-known coffee house in downtown Greeley, added a wine bar in July and recently began offering spirits.
Bartending standards like an Old Fashioned and martinis are on the menu at Aunt Helen’s, but specialty cocktails add wide variety to the coffee shop’s new cocktail menu. Photo by Emily Kemme.
Bob Hutson, co-owner of Aunt Helen’s along with his wife, Aimee Wick-Hutson, admits he wasn’t as excited about the idea of serving alcohol at night as Aimee was. The decision meant expanding Aunt Helen’s hours, unlike those at John Galt, which already stayed open until 10 p.m.
“I’d been wanting to do the evening tapas, wine and cocktail program when we first opened seven years ago,” Aimee said.
The spirits offer Aunt Helen’s a chance to grow their business without adding too many costs, and they found someone to manage the extended hours.
The cost of an actual brick-and-mortar means business owners don’t like to keep it empty for a huge chunk of the 24 hours they’re paying for it.
“The fixed costs are already there, with the building,” Hutson said, “so how do you capitalize on that and drive traffic to your place at night?”
All three don’t offer alcohol during the day, as they want to keep their morning hive separate from those seeking a stronger buzz.
At Margie’s, they’re still seeing a few coffee drinks and chai on weekdays, but on weekends it’s a 50/50 balance of coffee and cocktails.
“We’ve gotten away from the Enlightenment Era, but the coffee drinkers don’t want anything more than coffee in the cafe,” Ghofrani said. “The coffee drinkers aren’t really alcohol drinkers, it’s a different crowd.”
But they’re all finding, as Wilson did years ago, that coffee and spirits do, in fact, make a good mix.
“We’re close to UNC, and there’s such a need for a community space past 5 p.m.,” said Thompson. “We’re not changing the vibe people know and love. We’re just adding an element. This is a good way for us to make use of more hours of the day.”
Extending the menu
Margie’s offers nine of Ghofrani’s specialty cocktails, including two non-alcoholic choices. House favorites include Margie’s Cola, a cocktail with a soda shop vibe but substitutes Amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur that tastes like cola; and the Cafe Negroni, with coffee-infused gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. Other notable sippers are an espresso martini made with vodka, Kahlua and a pulled espresso shot to create the foam; and the zippy Bottle Rocket: jalapeño-infused tequila, honey syrup and lime.
The non-alcoholic Cardinal–carrot, orange and lemon juice spiked with ginger and topped with frothy egg white–follows a recent trend of nightclubs offering spirits that taste good but won’t get you tipsy.
At John Galt, Wilson offers beer from local breweries, including Wiley Roots and WeldWerks, so that part was easy. But he didn’t have a skilled mixologist on hand, so he had to learn how to make cocktails on his own. He was fine offering the classics, including a Manhattan, a martini and a margarita, instead of experimenting.
“I didn’t come up with them,” Wilson said, “I just adapted them. I just researched the classic recipes and figured out what paired well with alcohol.”
The vibe: a balance of jittery and smooth
Aunt Helen’s now calls itself a cafe and wine bar on its web site, but the change has created a bit of an identity crisis.
“Right now we are a coffee shop that serves alcohol,” Bob Hutson said. “How do we transition into a coffee shop and wine bar? That’s the bigger piece of the puzzle.”
Aunt Helen’s gets a lot of its business from other downtown businesses, Hutson said, some of which close at night.
Greeley’s downtown isn’t nearly as dead as it once was at night, but the coffee shop still finds it needs to host special events to attract a crowd. The coffee house now offers card nights, trivia nights, special dinners and even hosted a pumpkin decorating night. On a recent Saturday evening during which a local jazz trio performed, the shop was packed.
“People like to be entertained,” Hutson said. “We can offer a glass of wine and conversation, but we have to build that.”
Building a solid tapas menu has helped grow that clientele. When you walk into the shop at night, aromas of roasting cashews spiced with rosemary perfume the room. The menu includes creative bruschetta flights, like fig jam, brie and green apple, or an upscaled version of the caprese with thick sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and a balsamic drizzle. Heartier snacks include smoked chicken wings and a charcuterie board laden with Italian cured meats, chevre and blue cheese, fig jam and those aromatic cashews. Flat breads and assorted salads round out a relatively large menu for a business dipping a toe into fire water.
The menu at Aunt Helen’s includes creative bruschetta flights, smoked chicken wings, flat breads, salads and a charcuterie board. Photo by Emily Kemme.
In addition to thoughtful selections of wine and beer, Aunt Helen’s specialty cocktails run the gamut from bartending standards to a cold brew martini, a blackberry bramble with Mt. Gay rum and blackberry liqueur and a dangerously delicious low-carb cream soda spiked with Tito’s vodka.
Even with the events, Hutson doesn’t want the alcohol to encourage a rowdy crowd, which is why they’re focusing on serving wine and not 50-cent fishbowls of light beer.
“We wanted to create a quieter location where people can have wine and a conversation with friends,” Hutson said, “and not speak over a crowd.”
Loud crowds haven’t been an issue at John Galt, Wilson said. He does limit his customers to three drinks, but he also thinks people know a coffee place isn’t a place to get drunk and play beer pong.
“Honestly, the alcohol just helps with events,” Wilson said. “It’s not emphasized here.”
Margie’s Cola riffs on the soda shop vibe, substituting Amaro, an Italian herbal liqueur that tastes like cola. Photo courtesy of Margie’s Java Joint.
Thompson calls serving alcohol a “trial run,” meaning she will evaluate the vibe of Margie’s and see how it affects it. For now, Margie’s serves charcuterie and nuts along with cocktails, but is considering offering alcohol in the day and more food options by early 2024, Ghofrani said. That may include Margie’s staples, including quiche and the Lexie (turkey, lettuce, tomato, cream cheese and apricot jam served on a bagel). He and Thompson agree it would be nice, eventually, to serve brunch cocktails or perhaps some afternoon spirits. Margie’s will also start featuring live music at night to match.
“We know we have a deep loyal following,” Thompson said. “We don’t want to give that up.”
To go sip and savor:
John Galt Coffee is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day and serves alcohol in the evening.
Margie’s Java Joint’s new extended hours with alcohol and some new kitchen items, including a charcuterie board and small plates, run from 4-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The coffee house opens at 7 a.m. daily.
Aunt Helen’s Cafe and Wine Bar is open from 7 a.m to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday hours are 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.