Craft Cocktails, er. um. Without booze? Yup. UP.

The craft beer and liquor scene has exploded in the Twin Cities, however, not every craft drink has to have an ABV.

Friends ask me all the time, “Why do you love the Twin Cities so much?”

Of course, I quote that we have more James Beard Award Winners per capita on the planet.  I tell them about the exploding craft brewery/distillery scene.  I tell them about the cost of living; happy hours abound! Bike trails make commuting easy…. To me, all this is the culmination of our culture, and coffee is no exception.  And to me, no one is doing coffee better than UP Roasters.

UP Roasters Coffee Craft “Cocktails”

Como Neighborhood – UMN Campus

1901 Traffic St NE Minneapolis, MN  | #craftnotesmn

We recently sat down with Coffee purveyors of UP Roasters to talk about how coffee is becoming the new “Craft Cocktail.”

Like the other local Craftsmen in Craft Notes, UP is pushing local tastes to the limit, experimenting with coffee by roasting, aging, adding bitters, experimenting with flavor combinations, and putting cold press on nitro.

Small Batch Coffee Curated & Roasted On-Site

Not only does UP Roasters roast on-site, but they also travel to the source, farms in Peru and Costa Rica to maintain relationships with the farms.

My Visit to UP Roaster’s Cafe

At this point in my life, I prefer the caffeine buzz off a great coffee.

Recently, I had a delightful visit to UP Cafe, which is tucked into an industrial chic area near Hennepin and Stinson (near Norseman Distillery & Insight Brewing). UP was the perfect meet-up place for some fellow new moms and myself. We were immediately impressed by the lovely front patio with herbs, vegetables and beautiful flowers.

Choosing this location for a mommy-date was part of a mission to check out the source of a bag of honey-roasted coffee beans that our household had been gifted over the winter.

Great Service

My friend ordered the regular fair trade organic coffee of the day which was roasted on-site with all the other coffees.

Perhaps out of sleep deprivation she added too much honey to her coffee, and the staff was kind enough to quickly replace it with a fresh one.

Aging Coffee Beans in Liquor Barrels

Of course, I had the best order of all: The Manhattan cold press. $5

A green coffee bean was aged in-house at UP in a Bulleit Bourbon Whiskey Barrel, roasted, then turned to cold press.  Add bitters and amarena cherries poured over ice… Best cold press I have ever had! When my friend tried it, she gave me a smirk and said, “Are you sure this has no booze in it?”  We double-checked with the staff; the bourbon flavor is 100% the result of aging the coffee beans in bourbon barrels.

I sadly missed out on the UPChatta, made from Rum-Barrel-Aged beans from Great Lakes Distillery.

How do they get the booze out? During the roasting process after soaking in the barrel not only evaporates off the alcohol, but brings out more flavors.

I’m looking forward to returning. UP is experimenting with putting beans into wine barrels; I’m excited for a port!

Cascara

Most of you know coffee as a bean, the potent seed of the plant, but surrounding that seed is a fresh red cherry called Cascara. It’s full of caffeine and makes a great tea.  It’s also the secret ingredient to a collaboration on Insight Brewing’s BANSHEE,  a golden-ale coffee beer.

The Cascara Old Fashioned features the house rosemary palmer.

The Lumberjack, per Evan “it’s like a pancake in your mouth” made from the flavors of vanilla, maple syrup bacon (smoky flavor). I’m so bummed I missed it, but you can still have a version in the summer because they created the lumberjack gelato. They’re also making a phenomenal with cascara; their own version of an Arnold Palmer – with 50/50 turbinado sugar, fresh squeezed lemon, carbonation, tobacco hibiscus and molasses flavor….

Who else makes coffee like UP?

After you nosh on UP’s sandwiches, salads or baked goods, Evan recommends another great coffee experience gives props to Five Watt coffee on Nicollett and 38th.

It’s a true Craft Cocktail experience with may more buzz without the booze so you don’t even have to worry about drinking and driving!