Top of the Town 2011

After six straight hours’ worth of hunkering down in a deadline crunch—without once wanting a change of scenery—we’ve decided that Fluid is the perfect coffeeshop. Not only does Fluid serve coffee from sustainably minded Novo Coffee—easily the best roaster in town—but it’s also one of the few places in the country that actually has a clover machine. As one bean aficionado recently told us: If you’ve never had clover-pressed coffee, you’ve been living under a sad, tasteless rock and you should crawl out immediately. Our go-to cup from the artisanal coffee menu: the Kunjin Estate–Papa New Guinea, with caramel, roasted pear, and orange peel subtleties. The flier-strewn space, at once sunny, modern, shabby-chic, and comforting, draws all kinds of patrons for excellent people-watching. Oh, and any place offering Udi’s burritos has our undying devotion. 501 E. 19th Ave., 720-519-4681, www.fluidcoffeebar.com