My Midwest road trip was planned primarily around the wonderful landscapes of Lakes Michigan and Superior. However, when deciding my route, I did take into account the availability of good coffee, Marquette, on Lake Superior’s southern shore, being a prime example. Located roughly a day’s drive east of my previous stop, Duluth, and big enough to have a decent selection of cheap hotels, what swung it was Velodrome Coffee Co, whose presence I was alerted to by an article in Sprudge, written by friend of the Coffee Spot, The Pourover.

Velodrome is a coffee shop and roastery which opened on 29^th August, 2017, occupying a lovely spot on West Washington Street, on the way into downtown. All the coffee’s roasted on-site by a tiny 1 kg gas-fired roaster located in an equally tiny roastery space off to the right of the main area, visible through a hatch in the wall. Velodrome only roasts single-origins, served as espresso-based drinks through a single-group Modbar or as filter via either batch-brew (fast coffee) or Clever Dripper (slow coffee). There’s also a small selection of cakes. If you’re also looking for somewhere to stay, there’s a loft apartment upstairs over the shop and a smaller studio at the back.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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Velodrome Coffee Co is on the south side of West Washington Street, one of several running east-west on the hills behind downtown Marquette, easily accessible from the main through-route, US 41. There’s plentiful on-street parking, or alternatively, you can park to the rear of the building.

Occupying the ground floor of a standalone two-storey building, it’s an Interesting space, with a main area, flanked by two smaller areas, one to each side. You enter from the street via a central, recessed door between two windows, each with a two-person window bar. To your left, a doorway leads to the first of the two spaces, while beyond that is a small set of retail shelves, followed by the counter, with the cakes and till facing the door. The pour-over set-up is against the left-hand wall, while opposite that, on the right-hand side, gleams a single Modbar group head and its associated steam wand.

On the right-hand side, after the window-bar, a hatch looks into the roastery, followed by a two-person bar against the wall. Beyond this, a doorway lead into the second space, with a single five-person table in the corner, arranged around an L-shaped bench, while at the front, another doorway leads into the roastery. There’s a second hatch here, looking into the roastery, with a single window-bar arrangement, so you can watch the 1 kg roaster in action. It really is a mini-roastery in there, complete with sacks of green beans and a bagging area for the roasted coffee. Given its small capacity, the roaster is in almost continuous operation.

The remaining seating is in the space to the left, where three two-person tables fold out from the walls. One is at the front, with one each against the left- and right-hand walls. There’s storage space for a bike or two in here, plus a restroom at the back.

Velodrome roasts four or five single-origins on a seasonal basis for use both in the coffee shop and for wholesale customers. While I was there, a Papua New Guinea was on batch-brew and cold-brew/iced coffee, while a Guatemala Francisco Morales and decaf Colombian were available on both espresso and through the Clever Dripper, where they were also joined by two further options.

There’s a simple menu, with espresso, Americano and cappuccino/latte (8/12oz), but Velodrome will also make smaller milk drinks if you ask, so I started off with a cortado served in a small glass jar, which was just the right size. I’ve been used to sweet flat whites in the UK, but on this trip I’m finding more of a bite/edge to the coffee. I don’t know whether this is due to the difference in size between a flat white and a cortado (less milk = less sweet) or a tendency to roast slightly darker, but I’m enjoying the contrast.

Intrigued, I decided to the Guatemalan as an espresso, which was served on a wooden tray with the offer of a glass of soda water (I already had some in my Therma Cup). It was lovely, with a rich, complex taste that defeated both my palate and vocabulary in my attempts to describe it.  However, it had the same elements that I tasted in the cortado.

Since I figured this would be my only good coffee of the day, I decided to risk caffeine-overload and had the Guatemala as a Clever Dripper, wanting to compare all three options. As a filter, it was very different, more delicate and subtle, maturing delightfully as it cooled. Had my barista, Kelly, told me it was a different coffee, I’d have believed her!

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