Phoenix Coffee Crawl

PHX Coffee Crawl BOOM

My wife, daughter and I visited Phoenix this past weekend. Now, why would we - in our right minds - go to Arizona while they're experiencing weather in the 115° plus range? That's a good question.

My wife needed to conduct some additional interviews/research for a project she's working on for her PhD. She currently attending UCLA but she got her undergrad degree at ASU so all of her early subjects were located in AZ. 

It was a last minute trip so I didn't have time to think about what I'd be doing while she was working on her project. As well as, I figured I'd be busy in full time dad mode. 

But thank God for grandparents who were more than willing to watch Paloma for an afternoon. So I made a quick decision and sent out some messages to fellow coffee nerds + friends about doing a PHX coffee crawl. 

And for it being so last minute, I was able to connect with a few friends and check out some cool, new and old school AZ coffee shops. 

I met Seth Mills of Mistobox at Four Till Four. A Porsche inspired coffee shop in Scottsdale. They're rocking Four Barrel and Im really diggin' the vibe there. It reminded me of Flat Track in Austin. I then met up with Bryan Schiele of Let's Brew Coffee at - by far - one of the most beautiful/minimalistic coffee shops around, FUTURO. An art gallery + coffee shop + hair salon all within one location. Lastly, I met up with up Perry Czopp AKA The Coffeechop and his awesome lady friend, Marianela Montero at Ocotillo Coffee. Sadly, they were closed when we arrived so we had lunch instead. 

The next day was Fathers Day - so we chilled with the family! But before we left town, my daughter -  AKA #coffeeshoppartna - and I made a brief visit to Cartel in Tempe. And then all three of us - wife/daugher and I made a final stop at LUX Coffeebar in PHX before hitting the road. 

I focused more on the video - GoPro aspect of the coffee crawl than the actual still images so I didn't have a chance to shoot many portraits. But you've got to change it up every once in a while. 

That said, here's a few images from my freakin' HOT coffee crawl. 

So heres' a crazy story about Seth Mills. Him and his then girlfriend - now wife used to hang out at the Gold Bar in Tempe, AZ way back in the day when I was a barista. So we used to know each other from back in the day - and reconnected on social media. But this past weekend was probably the first time we've seen each other in person in well over a decade. 

Steve, the barista from Four Till Four rocking out some tasty drinks. Cool dude. Ended up running into him later that afternoon at a different shop. Boom! 

Barista, Shelby Moore rocking out a drink that brew my mind. Bryan said he was going to order an espresso and tonic. So I said, cool, I'll get that as well. I was expecting a double shot with a side of tonic water. DUDE! I was so wrong. This is by far one of the most refreshing coffee based drinks I've had in a long time and I cannot wait to have it again. My espresso machine gets back from the repair shop this Thursday and you know I'll be rocking that out immediately. 

Jorge Ignacio Torres, the owner of FUTURO was a very cool dude. We had a chance to talk for a bit and Im very grateful for people like him to be pushing the bounds of what people think of PHX. Even though I left AZ for CA - it's still my home town - so it's great to see people trying to make it a better version of itself. And I would love to see more spaces like FUTURO in LA. It's an art gallery, a coffee and a hair salon! Dang.