I have been a coffee addict since high school. It started when my dad made pots of coffee each Sunday, and since I was the only child out of five still living at home, I would help him polish off a pot or two. I loved the coffee jitters. In college I was equipped with a massive mug that gave me unlimited access to cafeteria coffee. I owe this bottomless mug some credit in my achievement of a bachelor's degree because it kept me warm on the freezing walks to class and it kept me up for late night studying. I also started drinking espresso-based drinks at Tabula and Urban Stampede in Grand Forks. The coconut latte was my standard study drink. While in France one summer, I purchased a stove top espresso maker, and for the past eight years, few mornings have gone by that I haven't made myself a coffee drink with this same dirty Moka pot.
When I moved to central Phoenix a few years ago, I discovered that all this time I had been missing something: outstanding coffee. Lux Coffeebar is where I found out how coffee is supposed to look, taste, and smell. The espresso is truly perfection, with or without milk, flavorings, ice, etc. The baristas at Lux clearly know what they're doing. Before covering your drink with a huge spoonful of homemade whipped cream, they'll give you a glimpse of the leaf design made with the froth, evidence that the milk has been frothed perfectly since it can hold the shape. It's a shame to hide the design, yet the whipped cream is as delectable as the latte so I can never pass it up. Lux roasts their own beans, a process that is on display behind the sugar and straws, and the smell permeates the coffee shop and spills out onto the patio of picnic tables, shared with Pane Bianco.
My favorite Saturday mornings in Phoenix included a trip to the downtown farmer's market followed by a Velvet Latte at Lux and a stroll through Steele Indian School Park. There were occasional weekdays I would get up extra early to ride the bus over to Lux and drink my tasty beverage while riding the Light Rail to work, thereby increasing my normal 10 minute commute to roughly 90 well-worth-it minutes.
The atmosphere in Lux is the kind one never wants to leave. Local art is the main decor, with worn-in hipster furniture inviting one to curl up on the couch and feel at home. The staff possibly never changes, so it's clear this is much more than a job to them; they're doing what they love to do everyday. They have fun, they BS with their customers, they play Sufjan Stevens music, and they make their customers want to be regulars.
I should probably attribute some of my master's degree to to Lux since many late night dates with my laptop were spent there. There is nowhere I would have rather been. Once I sat down at the only available spot and realized that directly across from me was Mayor Phil Gordon being interviewed. He's obviously a fan too. I ran into Chris Bianco a couple of times on his days off. Even though he's next door five days out of the week, he still must love it enough to hang out there on Sundays. I can't count the times my friend Mindy and I would talk for hours while her daughter dragged half of the toy shelf onto the outside patio for entertainment. I love that Lux is kid-friendly, dog-friendly, eco-friendly, pretty much friendly to all!
As I write this, I am drinking a homemade cafe au lait that's not very good, and wishing it was my favorite coffee drink in the world, Lux's Velvet Latte.
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