Eats & Beats: Migas Coffee

The following is an excerpt of the conversation heard above:

Marisol Jurado: So Alex and I have been friends for a long time, probably like 12, 13 years..

Alex Merriex: Real long time..

MJ: We met in college, but we've been good friends for the last decade, and I have always liked coffee. I got sober in 2018 and after I got sober, I started drinking a lot more coffee and I started connecting with people over a cup of coffee rather than going out and partying with them. And it just very quickly took over my personality and I became a barista, and I reached out to Alex, and I asked if he would be interested in starting a coffee shop with me. Alex is such a community member, and he loves connecting with people and hosting spaces for others and so it ended up being a really great collab for us where I have the passion of coffee and we both share that passion of building community and creating safe spaces for people.

Abi Clark: Right on! What work were you doing in the community? Or you just always been really active?

AM: I've just always been really active in this community. My dad worked at the rec center, Glen Recreation Center, for years, so I've always been a part of this community down here on the east side of Denver. So, it meant a lot to be able to open up a business down here. Besides that, I host a Pro-Am League here in the summer at Manuel High School. So just anything for this community I'm willing to do and want to make it grow.

AC: I love that. And you're building community one cup at a time here at Migas - What's the background of the name Migas Coffee?

MJ: It comes from the Spanish word, amigas, which means friends in Spanish. And so, our hope is, bring a friend, make a friend, let's be friends, really community focused. And then our tagline is to let us fill your cup. And part of that is filling your physical cup so that you can be caffeinated and drink some tea. But really, it's beyond that, really checking in on people and seeing people and having them feel a part of more than just a cup of coffee.

AC: I'd love to get into the menu in just a moment, but I want to talk about this space because it's my first time here at Green Spaces and it's highly collaborative, highly community oriented. I mean just even getting my cup of chai, we had people come through, regulars and some new folks. Tell me about this space and why you chose to be here.

AM: Jevon (Taylor) runs the space, a good friend of ours, and he's trying to bring that community back down to this side of town. With the changes over the, let's say the last 10 to 12 years, how groups of people have been displaced out of here. So, the whole big thing for Green Spaces is all about community and what wouldn't bold us better than having me being from here, Mari, who does work, the community who's all about community and community focus, have a business here. Once again, like I said, we welcome everyone here and just Jevon bringing this idea down here, it helped us be able to excel at this time.

MJ: And I will say that Jevon has a big mission to have more black and brown businesses inside of green spaces. And so we fit right into that brand and wanting to create black and brown spaces for the community. And it's going to be far more welcoming for we're the business owners and we're really passionate about creating a safe space. But overall, just kind of creating a community space for the community that we're both a part of. And especially Alex being from this area, his grandfather owned a home in Five Points and just really wanting to create safe spaces for our communities here.

AM: And then in regard to the menu, I give that all to Mari. She comes up with the cool names of the drinks. She is, I would say a drink-a-neer I guess, or drink concoction maker. She makes the best drinks. I would say she comes with the coolest, most unique names, they're catchy.. the people, our customers, love it and I give that all to Mari.

AC: So yeah, you started as a passion for yourself and now you're sharing it. Let's talk about some of the staples in the menu and then maybe what you're currently doing for your special menu around Valentine's Day.

MJ: So, we have three signature drinks that have been part of our specialty menu since day one. So, the first one is the Barista Baddie, which I have named after myself. I'm THE Barista Baddie, and we are the team of the Barista Baddies. All of us are baddies back behind the bar and the Barista Baddie is a brown sugar lavender oat milk latte, which you can do hot or ice by far the most popular thing that people order when they come to Migas. And then our other specialty drink is the Macha Mami, and it's an agave oat milk, matcha latte, also hot or iced - It's incredible, people love it. And then our third one, which it's nice, because we have a coffee latte, a macha latte, and then we have a tea and it's called the Honey Hibiscus - it's an iced elderberry hibiscus tea, and we sweeten it with an agave.

AC: And then you do coffee and some of the staples like chai like I'm drinking today. Marisol Jurado (06:01): So, we have coffee, chai, tea, and we do specialty coffee. So, we have lattes, cortados, cappuccinos, espresso, and then we also have mochas, lattes, and cold brew. We have a Lover's Menu right now for Valentine's Day. So, we tell people to be careful, they might fall in love with somebody here.

AM: Yes, we want you to fall in love with our menu and us!

MJ: Yes. Yeah. So, we are featuring an I Love You So Matcha, which is a strawberry matcha. And then we're also featuring a Fall In Love Latte, which is a rose cardamom latte - Both very good. They've been great additions to our menu and people are excited about it.

AC: So, I see there's somebody reading a book here and I heard something about a book club. Is that something you guys facilitate?

MJ: That must be a baddie over there! So, we just started a book club called Baddies Who Book Club and we get together every third Sunday of the month here at Migas Coffee at 10:00 AM

AC: Oh, right on! And then you read the book for a month or whatever and then switch out?

MJ: Yeah, we do a full read. So, by the time we get together, everybody has finished the book, we'll do a quick discussion and then we pick a new book for the next month.

AC: Oh, that's fun!  

MJ: So, if you're a baddie and you read, this is a great place to show up.

AC: Book baddies!

AM: Or if you don't read and you like to listen to it, you can audiobook it and still come. Everyone's a baddie. Everyone is welcome here.

Migas is also gearing up for their Spades Tournament in celebration of Black History Month happening February 23. For updates on special menus and other community-focused events, you can visit Migas Coffee or Instagram.

Migas Coffee is open Tuesday-Friday 8 a.m.- 2 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday 8 a.m. - 3 p.m., once winter is through, they will resume their regular Monday hours.

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