First Look: Commonwealth Coffee Roasters Open First Retail Coffee Shop in Park Hill

Apparently yesterday was national coffee day. So we found it coincidentally great timing to visit Commonwealth’s new coffee shop at 5225 East 38th Avenue in Park Hill, where every day is coffee day. The wholesale roastery is not new to Denver; owners Jason Farrar and Ryan Fisher are ready to celebrate three...

By Chelsea Keeney

September 30, 2016

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Apparently yesterday was national coffee day. So we found it coincidentally great timing to visit Commonwealth’s new coffee shop at 5225 East 38th Avenue in Park Hill, where every day is coffee day. The wholesale roastery is not new to Denver; owners Jason Farrar and Ryan Fisher are ready to celebrate three years in business this fall, but the two just opened the Commonwealth retail coffee shop on Monday.

The coffee shop is located in the same space as the roastery, where customers will find a cozy, clean atmosphere in which to grab a drink or stay and work at the community table or coffee bar. Farrar and Fisher say they wanted to open a retail space from the beginning, but it just took a lot longer than they had anticipated. While Farrar’s background is in roasting, Fisher owned a coffee shop in Austin and now focuses on distribution and retail sales.

“What we love is people and sharing coffee with people," Fisher says. "A coffee shop allows us to brew our coffee to the quality we want it to be made.”

“It makes the whole process from start to finish accessible to our customers," adds Farrar.

The two met while working in coffee in Austin, but moved to Denver when they decided to team up. As with most coffee companies in Denver, Commonwealth has had nothing but a positive experience here. Farrar reflects back on when they first started: “It was still a pretty open market even just three years ago. But what I think is really special in Denver is that we are all working for the greater good of coffee. We are all elevating the expectation together and supporting each other.”

The coffee shop serves espresso drinks as well as pour-over and drip coffee, all rotating from Commonwealth's selection of beans. For something other than coffee, loose-leaf teas from San Francisco's Song Tea are available. Simple breakfast items will soon be added to the menu, and you might even find the shop hosting a latte-art throwdown in the near future.

Commonwealth is now open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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