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Lead slingin' Parrot Head |
This paper is decidedly Left leaning and caters to that demographic... but when they aren't promoting some Leftist agenda thing they tend to focus on local culture, sub culture, music, entertainment, night life, and food/ restaurant reviews so you can get an idea what's going on in the local scene. I've passed by this place hundreds of times over the years but it's under new owners and this must be a new 'menu item' for them because I've never seen the new name or signs or heard about it until reading this article. Probably not my cup of coffee, but it's on the way to a lot of public lands outdoor activities and places to shoot, so it may not be as wild an idea as it first appears. Might be worth stopping by just to check them out and seeing what they've got for ammo and what they're charging, the next time I go up the mountain. ========================= Tiffany & Bullets at the historic Ute Inn Matthew Schniper Dec 8, 2021 "They had me at “text ‘ammo’ to Murf.” Those are the instructions on a printed one-sheet for initiating an ammunition purchase from Elijah Murphy, owner for the past eight years of the nearly 80-year-old Historic Ute Inn. You can get that sheet from a barista working at Tiffany and Bullets — the name of the newly overhauled dining room attached to the Ute that was turned into a coffee counter in August. T&B derives its name from Murphy and his wife Karen’s two pups, a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Rottweiler. The java arm doesn’t function as a retail ammo shop, with boxes of bullets stacked in sight alongside coffee equipment. In fact, if you aren’t paying attention you might miss the ammo element altogether. That is, if you overlooked the banner strung out front, showing a pile of bullets alongside pictures of breakfast fare. Confession No. 1: When I realized I was standing inside perhaps the first of its kind coffee/ammo shop, my knee-jerk judgment was, “OK, Woodland Park, you can sit down now.” But when I reach Murphy by phone, he points to recent demographic studies that say Teller County is the eighth most armed county in the U.S. “It’s a big sport up here,” he says. “I’m trying to help fulfill people’s needs.” Tiffany and Bullets at the historic Ute Inn 204 W. Midland Ave., Woodland Park, 719-687-1465, facebook.com/uteinn Murphy cites the ongoing ammunition shortage (despite all-time-high production) and says that thanks to his 20 years of military service, he “has connections.” So the decision to brand T&B as an ammo depot was far from shtick, but the result of a serious look at the Ute’s prospects as it adjusts around the pandemic’s challenges. Selling 9mm rounds in addition to mochas makes sense even if they’re odd bedfellows; it’s diversification of revenue streams. Picturing a white-girl pumpkin latte opposite a gun holster may feel too far-fetched, but it shouldn’t be hard to imagine a coffee thermos in a hunter’s backpack. Further proof that the concept’s not a gimmick, Murphy has consulted with longtime Springs outfit Colorado Coffee Merchants, who helped them procure a legit Nuova Simonelli machine and provides the beans for it. As evidenced by a breve with a splash of rose syrup I order (velvety with a hint of floral) and a spiced chai tea (rich and sweet with a gingerbread finish) the drinks are well made and at a respectable craft level. Coffee drinks are available all day, and you can order a morning Bloody Mary or other hooch drink from the Ute at T&B’s counter anytime; the businesses are basically seamless. Murphy had tried breakfast service when he first bought the business but found it a money-loser, so he’s testing it once again with T&B’s, with items like a breakfast burrito and huevos rancheros, plus a crêpe menu that continues with the Ute’s full menu past the 11 a.m. close of the other breakfast list. Breakfast begins at 7 a.m. and the whole enterprise is currently only open Thursdays through Sundays. As serious as he is about T&B’s coffee, Murphy says they’re passionate about great food. Surprising me with a reference that I certainly didn’t expect (to Japanese author Masaru Emoto’s experiments around how negative and positive words altered ice crystals’ molecular structure), Murphy says “try doing that with food ... we keep a positive attitude that I call making the food with love.” Wait ... seriously? The guy who’s brought coffee with a side of ammo to the world just got all hippie-dippie on me and started talking about good vibes? WTF?! “Hey, I’m following science on that one — the microscope doesn’t lie,” he says. Crêpes and coffee are served all day. Courtesy Tiffany and Bullets Confession #2: This was not the story I expected. Much as I anticipated I might be calling a Woody P gun-nut or conspiracist (I mean, surely you’ve seen the flags flying from pickup trucks up the pass), instead, this mysterious “Murf” has turned out to be a fine food and drink lover like me, sounding quite rational and genuinely community-minded. “I want our customers to be happy,” he says. Still, we should appreciate the novelty of a place where in the same instant you’re procuring a butter pecan frappe, you can ask for a thousand rounds of .40 caliber S&W ammo. With that in mind, I’ve penned this list that certainly nobody asked for: “Yo, I’m gonna pop a cap in your ass! ... A cappuccino that is.” “Say, is the latte art here considered good marksmanship?” (Remember, macchiato means “marked” as an espresso drink with a scant touch of foam; it’s not the popular Starbucks drink, something often misunderstood by customers new to craft coffee shops.) “I guess this gives new meaning to pulling espresso shots.” “What, no bulletproof coffee on the menu?!” (If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a Keto thing, typically made with grass-fed butter and MCT oil floated atop drip coffee.) “Americano? Why not an Ammoricano.” Matthew Schniper Food & Drink Editor Matthew Schniper is the Food and Drink Editor at the Colorado Springs Indy. He began freelancing with the Indy in mid-2004 and joined full-time in early 2006, contributing arts, food, environmental and feature writing. | ||
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