Moonflower Coffee Is Making Its Debut at Full Tank Food Park October 13

Sam Salomon and Jason Haygarth met in 2019 while working as baristas at the same coffee shop in Altadena, California. Neither had any coffee experience at the time, but the two quickly fell in love with the culture — and each other. Just over four years later, they decided to take that love to the streets by opening their own mobile coffee catering cart, Moonflower.

On Friday, October 13, the cart will officially debut at its new permanent home, Full Tank Food Park at 4200 West Colfax Avenue. The project is the latest from Danny Newman, who also took over ownership of My Brother's Bar and the Mercury Cafe in recent years. Moonflower's opening is phase one; phase two will be the addition of food trucks, and once its liquor license is approved, Full Tank will open a bar cart, as well.

Salomon originally got the barista job to help pay for college, while Haygarth wanted to dip his toes into the coffee world. "I wasn’t expecting to build a passion," says Haygarth. "That primarily happened when the pandemic hit — for some people, I was the only person they were interacting with for the whole entire day. As baristas, we’re the end of the story for coffee. It travels thousands of miles, gets roasted, and it’s up to us to make sure it’s an enjoyable experience. We try to do that for every cup."
With that goal in mind, the couple built out a mobile cart and a teardrop trailer with the help of Haygarth's father and friend and carpenter Brent Sharp. Moonflower debuted with a soft launch in January for friends and family in SoCal. Shortly thereafter, the couple moved to Denver, a place Salomon and Haygarth had visited just once before. "I’d never lived outside of California, and I wanted to experience living outside of my home state," Salomon says. "It was a very millennial move."

In April, they took the cart to their first gig as Colorado residents, but business through the summer was slow. "There was so much doubt involved, we were wondering if we made the right decision. It almost got to the point where we were so homesick and missing friends and family that we were ready to move back," recalls Haygarth.

Then everything changed. "Our catering blew up, and the next day, after we decided to stay, Full Tank reached out to us," Salomon says.

"[Danny] has tons of exciting ideas, and to be honest, we feel lucky that we’re along for the ride," says Haygarth.

"It feels like we belong now," adds Salomon.

At Full Tank, Moonflower's cart will be located inside the main building, where there is plenty of seating and space to hang out, similar to a regular coffee shop. "We're a mobile coffee cart with a permanent location," notes Salomon. As such, storage is limited, and they still have to report to a commissary kitchen before and after service each day.
"It’s going to be a lot work, but I think it will be worth it," say Haygarth. "I would say we’re a 'for here, in a to-go cup' kind of coffee shop."

The business is named for the moonflower, which blooms only at night and "reminds us of the wonder that lies beyond convention," according to Moonflower's website. "Our mission is to add that touch of wonder to any occasion by brewing beautiful coffee."

Moonflower has partnered with Servant Coffee Roasters to pair specialty coffee with unique flavors inspired by Salomon and Haygarth's Asian heritages. In addition to a full espresso menu, it also serves drinks like an ube latte and a black sesame mocha.

The coffee cart will celebrate its opening day on October 13 with a party set to begin after the regularly scheduled coffee service, complete with a DJ spinning funk and soul records from 5 to 9 p.m. Haygarth will be slinging off-menu espresso martinis and dragonfruit margaritas. And from noon to 8 p.m., What's Happening Catering and Maiz Denver will be selling food on site, with pastries available from Riceboxx Denver.

Moonflower at Full Tank Food Park is located at 4200 West Colfax Avenue and will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday. For more information, visit moonflowercoffee.co.