Wormhole Wicker Park

WOW, what a Monday and a very busy way to start out the week. How has everyone else’s Monday been?

Hopefully everyone started the day out with coffee at least; I cannot imagine starting my day any other way. This weekend I did a little playing around with my Chemex. Be on the lookout for a post breaking down the best techniques!  

Besides the point, I was able to brew some cold brew coffee with my Chemex and had some of that leftover chilling overnight in the fridge. So this morning I had myself a wonderful cup of cold brew and then a cup of hot coffee.

I was well caffeinated this morning which Ironically came in handy. Wonderful way to start the week if you ask me; hitting the ground running.

I have to tell you all about this coffee shop experience this past weekend, it was AWESOME! I might have found one of my new favorite areas in the city too: Wicker Park! For those that know me this should come as no surprise. 🙂 

Wormhole Coffee 

 

The largest intersection  near Wormhole Coffee is North Avenue and Milwaukee, so right in the stick of it all. Luck for me I had plans to visit the farmer’s market after so I was up and at the shop bright and early. I can only imagine what this area looks like later in the afternoon or on a weekend night, already scoped out a few places to add to my hit list next time i’m out here. (which I’m hoping it’s sooner rather than later).

Wormhole is a small coffee shop tucked between clothing store fronts and popular dinner restaurants, I nearly walked right past it staring down the street trying to mentally remember all the other stores and restaurants. In my mind I have mentally hyped this place up, just from everything I read online and on Yelp and it did not disappoint.

For those unfamiliar Wormhole claim to fame is being the 80’s pop culture to a coffee shop.

You’re greeted instantly by a four-foot ninja turtle! I am not an 80’s child, but I instantly was taken back in time to my glorious 90’s childhood with all the great cartoon characters, action figures and movies. The next 80’s nostalgia to catch my eye was Doc’s car from Back to the Future! WHAT!

 

I already knew what I was going to order coffee wise before getting here, I had read so much about to  Koopa Troopa latte, there was no way I was going to pass it up. Dark chocolate and peanut butter flavored latte….. I would like a moment of silence for that to sink in. I drooling a little just thinking about it. I might have backed out on ordering it, since I don’t like overly sweet drinks and that just sounds like a sugar rush, but I read one review that said the drink was surprisingly not that sweet. That review sealed the deal for me.

 

The Koopa Troopa is one of their many specialty lattes, that all sound very delicious: Vanilla Bean, Cool But Rude, fresh ginger and curry sauce latte and Honey Bear, from local honey. I also ordered the Honey Bear Latte, I am a sucker for anything locally grown and honey. Yum.

Another huge plus in my book for this place is they offer a coffee punch card. Nobody does that anymore and for coffee enthusiasts like myself this is a much appreciated benefit. Who wouldn’t want a free coffee after buying ten! Money doesn’t grow on trees but coffee punch cards do!

While waiting for our coffee order we sat in the front window section of the shop that had a glass table filled with coffee beans and 80’s action figures. Such a unique way to decorate and use the table to incorporate more 80’s memorabilia.  

 

Finally once we got our lattes we moved to another section of the chop to take in more of the atmosphere, also lounging on a couch right below Grizmo is not a back way to relax. I wish I had the opportunity to sit by the TV with the Nintendo hooked up. There is literally a 90’s Nintendo game player set up with all bunch of old games ready for playing. Unfortunately there was someone sitting and working there so I didn’t feel the need to intrude on their space.  

 

Koopa Troopa Latte – Phenomenal, delicious, addicting, perfection in a cup. I can’t think of any other way to best describe this latte. It was wonderful, I almost wanted to order another one for the road. The dark chocolate is evident in this latte due to the very dark and rich chocolate color it has, you can also smell the peanut butter right away. Though the taste predominantly espresso with slight hints of chocolate and peanut butter. It’s almost as if they used the leftover milk from a bowl of Reese’s Puff cereal, I would not be surprised at all if this was how it’s made. It was delicious and perfect. Not to sweet and just the right amount of peanut butter flavor to satisfy any peanut junkie.

 

Honey Bear Latte – Another wonderful latte and probably the latte I would order more frequently. It’s sweet touch from the honey done just right, it’s not an overpowering honey flavor which I like, simply takes away the sharp espresso taste without masking it completely.

Wormhole Coffee proudly brews HalfWit Coffee, which was a completely new coffee bean to me. After doing some digging on my end I discovered that HalfWit Coffee roasters actually originated here in Wicker Park thanks to the team at Wormhole Coffee! I love their philosophy of sourcing, roasting and living life in general – is kindness and honesty. Wormhole tries to enhance the natural flavor of the coffee beans they source, putting in the time and care to produce a cup of culinary art; not just coffee.

I LOVE that, coffee is an art, the whole process of selecting the beans to roasting to brewing and then serving. Each step of the way is completely individual and should be enjoyed and allowed the necessary time to fully mature. 

Another winning component to this coffee shop is they serve cereal on the menu! I’ll have to come back and try their homemade Cocoa Puffs! Yum how delicious does that sound. This coffee shop is any 80’s child at heart’s dream!

I absolutely recommend a visit to all that are in the area!

What’s your favorite childhood cartoon or toy? I was of the Beanie Baby era! So my bed was packed with all my little beanie friends.