Dine & Dash: Cat power and slow drip 🍽
AffoGatto Coffee rocks a feline focus in Falcon; Reception by day is an espresso drinker's delight
AffoGatto Coffee
AffoGatto acts a a portmanteau referring to both the affogato drink (an ice cream scoop bathed in espresso shots) and Italian word for cat, “gatto.” Together they’re a reference to a year-old, cat-focused cafe in Falcon.
Note I did not say cat cafe; I said cat-focused cafe because AffoGatto is not like the Springs’ Biscuit Factory or Comfort and Joy, which are more adoption centers than actual drink spots. AffoGatto is a legit coffee shop with cat-themed everything, done tastefully enough to not feel kitschy. (Rather, it’s cat-chy, if we’re gonna pun for fun.)
If there’s ever a 2.0 version, which is to say a larger second location, co-owner Alisha Riley says she would love to create an adoption-focused cat cafe, but one more like how Pub Dog Colorado functions, with an air lock to allow for real food. Meanwhile, she doesn’t want to lose access to serving her house-baked products and running a craft coffee counter. (They do hold sporadic pet adoption events in the front parking lot during warmer months.)
Much like AffoGatto as a portmanteau, the combination of coffee and cat culture in Alisha’s life has precedent; it’s not just a rando theme to vend caffeine. She and her husband Zack (who’s an electrical engineer by day) also own Alisha’s Pet Playcations, a professional pet-sitting business that serves the Falcon/Peyton, Black Forest and Colorado Springs areas. Beyond tending to kitties they’ll care for dogs, reptiles and even horses, working with seniors, those with situational needs and just folks away for the day or a full vacay. (They do own a couple of pups and few cats as well.)
She and Zack also are both former Starbucks employees circa the 2012-2014 era, when they lived in Florida. She worked as a trainer and supervisor and inside Disney’s Epcot for a stint. She says there were rigorous protocols to adhere to both company’s guidelines, which informs her customer service standards today. She calls AffoGatto her “full-circle” project.
“Every time we have moved, I’ve fallen back into coffee for a time, until I can build my pet-sitting clientele up,” she says. The dream of owning their own shop was going to stay on hold until they retired, but after witnessing some family going through medical things at advanced ages, she decided “I better do this now, in my 30s instead of when I’m 65.”
They moved to Colorado nine years ago and to Falcon specifically four years ago. When they selected AffoGatto’s location, in an off-the-main-roads mini office park, it was partly because there was an existing vet’s office as a neighbor plus a jiu-jitsu studio and gymnastics facility. Families come and go with steady regularity, which explains why they operate with strategic split hours, from 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4-7 p.m. weekdays, and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends.
That allows Alisha some off hours to bake in a commissary kitchen at Patriot High School nearby. When funding was in place to sponsor it, she and Zack ran student internships on site, further plugging into the local community. She has no culinary background and jokes that her pastries have been born out of trial-and-error. But she refuses to serve stuff off the back off of delivery truck and wants guests to know they bake home style and fresh. Past European travels inform a love of German and Danish desserts in particular, and she says her chocolate chip cookie recipes is something she’s been making since she was a child.
I try her blackberry, Brie and bacon croissant, which is a sweet, rich treat on a dense, breadier-style croissant. AffoGatto’s pastry case sports a wide variety of alluring items, so I’ve barely scratched the surface. (I guess that counts as a cat pun too.)
I try a proficient cortado made with a custom Cat Nap Decaf blend roasted exclusively for the shop by Frederick, Colorado-based Erie Coffee Roasters. They also create a regular house blend for AffoGatto, and their espresso roast is what informs my affogato that I feel I have to try — I mean, how could I leave without doing so?
It’s awesome, with a house caramel “cat stripes” drizzle and little cat ears made from triangles of white chocolate. It disappears too quickly — because it’s that good. It will always be on the menu, but the limited-time drinks are about to turn over with the new year, so I end up bypassing them. Alisha teases a few espresso drinks coming on the next seasonal menu (likely to run through Valentine’s Day): an ube flavor; an orange-cardamom drink, and a pistachio-honey-almond one. “We’re approachable for Starbucks-style drinks too,” she says. “If someone asks for a caramel macchiato I’ll happily make it and if they say ‘grande’ I’m not offended. But we can also do pourovers.”
I haven’t said much to describe the cat murals (featuring actual pet tributes) and local cat-themed art for sale and all the other feline decor. The photos in this spread speak plenty to that and I want you to experience the rest for yourself in person. There’s also a small retail area up front with lots of cute cat paraphernalia as well as retail coffee beans from Erie roasters, including some single origins. Alisha says she requests new coffees regularly to keep the lineup interesting.
