Jubilee -- my first visit to the place that mails me tasty beans

Jubilee Roasting Co.
Aurora, CO

On a sunny, beautiful, late-summer Friday off, I decided to save myself a little postage and drive across the metro Denver area to visit Jubilee Roasting Co. at their Kenton Street roastery and café in Aurora, Colorado. I was out of beans at home and needed to pick up my latest order of their Moonbuggy Blend. I hadn’t been over to that area of Aurora in a long time…since singing at the Aurora Fox Theater years ago, so I was game to go out on an adventure to see the shop and try one of their coffee beverages.

North side of the brightly painted building

Let me preface my story by saying that I only knew that the location was somewhat near the University of Colorado/UC Health Anschutz campus in Aurora. In the past 10+ years here in the Denver area, there has been a ton of growth and revitalization of areas that had been overdue for redevelopment and in need of community investment. I was wondering if perhaps the location for Jubilee had been part of that growth. I was strangely delighted to find that the Kenton Street location still existed in what felt like the old Aurora that I used to visit years ago. It makes finding the location slightly challenging, as it is just south of Colfax on Kenton and not easily identified from Colfax. The beautifully painted building stands out in the otherwise residential neighborhood — speaking of which, make sure you allow a few extra minutes to find parking, as there is only on-street parking at this location.

Lovely latte art — Isaiah’s lovely latte art

A very nice staff member greeted me and went back to get my 2 lb bag of beans. While I was waiting, I had a look around the shop. It was bright, had lots of wood elements, and there were a fair number of customers socially-distanced while working from their tables. The staff that I saw were all masked, so their covid protocols appeared to be great. After getting my bag of Moonbuggy Blend, I decided to try a latte while I perused a little more. I am so glad I asked how many shots come in the 16 oz latte, as I found out a while ago at another local café that one should never assume that independent shops follow the Starbucksian model of milk to espresso ratios. I ended up with a 16 oz quad shot latte during that enlightening experience about a year ago, which I ended up regretting. So, upon inquiring at Jubilee, I found out that indeed they do make their 16 oz lattes standard with 4 shots of espresso. Since I was having my first latte experience at this shop, I decided to play it safe and request the 2 shots instead. I also suspected that I would be having more coffee later in the day, so I’m so glad I decided to back-off on the number of shots. They were serving Kolla Bolcha from Ethiopia as their espresso offering and it was very tasty with lots of fruity, almost liqueur-type notes. Isaiah, my barista, was kind enough to shake the raw sugar into my drink for me, although I hated to mess up his beautiful latte art.

If you are like me and tend to be mindful about wanting to stay outside rather than enjoy your drink indoors, Jubilee also has a welcoming patio/courtyard area behind the building. Just make sure you walk outside and around the north side of the building to get to the patio, as you won’t be able to walk through the shop to the back. Flowers, decorative grasses, and trees surround the area where you will find plenty of picnic tables with umbrellas and string lights strewn overhead. The late morning sun was perfect for sitting at one such table and sipping my latte. I happened to notice what appeared to be an office in the back, facing the courtyard with its garage-type door open on this gorgeous September day. I knew the owner’s name was Peter from my past research, so I stepped over and inquired if in fact that was Peter Wanberg, the owner, who was in the office. He was very friendly, and I was able to tell him how much I love Jubilee’s coffee. We had a nice chat. Full disclosure, I also told him I was the Coffee Drinking Diva. Hopefully he will have a chance to stop by and read about my great visit to his shop. I told him next time I’d check out the Park Avenue location. I can’t wait! Until then, swing by and grab some beans and a latte if you’re in the neighborhood, or go online to their lovely site and have them ship you a freshly roasted bag. You won’t be disappointed.