dsmWeekly - September 25, 2024

On International Coffee Day (Oct. 1), toast to coffee beans and fall flavors with a S'mores Latte at Northern Vessel. (Photo: Northern Vessel)

FOOD & DINING

Hot coffee for cold days ahead
Writer: Hailey Evans

International Coffee Day is Oct. 1. Celebrate accordingly.

I just recently learned how to work my husband’s espresso machine. And you know what? I have to say it: How can the manufacturers possibly expect me to remember so many intricate steps to pull “the perfect shot” before I’ve had the caffeine that makes my brain work? It’s a flawed system, if you ask me. So, for now, I’ll keep outsourcing my lattes to the pros who do it best.

Here are a few drinks I’m excited about for the new PSL season:

1. Malted Maple Latte, Horizon Line Coffee. My mom used to ask me if I “wanted some pancakes with my syrup.” Suffice to say, espresso with barley malt-infused maple syrup sounds right up my alley.

2. Golden Spice, Chain & Spoke. Pumpkin tends to get all the love this season, but there are other fall flavors worth writing home (or a newsletter) about. This one is an oat milk latte paired with a spiced toffee syrup.

3. S’mores Latte, Northern Vessel. Nothing says “fall” more than a bonfire. And where there’s smoke, there are marshmallows burning for s’mores. Espresso with honey graham cracker, chocolate, marshmallow? Say less.

4. The Sparrow, The Slow Down Coffee Co. This latte is inspired by warm, spiced buttered rum — perfect as we step into the holidays.

5. Pumpkin Spice Latte, Mayalu Coffee. Satisfy your pumpkin-spicy cravings and support a small business, too. They use their own house-made pumpkin syrup.

Bonus beans: After hours, check out these coffee-infused drinks to fuel your next night on the town.

1. The Café-tini, Good News Darling: Like an espresso martini’s fun drunk aunt. Vodka, dark roast, lavender, vanilla, sparkling rosé.

2. Fame is the New Art, Bartender’s Handshake: This one is nonalcoholic, but I’m sure the friendly bartenders would add a shot if necessary. Pineapple, espresso, egg white, lime, honey.

"The Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus" is a brand-new show in the tradition of the iconic Bread & Puppet Circuses that began at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt., in 1970. (Photo: Bread & Puppet Theater)

BEST BET

Circuses and bread at Water Works Park

The world-renowned Bread & Puppet Theater is coming to the Lauridsen Amphitheater tonight, before its "Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus" tour hits the road for West Branch on Thursday. The Vermont-based performing group weaves together music, dance and slapstick for satirical street-theater takes on current events and politics. See stilt-walkers, giant paper-maché puppets and a live brass band, among other classic circus tropes.

After the show, Bread & Puppet will serve its famous sourdough rye bread with aioli. Admission is free, but a donation of $20-40 is suggested. Guests are encouraged to bring their own blankets and lawn chairs. The Des Moines Biergarten will also be open during the show serving drinks and snacks. Find more info about the performance and Bread & Puppet Theater here.

The Week Ahead

Author Austin Frerick (7 tonight): Join the smart set for the second of three author visits in the Des Moines Public Library’s fall author series. Frerick, a seventh-generation Iowan and an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy, will speak about his new book “Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry.”

Valley Junction Farmers Market (4-8 p.m. Thursday): Stock up on fresh veg for the winter. The final evening farmers market of the season closes out with live music from the Punching Pandas at the old depot at Railroad Park.

Oktoberfest (3 p.m.-midnight Friday, noon-midnight Saturday): Brush off your lederhosen: The 20th annual celebration of all things German returns to Water Works Park. We’ll “prost” to that.

Des Moines Symphony opener (7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday): The state’s largest professional performing arts group opens its season with Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 and Beethoven’s “Emperor” piano concerto, featuring guest soloist Olga Kern.

“Moms Unhinged” (7 p.m. Sunday): Keep the kids at home and settle in for a night of standup comedy from Andrea Marie and crew, featuring funny moms cracking wise about everything from potty training to sex talks.

Silent movies (7 p.m. Sunday): The Varsity Cinema celebrates its annual homage to silent film with a Buster Keaton double feature and a live score performed by pianist and organist Ben Model.

Cheers! A docuseries about the history of the Blazing Saddle premiered this summer. See more photos from the bar's archives in the accompanying online zine. Photo: “The Last American Gay Bar”

PEOPLE & COMMUNITY

A toast to the blazing glory of the Blazing Saddle

In October 1983, the Blazing Saddle opened its doors in the East Village here in Des Moines, back when the neighborhood was still pretty sketchy. It wasn’t much to look at — some yellow formica tables and secondhand chairs — but it offered gay guys a comfortable place to relax and be themselves at a time when that was riskier than it is today. It was a place where everybody knew your name — or, at least, the one you used for a night on the town.

This month, the bar celebrates its four-decade role in local LGBTQ history, a history chronicled in an eye-opening new documentary that premiered this summer at the Varsity Cinema and is now available on OUTtv. In six 20-minute episodes of “The Last American Gay Bar,” director Kristian Day focuses a local lens on the Stonewall rebellion, the disco era, the AIDS crisis, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the push for marriage equality and the recent backlash against transgender rights.

Read more about the documentary in Michael Morain’s story in the current issue of dsm and check out the online zine full of historic local photos curated by the filmmakers.