Mugs Coffee Lounge is located at the corner of College Avenue and Olive Street. If you make a visit, aim for the north west corner of that intersection. You could watch for the Mugs signs on
their windows and over their doorway, but more than likely you'll miss them entirely. (They're rather hard to see, especially behind the tall trees along College.) But once you're there you'll find Mugs to be a very pleasant, slightly bohemian sort of café that serves not only a wide variety of drinks but a large selection of edibles as well.
Mugs carries two brands of chai,
Third Street Chai (made in Boulder) and
Big Train Inc. Chai (made in
Foothill Ranch, California). They bill the former as a spicy chai and the latter as a sweet chai. Kendra got the Third Street Honey Vanilla Chai, which wasn't so spicy after all (and seemed to be made with a bit too much milk as it wasn't overly flavorful in general). Meg got the Big Train chai which was made with a beautiful steaming mug design in the foam.
Mugs has a plethora of other drinks available as well and we would be remiss if we didn't at least touch upon the broad selection that they carry. Not only do they serve 6 different fresh fruit smoothies, but they have 3 power smoothies, 4 juice blends, 7 "blendies" (one includes brownies), specialty lattes, and the usuals when it comes to tea and coffee.
And their food selection, while including foods that you might expect like bagels and sandwiches, also includes a fair bit of vegan fare (a rarity in Fort Collins, the land of cattle and wild game hunters) as well as many gluten free variations.
Mugs is also unique in that they run their own hydroponic garden in the basement of the cafe. The fresh veggies (and wheatgrass, as pictured to the left) are used in the foods (and drinks) that they serve. Can't get much fresher than that.
There's also an over all environmental ethic throughout the store, from a bag of trash hanging from the ceiling (representing the amount of trash produced from consuming only one cup of coffee every other day for a year in paper cups), to to-go smoothie cups that are compostable as well as bikes and bike-related paraphernalia used as general café decorations.
Local and organic products are used when possible (including the hydroponically grown food which fits smartly into both of those categories). And there's also a strong feeling of support for community needs and events. Mugs has
a long list of local charitable giving and they host a bulletin board where community events can be announced.
Free wifi is available in the cafe and there are several desktop computers (in equal numbers of macs and pcs) that are available for walk up use. The basement, in addition to hosting the indoor garden, also has a large room which can be reserved for group meetings.
Depending on the time of day, street parking may be a bit hard to come by (though I've never had to park more than a block away), but there are several bike racks around the outside of the cafe, and for those who work or live in Old Town, Mugs is a convenient destination to walk to.
| small | medium | large |
| Chai | $3.75 | $4.00 | $4.25 |
visit date: 30 January 2009
they add the tax in your order, 
