(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Bored? Don't fret, here are a few things for you to do this evening:

‎#TNTINW is going down at Coeur at 7pm. This is the Thursday Night Throwdown, where baristi from the Inland Northwest (TNT and INW -- get it?) participate in various coffee-based challenges, be it brewing or latte art or whatever. More importantly, you get to taste the results, so there is little reason why you wouldn't want to check this out. You can follow the throwdowns on Facebook too.

Jones Radiator is having their Firkin Fest at 6pm. Here there will be four cask aged beers -- aka firkins -- available for tasting, from New Belgium, Iron Goat, Odin, and Two Beers.

And as a follow up, Iron Goat's trivia night takes place at 7:30pm. Address is 2204 E Mallon.

(Oh, and you've probably already heard, but West Wing has closed. So don't go there tonight.)

 

So everyone knows the Satellite -- this is pretty much it if there is such a thing as a downtown Spokane hole in the wall institution. 

On the off chance you haven't visited the Satellite, this is what you can expect: Not a whole lot as far as face value goes. Really, bags of Franz buns are stacked in plain sight, alongside bags of pre-shredded cheese. In that sense there is little to differentiate the Satellite from most diners -- this is not a crazy, creative type of diner at all.

Yet, there's something to be said for good, honest diner food, and the Satellite does that perfectly well. Be it the need for a hangover cure or a 3am pick-me-upper, you can find perfectly acceptable biscuits and gravy here. The biscuit (apparently homemade) is smothered in a gravy (I can't help but suspect a package was involved here) and really, that's all there is to it. Again, perfectly acceptable, though not up there with Sultan Bakery's take on the dish, which frankly is the benchmark for biscuits and gravy in our minds and hearts. (Stop by the next time you're heading to the west side.)

The hot wings are pretty average, as are the omelets. In fact, the Satellite is pretty much the definition of average, but there's nothing really wrong with that. I can't recall ever hearing anyone downright disliking the place, because, really, there is nothing to dislike. The food is perfectly acceptable, and the location and opening hours -- it doesn't close until 4 am -- are hard to beat.

We do enjoy the Satellite, despite us tossing variations of "average" around here quite a bit. It's not a mindblowing diner, but it certainly has its place, and Spokane is better off for having this spot downtown. 

I would like to say fall is in the air, but, let's face it, that'd be a lie. That hasn't stopped breweries from releasing their fall seasonals, and New Belgium's Red Hoptober is right up there as one of our favorites so far. This is a well balanced red, as the name suggests, and it's the perfect sipper for sitting outside, pretending there's a chill in the air.

It pours a dark red -- I know, right?! -- with a frothy head and generous lacing. A very nice, fall looking sight it is. Give it a whiff and you'll pick up on malts straight off, followed by some gentle whispers of hops. A bit of fruitiness is apparent toward the back.

eaThe Red Hoptober truly is a well balanced beer, something you'll notice from the first sip. The hops hit a bit harder than the nose would suggest, but the malts are right there to let you know everything will be OK. They play off each other, one never dominating the other, and the sweet, smooth finish makes this a very drinkable beer.

It measures in at 6% ABV: low enough to make it a session beer, high enough to give it a backbone.

I really enjoyed Red Hoptober. As far as a six pack beer goes, it's nigh perfect. The somewhat sad part is it'd probably be even better with real Autumn like weather outside. Maybe Kent Brockman was right.

Either way, go grab a Red Hoptober. It's good stuff.

Update: Registration is now live!

You like coffee; we like coffee; INDABA definitely likes coffee, and we can only assume the idea for SpoCUP came about when the West Central coffee spot added those three simple facts together. What is SpoCUP? Well, let's give you the breakdown!

What? A Spokane coffee crawl! You walk/bike/skate/jog/dance/however-you-get-from-A-to-B through five of Spokane's finest coffee shops.

When? Saturday, October 20th. The crawl starts at INDABA, 3pm, and ends at Boots Bakery, 6pm.

Where? Indaba, Coeur, Luxe, Atticus, and Boots. We love them all and so do you!

What's in it for me? You'll receive a commemorative Passport listing the participating coffee shops, as well as a t-shirt. Visit as many of the spots as you can between 3pm and 6pm to gain stamps in your Passport. The more stamps you gather, the more raffle tickets you'll receive to win some awesome prizes from SpoCUP sponsors. No purchases necessary at the stops, but 10% of sales will go to Big Table, to help support those in Spokane's service industry. Plus who doesn't want to get buzzed on coffee or other beverages? The raffle will be held at Boots Bakery, the final stop of the event.

How much? Sign-up will be available at Big Table's website, $20 per person. You can also sign up at the event for $30. This will get you a t-shirt as well as the commemorative Passport.

You said prizes? You will get a ticket for each spot you visit during the crawl. In addition, a special prize will be given to the first person to arrive at Boots after visiting all the coffee shop. Yes, it's also a coffee race! Prizes will be provided by the fine folks at REI, as well as other local sponsors.

And that's about the gist of it! We think the idea is great, and huge props to INDABA for coming up with the idea for such an awesome event.

There is plenty more information yet to come, but we hope you already are as excited about SpoCUP as we are. We can't think of a better event for those of us who like coffee and want to support Spokane's service workers.

Update: Registration is now live!