Amber Danneman took over ownership of Canyon Coffee on March 1, 2023. This means that all three businesses in the building, Canyon Coffee, Intuition Massage and Mountain Aire Hair are now women owned. The new restaurant, Baboozas, just up the road, is also woman-owned. This new opportunity fulfills a lifelong dream for Danneman to have a bakery and coffee shop. She owned her first espresso machine at age 13.
Danneman came to this business naturally. Her mother managed the coffee shop at Iowa State University and her grandfather and mother were both bakers. She brings a degree in food science and experience working in many aspects of the food industry to the local coffee shop.
Canyon Coffee features great baked items and specialty coffee drinks. While breakfast burritos and coffee are constant, flavors and types of baked items are changing weekly to daily. Along with the variety in baked goods there are almost always gluten-free house baked options, but also vegan offerings from outside sources. One can almost always find a flavor of the day sourdough cinnamon roll, homemade soup, and a featured latte. It is always exciting to go in and look into the case to see Danneman’s latest blend of flavors! Andy, owner of Mountain Broadband, called the scones “the best scones in the West!” When he is up the hill he gets scones to bring home to his wife.
Danneman does not feel that she is in competition with any other business in the canyon as she describes her fare as “quick grab n’ go.” Yet her wish for the future is to be a community hub where people can gather and meet each other. She describes the Coal Creek Community as the most supportive she has ever experienced. When her current espresso machine had a defective part just before the weekend, a community member who didn’t even buy coffee at the shop as he roasts his own, brought in one of his personal espresso machines for a backup until she can get hers repaired. You do have to have a sense of humor to run this and most any business she says, thus a sign hanging on the non-working machine “on spring break.”
Currently, there are four employees at Canyon Coffee and the market is pretty much local. Eventually, Danneman hopes it will be a destination coffee shop. It seems to be on its way already with people like Andy bringing baked goods home. The other day a couple from Broomfield came in and when they were asked where they were headed, they said they had come just for the coffee and a treat. A coffee “truck” is also in the future plans for Danneman to take to music festivals which is something she loves to do. She hopes she can pay for her playtime by selling her goods.
Danneman’s past includes going to farmer’s markets with her mother to sell baked goods while she was in high school. Her entire career has been in food service.
Love for the local community and her lifelong love of food inspired Danneman to accept the past owner’s offer to sell her the shop. She started working there as baker, and became the manager after she left her job at the local Tavern. Her goal is for people who are visiting to find a superior product.
Future plans are to make the space a gallery for “featured” local artists. This fulfills Danneman’s love for art as she attended college to obtain an art degree prior to obtaining the food science degree. She hopes to go a step farther and host “meet the artist” events where the community can meet face to face. She is also pursuing a music license so that the shop can host open mic nights on the patio which she plans to “spruce up.” Perhaps there will be a “happy coffee hour” on Fridays where local musicians will play and burgers will be grilled.
Canyon Coffee is located at 30509 Highway 72 in Coal Creek Canyon. They can be found on Facebook at https:// www.facebook.com/canyoncoffeellc or you can reach them by phone at 303-642-1900.
