After years spent working in Denver’s tech industry, Dustin Croniser was disillusioned and ready for a drastic change. He longed to be more involved in his local community and build something of his own. Though he didn’t have a culinary background, he was intrigued by the increasing number of food trucks he saw roving around town.

He found his next step in a coffee shop while on a work trip in Europe. “I could feel the culture and community so immensely,” Croniser says. “The barista was having such a great time serving people, chatting with customers, and making drinks for them.” An idea struck him: a coffee shop on wheels.

He wasted no time turning that idea into reality. Soon after he returned stateside, Croniser bought a lime-green 1976 Volkswagen bus and spent a year fixing it up. The Green Bus Cafe hit the road in February 2021, bringing its vegan and gluten-free cold brew and oat milk-based espresso drinks to farmers’ markets, festivals, and other events around Denver.

But Croniser isn’t the only one who had the bright idea to serve hot java from cool mobile units. There are a fleet of coffee trucks operating around Denver, each with their own twist on the same mission: brightening your morning with a great cup of joe. Here are eight of our favorites.

Green Bus Cafe

Green Bus Cafe. Photo courtesy of Green Bus Cafe

Along with the OG truck, look for Croniser’s Green Bus Mini—a standalone teardrop trailer that he launched in May to keep up with the demand for caffeinated beverages.

What To Order: The Mini serves up simpler drinks like drip coffee and cold brew for busier events, but the main bus offers fan favorites like a maple latte, whipped Dalgona coffee, and other espresso-based sips.

Find the Green Bus Cafe weekly at the City Park and South Pearl Street farmers’ markets in the summer and the upcoming schedule here.

Sundog Coffee and Drinks

Sundog Coffee. Photo courtesy of Sundog Coffee

Nathanial Taylor spent 20 years working as a florist. His shop was next to a coffee roaster, and he grew so intrigued by the java-making process that he eventually wanted to start his own coffee venture—but not a brick-and-mortar. “Denver has its fair share of caffeinated places,” Taylor says. “The intent of going mobile was to scout out places that were missing that niche and to service them.”

What To Order: Sundog brews its coffee drinks with beans from Englewood-based Kaladi Coffee Roasters. Taylor’s personal favorite is the blackberry lavender latte, an espresso drink boosted with coffee concentrate and black and lavender syrups. The truck also serves Southern sweet tea, lemonade, and quick bites like oatmeal and pastries.

Find Sundog regularly at the Colorado Department of Transportation’s headquarters (2829 W. Howard Place) and its upcoming schedule here.

Sustain and Able Coffee

Jake and Randee Hitzfield of Sustain and Able Coffee. Photo courtesy of Sustain and Able Coffee

“The nostalgia of it really helps people have a better experience when they’re getting their coffee from us,” says Randee Hitzfield, co-owner of Sustain and Able Coffee. She’s, of course, talking about the bright blue VW bus she and husband Jake bought and refurbished before starting to sell coffee out of it in April. As the name of their business name suggests, sustainability is at the forefront of the couple’s coffee philosophy. For instance, they only serve vegan milks (like oat or almond) as their production processes have smaller carbon footprints. They also source beans from Kind Coffee in Estes Park. “We’re really excited to work with them because they found farmers that have the ability to grow organic and fair trade coffee,” Hitzfield says.

What To Order: Select from classic espresso drinks, cold brews, turmeric-ginger lattes, and various teas, or opt for Hitzfield’s favorite, the pistachio latte.

Find Sustain and Able Coffee’s upcoming schedule here.

Ti and Jo Coffee Co

Ti and Jo drinks. Photo courtesy of Ti and Jo

“We love to travel and experience new cultures, and we have found that we gravitate toward Asian-inspired drinks during our adventures,” says Josephine “Jo” Stroup, who co-founded the Ti and Jo coffee truck with her twin sister Kathrine (“Ti”) in April. The half-Vietnamese siblings wanted an outlet to share the “foods and flavors that were unique to our heritage but were not easily found in [the Denver area],” Stroup says. Thus, their coffee trailer goes well beyond classic coffee choices.

What To Order: Among the sisters’ favorites are the Thai iced tea, Vietnamese coffee, and ube latte (crafted with an extract of the purple yam native to Southeast Asia), which they introduced in May to honor Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Find Ti and Jo’s upcoming schedule here.

Your Coffee Guy

In 2002, Delm “Fortune” Fortunato fled the political unrest of his home country of Venezuela and landed in Miami. He eventually made his way to Denver. Despite arriving with few resources, Fortunato landed a job as a car salesman, where he began dreaming of owning a European-style coffee shop. After some bumps in the road, Fortunato refurbished his own coffee van by hand. Twelve years later, Your Coffee Guy is still going strong.

What To Order: Chai lattes, iced ginger limeade, and pistachio coffee are your best bets, though there’s an extensive menu.

Find Your Coffee Guy’s upcoming schedule here.

The Perk Up Truck

The Perk Up Truck. Photo courtesy of the Perk Up Truck

Laila Zohav got a taste for cafe culture while living in the coffee mecca of Seattle—a taste she missed when she moved to Dallas, which, at the time, didn’t have much of a coffee community to explore. With her hospitality background, she started thinking about a business that would fit her skills and, she says, “make people happy.” That’s when Zohav remembered what made her happy in Seattle: expertly brewed coffee. After relocating to Denver, she debuted the Perk Up Truck in 2019.

What To Order: Customers are especially fond of the Havana latte, which mixes espresso with condensed milk. For those who aren’t coffee fans, Zahov also offers hot chocolate, smoothies, and more.

Find the Perk Up Truck at the UCHealth administrative building (2450 S. Peoria St., Aurora) on Wednesdays and every other Thursday, and the upcoming schedule here.

White Rabbit Coffee

John Kirk started drinking coffee in high school, but it was a trip to Italy after college that really opened his mind to coffee’s potential. “It was a different game,” he says of the experience. “I was nerding out on it.” It took several years for Kirk to enter the coffee game (he spent most of his working life as a graphic designer), but his 1974 Chevrolet Step-Van started pouring morning pick-me-ups in 2016.

What To Order: The Metro, a blend of espresso, house-made vanilla syrup, and soda water. Regular espresso drinks, cold brew, drip coffee, and chai are also available.

Find White Rabbit Coffee’s upcoming schedule here.

Boyer’s Coffee

In 2020, Boyer’s Coffee burned down after operating in northwest Denver for more than 50 years. But brothers Douglass and Jason Barrow—who took over Boyer’s in 2015 through their Denver-based coffee and tea company Luna Gourmet—weren’t about to throw all that history away. “The cafe was a staple in the community,” says Manuela Mishler, Luna’s vice president of marketing and business management. “We wanted to continue to offer that although our building was gone.” Enter Boyer’s Coffee Truck. It’s parked by the original brick-and-mortar site, which is in the process of being rebuilt.

What To Order: The best-selling caramel deluxe latte. And don’t forget to pick up a bag of Boyer’s beans at the adjacent Coffee Cottage, a shipping container refurbished into a retail storefront.

Find the truck at the original Boyer’s location (7295 Washington St.).