Coffee and Beer Travel Guide: Specialty coffee and craft beer located in the historic California Gold Rush town of Auburn, California
Certified full review by Coffeehouses & Brewpubs
CATEGORY: Specialty coffee and craft beer
The Pour Choice is one of those hidden nuggets of gold that you dream of stumbling upon while on a cross-country trip. Tucked away in historic Old Town Auburn (a Gold-rush era town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains), The Pour Choice sits comfortably along a narrow hillside street in the restored Auburn Drug Co. building serving specialty coffee and the best local craft beer. At The Pour Choice, the Gold Rush meets West Coast hipster: From the locals hanging out on the covered front porch to the loft and street-front balcony seating, to the umbrella-protected outside patio where runners returning from The Pour Choice Running Club gather to rehydrate with an IPA.
The coffee is Santa Cruz-sourced from the superb Verve Coffee Roasting Company. The 28 taps mine the best craft beers from Northern California with an emphasis on locally-sourced small-batch brewers from the surrounding Sierra foothill communities. The seasonally-rotated food menu includes creative pastries and light food fare (salads, sandwiches, biscuits/toast, sweets). Don’t leave without attacking the “Cronut” (a cross between a croissant and a donut) that will leave its mark – all over you! For the ultimate sweet tooth: The Pour Cookie is, of course, a warm choc. chip cookie with house-made vanilla ice cream.
Travel Tip: Auburn may, at first glance, seem like a remote out-of-the-way destination for a coffee and IPA. Think again: Auburn is located midway between the San Francisco Bay Area and Lake Tahoe. Three million visitors travel to Tahoe each year. Auburn is one of the most convenient and popular rest stops along Hwy 80 – yet most travelers take Foresthall Drive for the quick and easy Starbucks & McDonalds with a fill-up. Next trip to/from Tahoe: Look for the Historic Courthouse on the hill, take the Lincoln exit, past Auburn Alehouse and remember to curb your wheels on the steep street in front of The Pour Choice.
Bottom Line: Make your way to The Pour Choice, sit on the 2nd-floor balcony overlooking Gold Country with a Crooked Lane Brewing Company Lager in your hand while the sun sets in the West as the sound of the barista-curated psych rock tunes drifts past you into the evening sky because, after all, it IS the journey as well as the destination!
THE POUR CHOICE
177 Sacramento St, Auburn, CA 95603
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