Whatever you end up buying, know that 2 percent goes back to Wild Blue feline rescue and sanctuary in Black Forest. That’s just one more layer that makes Affogatto’s story come full circle. It’s definitely a cafe for cats even if it’s not a cat cafe.
Reception Coffee & Cocktails
Back in October I told you about Hold Fast Coffee Co. spinoff Reception Coffee & Cocktails, which by evening hours is home to a brilliant build-your-own-espresso-martini menu (and more).
At the time I noted that by daylight hours (8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Thursday-Sunday) Reception acts as a slow bar, aiming to connect drinkers to producers in a more deliberate setting. No turn-and-burn service like at bustling Hold Fast across the parking lot, but instead a menu meant for lingering over a cup of something delightful. Often something more rare, like a Costa Rican Gesha varietal that was on during my visit the week before Christmas.
Tasting notes printed on fine paper stock and provided at the coffee counter detail Gesha’s general high acidity and bright fruit and floral notes. This particular origin evokes pineapple acidity and chocolate chip banana bread plus dried apricot according to its professional cuppers. It’s remarkably light bodied without feeling thin and lean. Hold Fast’s Roaster and Operations Manager Vinnie Snyder — who’s my host for this tasting — describes it as tea-like and “more about how beautiful the bean is rather than how intense its flavors are.”
Another guest overhearing our convo has joined in with curiosity, unknowingly achieving Reception’s mission of creating more communication between baristas and drinkers around the coffees. Snyder tells us about Gesha varietals’ high elevation growing, which results in less yield hence more scarcity (rarity). He notes how the harsher growing conditions (plant stress) result in unique, delicate textures and an inherent sweetness. They’re “highly prized,” which explains why a pourover here costs $10.50 as compared to a menu-low $5.50 for another Guatemalan single origin.
Lead barista Megan Phillips is my second guide this day, preparing our drinks and presenting each one with care. I feel like I’m receiving holiday presents early. Everything’s so pretty and as good as craft coffee can get by all standards I’ve experienced internationally. (To say it another way: these drinks are ready for something like the savvy, snooty L.A. marketplace.)
An “approachable” red velvet hot chocolate offers a non-coffee option. But by request she makes mine with espresso, which tones down the milky sweetness a touch but still allows the cake-y flavor to shine alongside a chocolaty element. Next, an iced cranberry espresso tonic sips delightfully tart, acidic and botanically bitter. Do I need to tell you that they make their own syrups for such drinks? Of course they do. You presumed that. Good job.
Rather than have me try the chocolate or apple hazelnut cortados from this seasonal menu, Snyder orders me a plain cortado to spotlight a famous (in the coffee world) micromill named Las Lajas in Costa Rica. He and Reception/Hold Fast owner Grace Harrison have visited it and seen its fields, processing plants, roastery and cupping labs. It’s vertically integrated so they can control all aspects of production and ensure consistency and quality.
This particular coffee undergoes a short anaerobic fermentation which yields impressive strawberry aromas that would make you think it was co-fermented with the fruit if you didn’t know any better. (Which makes me think back to the mind-blowing Colombian coffee I had from Golden Pine that was passionfruit co-fermented.) The cortado holds a velvety texture and it sips rich with inherent cocoa flavor. For a fleeting moment it tastes like I’ve taken a bite of Third Wave Chocolate maybe 12 seconds prior, as the concluding wash of complex, lightly bitter dark chocolate fades across my tongue. But wow, that strawberry pop!
What else do you need to know?
Well, the menus will change fairly often so don’t expect to get everything I got, but you can expect something equally thoughtful and artfully curated and concocted. Seasonal drinks can be modified with single-origin sub-ins and the single origins can be ordered as any traditional espresso drink, too. There’s plenty of flexibility to play. (This is a conversation, not a lecture.)
If you’re looking for a to-go drink, go to Hold Fast. This spot’s for on-site enjoyment. So if you need a bite while you’re here, look to the daily selection of pastries from Provision.
I’ll conclude with this contextual observation: Colorado Springs has many fine places to go for high-quality espresso drinks, well made and meeting (and sometimes exceeding) craft coffee standards. Hold Fast has been on that list for some time, but Reception ups the ante. Just as it found a clever niche with the build-your-own-espresso-martinis at night, it delivers the first, true slow bar experience in town by day. Think of it as like sitting at your favorite cocktail bar and bantering with the bartenders. But instead of talking about allocated whiskies or interesting amaros you can nerd out on coffee varietals and processing methods.
Like the Gesha coffee, Reception is more subtle, elegant and beautiful.
To quote my high school’s cheerleading team, which I promise you I’ll never do again: “I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.”