Cafe Spotlight

From time to time, Wenzel will be posting spotlights on various coffeeshops around Calgary, since we're rarely in our offices anyways. To begin our series, we've chosen one of the old grand dames of the Calgary Coffee Scene, Higher Ground. Located in the coffeeshop dense Kensington, Higher Ground is located across the street from the art house Plaza Theatre and this proximity has given Higher Ground part of its mystique. During the day the crowd is a healthy mix of business people, NGO-types, college students, artists and trendjumpers, nestled among its quiet corners. At night, crowds crossing the street from the Plaza stop by for a pre-or-post discussion and coffee. The arrival of Starbucks in Calgary in the mid-1990s precipitated a coffee crash, seeing the death of many independent shops, Higher Ground however was able to withstand not just Starbucks in Calgary, but the opening of one two doors down. In fact, Higher Ground has been able to renovate exensively, replacing it's old Victorian floorboards for tiles and a more modern colour scheme, adding a growing selection of wines to their coffee and tea list.