179 WEST 900 SOUTH
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84101
(801) 222-7046
JOE EVANS, FOUNDER
DUFFY GALLIVAN, OWNER
No Brow Coffee Werks’ founder, Joe Evans, and specialty coffee have become interchangeable words in Salt Lake City. For the better part of two decades Joe has served the tired, thirsty, and early risers of Salt Lake City great coffee from roasters from around the country. In 2006 Joe founded No Brow in hopes of elevating the local coffee scene.
Early No Brow fans frequented the shop in its 3rd and 3rd location near Gourmandise and the old Atlas Architects office. Far from their beginnings in the humble (though large) warehouse-type room that lacked consistent heating and air-conditioning, you’ll now find Joe and owner Duffy Gallivan in the up-and-coming neighborhood of Central Ninth. The Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City currently invests much of its resources into the neighborhood in hopes of revitalizing it. No Brow sits in the middle of the efforts as a notable operation to draw other businesses.
No Brow carried a lot of momentum in their 3rd and 3rd location. Joe said the move came from a need for a better building, one that better fit the coffee they serve. On the No Brow shelf you’ll find local specialty roasters Blue Copper and Charming Beard Coffee alongside Intelligentsia (based in Chicago), Ritual (San Francisco), Commonwealth (Denver), and others in an ever-changing roster rotation of great coffees.
Most coffee shops have a shelf of synthetic flavors lining the walls—blueberry, vanilla, hazelnut, and the list goes on. No Brow generally likes to keep it pretty basic and pure. After all, their goal is to source great coffee, so why dilute it with heavy synthetic syrups? Let the coffee speak for itself. That said, they offer a house vanilla simple syrup free of the high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives one usually finds in such flavors. It’s simple and tastefully done, much like No Brow Coffee Werks.
(SERVES 10–12)
2 cups water
½ cup sugar (unbleached organic)
4 allspice berries
8 cloves
2–3 cinnamon sticks
1¾ cups orange juice
¾ cup lemon juice
1 quart apple juice
Combine water, sugar, and spices in a large pot or crock pot and bring to a simmer. Add in fresh juices. You can leave the wassail on the heat, ready to serve, or chill it and reheat at your convenience; it should keep for a week or more.
Note: No Brow uses fresh-squeezed citrus in the shop. They strain the whole mix through a fine mesh sieve.
I got a version of this recipe from my mother, and she got it from hers. Everyone in the family puts their own twist on it (I use fresh juice and more orange/less lemon), and my aunt adds pineapple juice. I’ve had people mention that they have had a similar version with apricot nectar. It’s a fun recipe to mess with. and there’s no right or wrong way to do it, just be mindful not to scald it. If you like a little more punch to it, reduce the water by a little and serve it with a splash of bourbon or brandy.
SPECIALTY COFFEE
As with every sub-scene that exists under the dining banner, specialty coffee is rising.
Stumptown started a new wave for coffee in 1999 along with Intelligentsia and Counter Culture in the category largely dominated by Starbucks. Cultivating a thirst for ethically traded beans and superior presentation, taste, and conscience in roasting and sourcing, coffee’s third wave found a home in Utah.
Local roasters like Charming Beard Coffee Roasters, Publik, and Blue Copper along with aesthetically pleasing and coffee connoisseur favorites like No Brow Coffee Werks, The Rose Establishment, and Cafe D’Bolla all work together to elevate Utah’s coffee scene to a level that Utah residents from ten years ago wouldn’t even recognize. Who would have thought that cups of coffee would sell for $5 and twelve-ounce bags of whole beans for $25? Salt Lake City’s embrace of specialty coffee takes a perfect snapshot of Utah’s elevating scene.