Green Bay Café Crawl: Part One

I’ve always loved a good coffee shop. It’s my vibe, I guess. I prefer a local shop, preferably with mismatched furniture, plates, and mugs. Local art on the walls. A place where you can sit and study or read or write for hours. My first love from these experiences was and will always be chai (masala). I love a spiced chai. Hot or iced. Latte or straight. Or baked into a sweet treat. (Did you know that in a number of languages, chai is the word for tea, so ‘chai tea’ is redundant.)

For the first thirty-two years of my life, I couldn’t stand coffee. I don’t know what changed after that, but now I’m not entirely sure I want to survive without it. My gateway, though, thanks to my fellow assistant director during a study abroad to Costa Rica, was the mocha. If I had known chocolate was involved, I probably would have attempted it sooner. Generally, when I drink coffee, it’s black and from Door County Coffee and Tea. But on occasion, I’ll return to that mocha.

Thus, for this café crawl through my city, I thought I would compare all these places based on these two drinks – the mocha and the chai. (I should note that my 10/10 is Twinnings’ Chai Ultra Spice.) For part one, here are five great cafés I’ve already been to.

Full disclosure – Kavarna is my favorite coffee shop of all time. Even when I didn’t live in Green Bay, any time I passed anywhere near the city, I would stop for tea and their hummus (and their cheesy artichoke wrap). I’ve been going to Kavarna for two decades now, starting back when they were at their old location – a tiny spot a few blocks south of where they are now that had about ten tables crammed into it. My dear friend, Ashley, was vegan at the time, and this was the only place that served vegan options back then. It also made for a great spot to study. These days, their new location has plenty of seating (and some meat on the menu). (I will admit I was a little afraid when Linda and Alex sold Kavarna before the pandemic hit – worried new owners would change everything I love about this place; while I still miss seeing them behind the counter, I’m happy to say that this place still feels like my café home away from home.)

-Mocha: 8/10 (The mocha is a good balance. If someone is looking to get into coffee, this is a good start. You can still taste the espresso, but it doesn’t punch you in the taste buds like some mochas can. It does take a little bit of extra time to make – but they melt/mix the chocolate syrup with the espresso rather than just squirt the syrup into the bottom of the empty cup.)
-Chai: 8/10

(If you’re ever in Mankato, MN, check out the Coffee Hag – they were my café home away from home while I was in grad school. They are right up there with Kavarna.)

As I talked about in the bookstore crawl, my first encounter with this café was during college my freshman year when my workshop class would meet here with a smaller group. For this post, I’m focusing specifically on this place as a café. It’s a great spot to sit and write or read or chat with a friend. They have a full coffee/tea bar. Usually, they have a sandwich/brunch menu, though as of this writing, it’s temporarily suspended. They still have soup, salads, and tasty baked goods, though.

-Mocha: 7/10 (if you prefer your mocha to be more espresso than chocolate, this is it – also, the color is a lot darker than typical, so you know it’s not as heavy handed on the milk)
-Chai: 8/10 (it’s got a good spiced flavor to it!)

My first encounter with Copper Rock was actually in Appleton during their Mile of Music event (when a mile-long strip of venues – cafés, bars, street corners, etc. – bring in musicians to play all hours of the day and evening – for free. And no covers – it’s all original music.). When I heard they were opening a location here in Green Bay, I was excited. At first, I didn’t know they were opening as Copper State, a brewery, that would have a Copper Rock coffee bar across from their regular bar. The vibe isn’t quite the same as the one in Appleton (because of the actual bar and the restaurant), but there is a corner with a couch and a couple chairs that are comfy to sit in for a few hours to read or write and sip on a chocolate chai frappe.

-Mocha: 5/10 (it’s a good mocha – just typical)
-Chai: 5/10 (Their chais are powdered, though they have a couple options – regular, vanilla, chocolate, decaf. I usually get a chocolate chai frappe when I come here, but I tried the regular chai latte. It had a good flavor, and it’s a bit ‘creamier’ in consistency than a normal chai.)

I’ve only been to this place a couple of times. It’s downtown, and if I’m going downtown, I’m going to Kavarna. *shrugs* But a friend brought me here the first time, and then I returned when I was attending an event across the street. There’s isn’t a whole lot of seating in the café, but there is a ‘spirits lounge’ right across from it that is under their umbrella, as well as a small patio with a couple tables (accessed from the lounge).

-Mocha: 5/10 (typical mocha)
-Chai: 3/10 (tasted like gently spiced oat milk – not much chai flavor at all)

Make sure you check websites or call ahead to verify if hours have changed.