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CAFFEINE CRAWLING THROUGH BOULDER, CO. AND KANSAS CITY, MO. IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, CAFFEINE CRAWL headed west for its first walking version of the coffeehouse tour event organized and produced by Kansas City's the LAB. The college town of Boulder played host to Colorado's first Caffeine Crawl, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect for coffee drinking. Around 100 ticket holders met as a group on Pearl Street at the start of the Crawl, each receiving goodie bags comprised of sponsor-donated treats from Barista Magazine, Offero Coffee Cups, Two Leaves and a Bud, Wholesome Sweeteners, Yelp, Boca Java, and Koffee Kompanions. The event route stretched from the west side to east end of Pearl Street, with stops dotted along the historic strip. Boxcar Coffee Roasters showed off its custom-built brew system by highlighting characteristics of the company's single-origin coffees. Co-owner Vaj Rich built the brewers and refurbished the shop's 1920s roaster. At the Cup, a tray of banana-nut bread to be paired with iced Kyoto and Toddy brews awaited Crawlers. The Laughing Goat Coffeehouse hosted a question-and-answer session with owner Johnny Jenkins and Mark Overly of Kaladi Brothers Coffee, while Crawlers sipped Americanos. Ozo Coffee Roasters brewed a single-origin coffee with different methods to encourage side-by-side taste comparisons. And Piece, Love and Chocolate (PL&C;) helped balance the intake of coffee drinks by serving sipping chocolate. The Crawl ended with an outdoor raffle from which proceeds went to Environment for the Americas. The top prize was a Baratza Vario-W Goodie bags are hardly the only perk of a ending one of the popular Caffeine Crawl events organized by Kansas City's the LAB; a endees at these cross-country affairs tour a selected city's best cafés, meet roasters and baristas, try an assortment of quality coffee drinks, and are guided through the whole thing by industry experts. (But the goodie bags are pre y awesome, too.) grinder. Boca Java and Boulder Organic Coffee played host and kept people entertained and fueled through the last brew. The next weekend, Kansas City, Mo. hosted its second Crawl. In order to capture the city's rapidly growing specialty-coffee scene, the Caffeine Crawl was held over two days. All 200 tickets sold out weeks before the event. Stay tuned to www.caffeinecrawl.com for news about the eight cities the LAB plans to host Caffeine Crawls in during 2013! —Julie Levitt and Jason Burton www.baristamagazine.com 25