Empire Coffee in a 1947 Pullman Coach Train Car

Empire Coffee, February 2008 Empire Coffee is a coffee and tea house located next to the Chico Art Center at the Southern Pacific Depot in a 800 square foot 1947 Pullman coach train car. Empire is unusual in that they french press their organic coffee, their soy milk is free, and they take their tea seriously. Their coffee beans are currently being roasted by a local.

Empire Coffee has 30 varieties of fair trade Rishi Teas — many of which are very rare and said to be the finest in the world. Empire claims to have the best and finest tea selection in all of Chico. In addition to this eclectic selection of teas, they have Japanese Matcha tea, which is prepared properly with a bamboo whisk in a Matcha bowl. Sweet Matcha tea can be served as a latte iced or hot; soy is particularly popular. They sell Chico Chai in loose-leaf form for your own steeping pleasures. Under past management, the cafe used to brew their own. Finally, Empire Coffee takes some care to heat water according to the needs of your tea — black teas, for instance, prefer 220f water. Green teas, however, will become scorched and bitter at such temperatures so they use 190f water. They'll also provide advice on how long to steep your tea for the best experience. Iced tea can be either herbal, black, or "blerbal" — a mixture of the two.

Empire Coffee began offering blended drinks in Summer of 2009. They blend ice with their popular offerings of mocha, aztec, chai, and even matcha.

If you need a super dose of caffeine, Molly's Folly might be your calling. It's two shots of espresso in french pressed coffee. Enough said. For those with a sweet tooth but a hankering for spice may want to try their Mexican Mocha or Aztec Mocha. Empire uses a chocolate mix that includes cayenne pepper. The difference between mochas is that the Mexican uses coffee while the Aztec has one shot espresso and more milk — which cuts down on the spiciness.

Empire Coffee often makes their own ingredients. Examples include whipped cream and spiced Aztec chocolate for their Aztec Mocha. The coffee grounds used to make their drinks can be picked up for use in compost piles (though Chico State's AS may have first-dibs).

With exception of a few items (such as coffee and tea), most specialty drinks can be ordered small (coffee mug) or large (pint-size). Flavor shots, such as caramel, are available.

Empire Coffee has a selection of pastries from the local Tin Roof Bakery, such as scones and muffins, for when the munchies hit.

There are few places to plug-in a laptop but there's plenty of room to spread out on diner-style tables and the WiFi is free. There are six tables for two and four tables outside. A chess set floats around the coffee and tea house and there's reading material and quite a few games in the rear of the car.

Empire Coffee has a very low traffic mailing list for those that want to know about events (such as live music) and specials. You can sign up at their website or perhaps the coffee house. There's usually live music at the coffee house the first Saturday of every month. The coffee house is almost always decked out with local art.

Shortly after Chico's 2008 Summer season began, with many students gone away for home, Empire began closing on Sundays. However, demand for the coffee house was too great and they resumed service on July 6, 2008 with a one-time half off all drinks special. The best news, of course, is that they survived their first summer which tends to be very hard on businesses.

History

Empire Coffee was originally owned by Alec Binyon. He managed the coffee house from September 2007 to September 2008, when it was sold to artists Andrew and Meredith. Alec announced the change of ownership to Empire's mailing list on September 26, 2008. He said that because of family considerations, the pressures of being a professional at Chico News and Review, and loss of an Empire manager to the big city (Nathan), he no longer had the necessary energy to run Empire. Furthermore, he wrote that Empire never recovered from Chico's notorious summer doldrums for businesses. However, Alex stated that his experiences of running the Pullman train car coffee house were enriching and wrote it "encouraged me in my future endeavors." He left Empire to dedicate energy to creative musical pursuits in electronica. See original e-mail to Empire customers.

The coffee house was closed four days for the "passing of the torch ceremony".

Comments

2008-01-23 20:44:33   The diner-style table closest to the entrance has a plug nearby under the shelves. I haven't noticed any others yet. They have great service and play an eclectic assortment of music. Arcade Fire, The Clash, The Shins... it all really depends on the barista of course. Today they had punk in the mix. The place definitely has some elements of The Naked Lounge thrown in. —RyanMikulovsky

2008-02-09 15:18:48   I was intimately involved in opening the Naked Lounge in 2001 when it was under its original ownership. Then involved in opening the one in Sac. Emire Coffee is my dream cafe. Other than knowing how to pull espresso right, and pouring latte art, we don't have anything in common with the Naked Lounge. We are 100% organic and Fair Trade. We have 30 fine teas. We don't make mocha mixes with waste milk, we french press all of our coffees. Thanks for your comments Ryan. Thanks to the dude who created our little entry here. —Alec, Empire Coffee —76.252.251.90

2008-02-23 10:51:22   I finally got to try Empire Coffee, since I'm not in Chico all that often anymore. I was impressed! I'm usually a fan of the Naked Lounge (and Moxie's before it closed), and this place did not disappoint. I highly recommend the Chai, although I got to try a sip of someone's Mexican mocha and it was delicious too. This will certainly be a regular stop whenever I'm in town. —StaceyEllis

2008-06-20 11:23:21   Anyone who goes here because they're allegedly "100% organic and fair trade" should do their homework. In fact, so should the owner. It isn't true. Call the roastery. —76.231.253.78

• Your anonymous accusation calling the owner of this cafe a liar (or at least uninformed) intrigues me. I have no personal connection to this place beyond having stopped in for a couple of drinks while on that side of town, and would like to learn more about your comment. Is it "100%" that bothers you (for instance is it that they are "mostly" organic with something non-organic as well?) or is it the "organic" and/or "fair trade" labels that have you upset? I would love to do my homework on this, but I'm not living in Chico these days and can't exactly go hunting down the roaster without some more information. Care to cite more specifically what you know that made you decide to write this? Or at least some contact info so we Wiki-users can do our homework and call the roastery ourselves, as you suggest? —StaceyEllis

2008-09-08 16:40:05   I just got a cup of coffee here before getting on a bus, and pumped it out of the airpot myself not expecting anything special but it was the best coffee I've ever ordered from a store. It tasted like what I make at home with my french press. —67.91.218.200

2009-01-03 18:40:05   Good coffee, great atmosphere and free wi-fi. As it's further away from downtown it's nowhere near as crowded as The Naked Lounge, the staff have good taste in music and a lot of it, and there's plenty of seating. The prices are about average and it's a great place to sit and read or get work done. The only thing is I wish it were open later. —GeoffJohnson

2009-02-07 18:23:11   can this article get any larger? —RyanMikulovsky

• Is that a dare? —StaceyEllis

2009-04-19 14:51:18   Looks like Empire is installing power taps under the tables with bench seating — perhaps even 4 outlets a tap. That'll certainly solve one big problem :-) Although currently there are a few powerstrips/extensions that can be used. Blerbal is good as ever. —RyanMikulovsky

2009-08-16 09:50:16   I love Empire Coffee. I'm ashamed that I don't make it there more often. I was intrigued when they announced their business at a downtown event and mentioned that they would not charge for soy milk. Naturally, I checked it out, and consumed the best damn soy vanilla latte I've ever had. I love the setup and the ambiance, and I hope they stick around for a long ol' time. —SarahDowns