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For me, spring conjures thoughts of coffee-shop meetings and lingering at cafés. The folks behind the Denver Passport Program seem to have read my mind with this week’s release of the first-ever coffee passport in Denver. Inspired by fika (fee-kah), an enviable Swedish cultural tradition that emphasizes slowing down to enjoy a mid-afternoon coffee break with a friend or co-worker, the new Fika Passport contains two-for-one coffee specials at each of the 24 participating cafés. The program runs from April 1 through October 1.
The larger, booze-oriented Passport Program that Two Parts (an events and marketing company formerly known as Imbibe) launched in Denver in 2013 is now available in three other Colorado cities and six others nationwide. But the brand-new Fika Passport is only available in Denver—at least for now.
That's only $1 per issue!
“There are a large number of people here in Denver that go out of their way to support local businesses, so it’s a great market for us to try a new product, like we did with the Winter Warmer,” says Amy Osgood, who was recently hired as the full-time Passport coordinator. “In the short 24 hours since the Fika Passport has been introduced, we’ve received quite a bit of interest in bringing it to other cities. Where liquor laws prevent us from expanding [our boozy passports], coffee can lead the charge.”
The Two Parts team believes that this is the first two-for-one coffee booklet of its type in the U.S. The initial idea for the coffee-centric passport stemmed from the Grand Coffee Bazaar. “[Corvus Coffee Roasters’ Phil Goodlaxson] helped us launch the Grand Coffee Bazaar, and also brought the coffee community together so that we could see just how vibrant the industry was becoming,” says Sarah Wells, relationships director at Two Parts. “Corvus is hyper-focused on quality while being inventive about their approach, and we wanted a way to show off that approach to boosting local coffee culture in Denver.”
As any coffee lover knows, Denver’s booming coffee scene encompasses an ever-growing number of indie shops and roasters (check out 5280‘s Beginner’s Guide to Denver’s Exploding Craft Coffee Scene). The Fika Passport features a virtual who’s-who of the best cafés on the scene. You’ll find coupons for long-running staples like Novo Coffee and Pablo’s Coffee, as well as up-and-comers like Amethyst Coffee Company and Little Owl Coffee. The range of cafés includes one in almost every neighborhood in the metro area—from Black Eye Coffee Capitol Hill to Hooked on Colfax in City Park and Huckleberry Roasters in Sunnyside to Crema Coffee House in RiNo, and as far out as Two Rivers Craft Coffee Company in Arvada. The coffee passport also includes Corvus Coffee Roasters on South Broadway—one of the shops that helped spawn the original idea.
Even better? There’s also a deal to please just about every type of coffee drinker, whether it’s Weathervane Cafe’s sweet house-made lavender latte or a perfectly plain Aeropress, espresso, or cappuccino (your choice) at Lula Rose General Store.
The Fika Passport is on sale now for $20 and can be purchased here. Order early, as only a few thousand Passports have been produced, and they’re likely to sell out.
Bonus: The 2016 Denver Passport (with two-for-one deals on cocktails, beer, and wine) returns this summer. This Passport runs from May 27 to September 5 and will be available for purchase starting May 10.