there. There are several long tables for col- laborative work/study sessions, square two-seaters, a row of high chairs overlook- ing 16th Street, and some patio seating out front. Plus, the tables are spread out nicely, meaning you won’t be distracted by the next table’s conversation (and you’ll be less likely to get COVID from them). Order a nitro or a New Orleans-style iced coffee (cold brew with chicory and house-made vanilla, topped with cream), arrange your stuff on the table, and breathe in the freshly roasted tranquility. Time to get to work. EEEEE Wren House Brewing Company 2125 North 24th Street 602-244-9184 wrenhousebrewing.com what coffee can be. Innovative blends like a double espresso with milk and marzipan candy, or cold brew with nectarine, honey- suckle, and cream often come in stemless wine glasses when iced, hand-thrown ce- ramics when hot. Torres’ beans and whim- sical-yet-rigorous flavor weavings have deep roots in Mexico. Classics like cafe de olla and cajeta latte feel brand new. EEEEE Roastery of Cave Creek (Roc 2) 7003 East Cave Creek Road, Cave Creek 480-488-6060 roc2.coffee With two decades of roasting experience and some of the most sought-after roasting machinery in the world in his shop, Kansas transplant Dave Anderson and his Cave Creek crew roll out the red carpet for cof- fee beans, bringing them to their full pre- brew flavor. He started canning his nitro cold brew a few years ago. It has a deeply frothy head that could give Guinness a run for its money and such an astonishing ar- ray of lightly nutty, malty, fragrant flavors that it almost seems like you aren’t drink- ing coffee — until its buzz zaps you like a thunderbolt. Wake up with one of these, and a big day is pretty much guaranteed. EEEEE Native Coffee Co. nativecoffeeaz.com 196 Pulling up to this sky-blue, cloud-white, wood-paneled coffee trailer with a psyche- delic saguaro painted on its door feels like a block party. Whether they’re parked in their customary lot in downtown Tolleson or elsewhere, Raul Chavez and Brittany Martinez-Chavez sling their fun latte riffs to big crowds. They use Quetzal Co-Op coffee and mix espresso-based drinks like a Mexican hot chocolate mocha and a churro latte. Drinks are sweet and iced and giant, the best ones a touch or more crazy. The two also brew mean teas, some from Native Seeds/SEARCH, like prickly pear and desert mint. But the coffees deserve their star turn. They’re just so unique: Mexican in spirit with Akimel O’odham in- fluences and plenty of whimsy. EEEEE Tombstone Brewing North Moxie Coffee Co. 4626 North 16th Street, #101 623-230-3649 moxiecoffeeco.com The intersection of 16th Street and High- land Avenue is a chaotic one, packed with impatient motorists making their way to or from the State Highway 51 ramp a few blocks away. As of this year, though, you can escape to chill vibes inside Moxie Cof- fee Co., which opened up shop in May in- side one of the ground-level retail spaces beneath a luxury apartment complex called The Art on Highland. The coffee shop, owned by Matt Heltzel, is airy, white, and clean, with high ceilings and lots of natural light. It’s also large enough that we’ve never struggled to find a table to work, despite it always being fairly busy 3935 East Thomas Road 602-368-7295 tombstone.beer/tombstone-brewing-north We’re going to shoot straight with you here: Tombstone Brewing Company isn’t a new Arizona brewery. But it’s new to Phoe- nix. In October 2020, respected head brewer Weedy Weidenthal took over the fermentation tanks at the old Helio Basin Brewing, expanding the production and style capacity of Tombstone and giving this top-tier Arizona brewery a northern out- post. Tombstone is known largely for its dank, juicy, giant IPAs, doubles and triples with pleasant hoppy nuances despite their power. Tombstone’s range is total. From trendy pastry sours to old-school barley wines and English bitters, the brew crew cranks out reliably delicious beers. In the case of strong IPAs and special releases, they’re often spectacular. Little Wren has grown up. Once a small, charming, upstart brewery operating out of a cramped bungalow, Wren House has multiplied its production capacity with an off-site facility and has opened a biergarten in Prescott called The Prairie Patio. Even with all this, Wren House hasn’t taken even a half-step back in quality or lost a drop of charm. The IPAs leveled up a few years ago. More classic styles like pilsner (Valley Beer) remain first-rate, and Wren still makes what might be the state’s best stout in Jomax. So many classic styles are well executed. So many newcomers are still in- spired. Cheers to Wren taking flight. EEEEE The Shop Beer Co. 922 West First Street, Tempe 480-477-9212 theshop.beer One of the great things about The Shop is how excellent the patio is for kicking it with a brew or many, the hours draining away like the first-rate IPA and blonde la- ger. The patio’s casual, high-energy atmo- sphere is made for session drinking: long picnic tables, fun murals, trees wavering in the breeze. It’s all illuminated by hard des- ert sunlight by day and string lights by night. You couldn’t ask for a better place to attend church — crush a few cans of Church Music, that is — or sip the latest can in the brewery’s Neonic series, a line of fruited sours. Post-COVID, this patio is go- ing to be a blast. EEEEE Arizona Wilderness DTPHX 201 East Roosevelt Street 480-462-1836 azwbeer.com True statement: Everyone goes to Wilder- ness. The Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co.’s second location, the downtown Phoe- nix beer garden, turned out to be more suc- cessful than its first (which is saying something). Upon opening in spring 2019, it became instantly Phoenix-famous thanks to its biggest draw — the patio. This outdoor beer garden is massive, covered with a thick sunshade, and bird-friendly. (During the pandemic, the team installed native plants to attract native birds and bugs, embracing the brewery’s name.) In- side, you’ll find cold pints of Refuge, the “flagship IPA incepted in our founder’s ga- rage,” the DON’T F#%K IT UP Blonde Ale, the water-conserving, Belgian-style wit- bier Sonora White, and many more signa- ture brews (as well as cocktails and above-average bar food, heavy on Arizona ingredients). EEEEE Helton Boysenberry Sour 2144 East Indian School Road 602-730-2739 heltonbrewing.com Longtime craft beer maestro Todd Helton uses 88 pounds of Oregon boysenberries BEST OF PHOENIX 2021 | WWW.BESTOFPHOENIX2021.C0M | SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 B DE AS Y-DRINKING EW ERY F T B R OR f o o d & dr i nk B E S T B R EW ERY B E S T B EER G A RD EN B R B E EW S T NEW ERY B E S T CR A FT B EER B S ORK A ESH T OP T W CO B E S T C OLD C OF F EE FFE E O T B E S T M OBIL E C OF F EE
