Monogram Coffee has opened the doors to a second location at 420 2nd Street, in the city’s downtown core.
Housed in a 1600 square foot space, the recently unveiled 60-seat coffee house continues to fuel Calgary’s caffeine culture by offering a variety of premium handcrafted beverages, which include espresso-based drinks, filtered coffee, and seasonal blends, which change every couple of months and currently includes a vanilla bean and cardamom concoction.
Non-caffeniated drinks include Monogram Coffee’s ever-popular London Fog, which is notoriously creamy and made with Earl Grey tea from Victoria, B.C.-based small-batch specialty tea importer Jagasilk. There’s also a chai latte made with real spices, and a hot chocolate comprised of melted down Valrhona 64 per cent dark chocolate.
Food wise, the new Fifth Avenue Place locale offers a range of baked goods, which are delivered daily by the recently opened Alforno Bakery and include flaky pastries, scones, muffins, and more. More substantial offerings include freshly toasted sourdough eats. Playing on Monogram Coffee’s unique and fun philosophy, the toast served up is no ordinary toast. Indeed, one option is topped with locally made spiced apple butter, labneh (think Greek yoghurt), and aged cheddar shavings.
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The thoughtfully designed downtown space sports quite a different look to the Altadore location. Co-owner Jeremy Ho remarks that the respective coffee houses “reflect the experience and community that they’re in.” While the Altadore location is quite minimalist in design, the new Fifth Avenue Place digs boast a fresh LA vibe, and features mint tiles, white oak accents, lots of greenery, and varied seating options, which include communal tables as well as individual seats.
One neat element of the new store front is the “honour bar,” which encourages customers that are in a hurry to pour their own filtered coffee from the taps provided. Once poured customers swipe their own card to pay.
Monogram Coffee
Address: 420 2nd Street S.W.
Hours: Monday to Friday 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Twitter: @monogramco
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