(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Breweries, wineries, and distilleries are popping up around like... nice looking weeds?... and bars all of a sudden are falling over themselves to put the latest limited edition beers on tap. Yes, times are good for booze hounds, so let's just kick this off with Best Brewery...

1	·	Iron Goat Brewing Company
2	(4)	No-Li
3	(1)	Laughing Dog Brewing
4	·	Selkirk Abbey
5	(3)	12 String Brewing Co.
6	(2)	Budge Brothers

And Iron Goat hits the top spot with a bullet, something they well deserve. Their Impaler Impaler IPA has already turned into a local favorite, and we expect to hear a lot more from this brewery over the next year.

No-Li has of course made a huge comeback this year, and some impressive marketing apparently has caught the minds and hearts of the voters, enough so that two time Best of... winner Laughing Dog was sent down to #3, closely followed by fellow North Idaho brewery Selkirk Abbey. With 12 String and Budge Brothers rounding out the top six, we're pretty impressed with the whole list. As with coffee, beer culture is starting to take root in Spokane.

1	-	Jones Radiator
1	(3)	Bon Bon
3	(4)	The Lantern Tavern
4	·	Manito Tap House
5	·	Boots Bakery & Lounge
6	(2)	The Hop Shop

Jones took this one home by a tiny fraction, so we decided fair is fair, and named both it and Bon Bon number one. One is better known for a great beer selection, the other for classic cocktails. In fact, it's interesting to see Jones, Lantern, Manito, and Hop Shop doing so well here -- a lot of people have opinions on which is the spot for beer in town, and as close as the vote was here, there really wasn't a clear answer. Had we kept the poll open for another week, the result could have looked different.

Finally, Boots hit another list with a bullet. Very impressive seeing they've only been open for a few months.

Next up: Best winery and coffee roaster.

Well, what do you know... Many of you are rather opinionated about food and libations in Spokane, and we think that's awesome. Hundreds of you voted, and we'll be revealing the top six in each category over the next few weeks, in addition to a bunch of other odds and ends that jumped out on us.

This year we put in place a voter threshold of 25% for each category, meaning a spot will only be counted if 1/4 of the voters in the category scored it. This wasn't much of a problem, but we will also feature a special list with spots that didn't hit the threshold, yet still received high averages.

For now, let's start with the two first categories: Best Bakery and Best Coffee Shop!

1	·	Boots Bakery & Lounge
2	(6)	Madeleine's Cafe
3	·	Chaps/Cake
4	- (4)	Petit Chat
5	(2)	Rockwood Bakery
6	·	Sweet Frostings. Blissful Bakeshop

(Granted, we split up bakeries and coffee shops this time, so last year's placings don't entirely make sense, but anyway...)

Boots hits number one with a bullet, and I doubt many would be surprised about it. Alison Collins's baked goods are fairly legendary, and it's great they now have a true brick and mortar bakery (and lounge!) dedicated to them.

Madeleine's made a good jump up, closely followed by Cake and the semi-newly expanded Petit Chat. Rockwood and Sweet Frostings rounded out a list without many surprises, but still serves as a good reminder of some good local bakeries we have in town.

As for the coffee shops...

1	·	Coeur Coffe
2	(1)	Atticus Coffee and Gifts
3	·	Boots Bakery & Lounge
4	(5)	INDABA Coffee
5	·	The Shop
6	·	Cannon Coffee & Cone

Coeur and Atticus fought it out pretty hard for a while, but Coeur ended up dominating pretty well in the end. Surprising? Not really; while us here at Team SpoCOOL hit both Atticus and INDABA fairly frequently -- as we all should -- Coeur really is our go-to spot.

Boots apparently has gathered its share of fans all around, just barely inching out INDABA. South Perry mainstay The Shop (making its SpoCOOL Best of... debut, after sitting at #7 for the past two years) and newly opened Cannon rounded out the list.

Have things changed a lot as far as coffee goes over the last year? We think so; the coffee scene really has improved in just the last six months, and we assume the contest will heat up even more over the next year, what with spots like Revel 77 hitting the scene.

Next up: Best brewery and best bar.

This has been one of my favorite winter seasonals over the last few years, and 2012 is no different. Deschutes might have hit a good home run with Jubelale this year, but I personally prefer the Powder Hound.

It's not much different from last year, and that is a-OK. A deep amber color, with a finger worth of head is the first thing you will notice, quickly followed by the hoppy and sweet nose.

Tasting, the mouthfeel seems to be a bit fuller this time around. The caramel and hops nicely massage the tongue in tandem, with a very light spiciness making itself known toward the back. In other words, this tastes much like last year's batch, but there seems to be a little bit more to the body.

Powder Hound weighs in at 7.2% ABV, though there is little here in terms of booziness. I wouldn't go so far as to call it a session beer, but it's probably not going to send you under the table either. Flavor wise it lends itself very well to being a sipper.

So, Powder Hound leads the winter seasonal pack for me so far. We'll see if any other ales can surpass it. It's a hard job, but somebody has to test all of this.

The South Hill has been a bit of a... less than ideal location... as far as good coffee goes, which is why we're happy to see Revel 77 opening its door. It's still early in the game -- they just soft opened this Saturday -- but we see little reason why you wouldn't want to check this place out already.

Because Revel 77 has many things going for it. Good coffee, most importantly, brewed using DOMA and Victrola during our visit. The cappuccino, for example, was excellent, reminiscent of some of the better ones we've had from Tim Wendelboe and Olympia Coffee Roasting Company. I'm unsure what kind of milk they use here, but it certainly went well in a cappuccino.

The Americano, too, showed some well pulled espresso shots. The barista recommended different type of beans for different types of coffee for each drink  and obviously knew what he was talking about. Everything seemed to run incredibly smoothly for being the first day.

So the coffee is good, and the vibe of the space is cool, too. Designed by the same people who did a great job with Fire, the light, airy interiors really are quite nice, and also functional as far as positioning of power outlets, etc. goes. Great stuff.

Finally, Revel 77 also sells KeepCups. We love KeepCups. We think you should... Well, maybe not love them, but at least be infatuated by them.

As far as Revel 77 goes, we're fans of them too. The opening suggests this could be a great addition to the South Hill. You probably should run over and check them out yourself.