Caffeine Crawl

The beverage of choice of every single college student is probably coffee, which we can all agree is what gets us through the semester. Many students usually just get their cup of Joe at the local Starbucks, or another coffee corporation. Personally I prefer to shop small and support the local coffee scene here in Sacramento, which has been booming by the way. I constantly find myself finding new coffee shops that are importing organic coffee from all over the world, and because of that I have taken it upon myself to visit every coffee shop in Sacramento. Sometimes it does get difficult to find a nice little coffee shop that fits your style, but one thing that made it easier for many was a little event known as Caffeine Crawl.

Sacramento had its first Caffeine Crawl over the weekend I had the pleasure of participating in it. Caffeine Crawl is basically a Sacramento coffee shop tour. I found myself riding my bike along with others all over midtown and downtown trying complimentary signature beverages at every shop we stopped at. We were split into groups of about 15 or so people which was actually a great idea because it made it easier to connect with all of the participants in your group.  Due to the fact that it was the first time this event came to Sacramento only 8 total shops participated, but when I spoke to the event coordinators they all mentioned about coming back next year and working on building up the number of participating shops hopefully up to 10-12. The Caffeine Crawl really exposed me to a new side of coffee that I have never seen before, it also helped me understand just how passionate these shops are about their coffee and roasting methods. As if the entire Crawl wasn’t enough fun already, they still held an after party with live music in a packing warehouse at one of the coffee shops. The event was overall a great experience and I will definitely be participating in next years crawl.

Participating Shops:

Chocolate Fish Coffee Roasters, Fluid Espresso Bar, Insight Coffee Roasters, Old Soul Co, Pachamama Cooperative Coffee Bar, Shine Coffee, Son of a Bean Coffee House, Temple Coffee Roasters.

What I liked:

I really loved the diversity of the participants in each group, there were people that were older along with Sac State students. There were also participants who were just getting into the whole coffee scene while others knew so much about coffee that it almost seemed that they were addicted. Every shop also gave a small presentation about their background and why they are different than the other shops which was a really nice touch while you sipped on some of their best coffee/tea. The fact that we were separated into groups made it much more personal, and everyone was able to get to know each other while enjoying a beverage that had brought us all together.

What Could Be Improved For Next Year:

There were only 8 participating shops, and there are many other coffee shops in Sacramento that are basically hidden gems at the moment. It would be nice for the number of shops participating would rise to at least 15.

Overall:

I would definitely recommend that you participate in next years Caffeine Crawl, although there were only 8 shops it was still a lot of fun and a unique experience. Even if you aren’t a huge coffee aficionado it is something that everyone will be able to enjoy.

Fabian is a dj with kssu Sacramento State’s student run radio station.