Driftless Appetite

In Platteville last week, we noticed this coffee shop, Badger Brothers.  We knew the name as the brand of coffee served at the  Old Royal Inn in Mineral Point.  We stopped in a got a cup of their coffee of the day (Ethiopian Yergacheffe).  The coffee was wonderful, and not even Leslie getting lipstick all over the cup could ruin my enjoyment.  The inside of the shop was really cozy and the staff were very friendly– even when it took me 2 minutes to decide what size coffee I wanted.  We did a little research once we got home and it’s clear that the owners take their coffee very seriously.  They, of course, offer Fair Trade & Rainforest Alliance coffees (both prerequisites for independent coffee shops I believe).  Beyond that, though, they seem to be passionate about quality.  And even more importantly, it appears they follow through on this passion because I’ve had quite a few cups of their coffee without ever getting a bad roast (I can’t say that of too many coffee roasters).  Besides, their Sivetz Single Pass Fluid Bed roaster is a thing of beauty.  I love it because 1) it was clearly designed by an engineer with no thought to aesthetics and 2) fluid bed roasters are the best way to produce the sweet, lighter bodied cup I prefer.

I don’t know how many locations serve their coffee (like I said, I know Mark serves it at the Old Royal Inn in Mineral Point).  You can, of course go right to their cafe in Platteville.  But you also have the option of ordering whole or ground beans from their website (linked above).