I need coffee!  Every morning when I get into work, my mind is moving in slow motion until I get my morning perk.  The morning coffee crew consisting of me, myself, Jimbo Nahinu, The Great Bringer, KFC and occassionally JP head off to get the magically wonderful drink known to the simple man as coffee.  Without this fantastic beverage, I would blankly stare at my computer screen until my boss came to ask me a question.  At which time, I would likely just twitch and drool and eyeball something in the distance over my boss’ left shoulder.  I know I’m not the only one to experience this coffee-less coma condition, countless Americans go through this morning confusion-delusion until they get their daily injection of caffeine. 

First things first.  I like coffee, not those fancy mocha chocolatte, triple espresso shot, 2% milk, with whip concontions that so many people just can’t seem to go without.  As crazy as it may sound, I like my coffee - coffee flavored.  Whoa!  What a revalation, coffee flavored coffee.  Countless weirdos with poodles and bluetooth headsets are fainting at this very instant and spilling their carmel hazelnut macchiatos.  I appologize to any of the readers out there that may have just ruined a perfectly good overpriced drink. 

 Now that you know exactly where I stand when it come to coffee preferences, I’ll bring it back to my original point of this blog post.  Tattered Cover Coffee versus Starbucks Coffee.  During our morning coffee expedition, we don’t have a whole lot of time to run all over town so it pretty much comes down to coffee shops within two blocks of my workplace.  Coffee is all about convenience, which is why there is a Starbucks located on just about every other street corner in America.  Being that I work in Downtown Denver, there are plenty of coffee shops within close proximity to my office. 

 The three most convenient coffee shops for me include Starbucks Coffee, Tattered Cover Coffee and Common Grounds.  I’m not even including Common Grounds in this comparison because I don’t think they are deserving enough.  A large coffee at Common Grounds in Downtown Denver will set you back $2.50 as compared to $2 at both Starbucks and Tattered Cover.  The coffee is the same, nothing special, but I think you pay the extra $0.50 for the great honor of having your coffee served to you by pompus sociology majors wearing the latest emo punk chic.  A little too stuffy of an atmosphere to pick up a large coffee on a daily basis.  When it comes down to the coffee, I’m not overly picky.  As long as it’s not stale or burned, and is available at a reasonable price it’s fine with me.  As far as I’m concerned, Starbucks Coffee is just as tasty as Tattered Cover Coffee on any given day.  As a result, it really comes down to a couple areas: Price, Service, Breakfast Food Add-Ons and Promotions.  For arguments sake, I’ll use a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being tops).

Starbucks Coffee - A large coffee at Starbucks is $2 (7 points).  The service can be a little slow on occassion, but overall I have no major complaints (7 points).  The Add-Ons include a selection of assorted muffins, fruits, granola, danishes, cheese plates, and more (8 points).  Not much in terms of promotions, sometimes they give away free samples or mp3 download cards (3 points).  Starbucks Coffee gets an overall 25 points, not too bad.

Tattered Cover Coffee - A large coffee at the Tattered Cover Coffee Shop will cost you $2, just like Starbucks (7 points).  Service is pretty standard, no complaints (7 points).  Breakfast Food Add-Ons include many of the same selections that are found at Starbucks, but with one major addition.  The TC Muffin Breakfast Sandwiche.  This little breakfast delight will only cost you $1.95 and includes your choice of sausage, bacon, ham or veggies.  Topped with egg and cheddar cheese in a toasted english muffin.  Good price and taste, that’ll fill you up on the days you miss breakfast on your way out the door (10 points).  For Promotions, Tattered Cover has a punch card that’ll give you a free coffee for every ten you buy.  When you buy coffee every morning, this type of promo is really nice to have (8 points).  Overall, Tattered Cover Coffee gets a resounding 32 points. 

Now I’m not one of those people that thinks Starbucks is an evil empire.  I don’t mind getting a quick coffee from Starbucks when I pass one nearby, even if it’s from some gigantic coffee corporation with world dominating aspirations.  So beyond the coffee, I make my choice every morning based on the other perks.  In a head-to-head comparison, Tattered Cover Coffee just has what I’m looking for. 

So if you happen to be in Downtown Denver and you’re in dire need of a coffee pick-me-up, I recommend making a stop by Tattered Cover Coffee on 16th and Wyncoop.  Get yourself a large coffee, a Sausage TC Muffin and punch on the frequent buyer card if you’re a regular like me. 

All Hail Tattered Cover Coffee the Coffee King of Downtown Denver!

So Says the Internet Gatekeeper!

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