Walking along Bear Creek Road in Evergreen, the smells of roasted coffee beans waft from Muddy Buck Coffee House; a thick plume of sticky, caramelized smoke fills the air around the community cafe.

The culprit, Rand Packer’s coffee roaster.

“The San Franciscan roaster is, for me, just a very fun way of doing coffee roasting,” Rand said. “Nowadays, everyone uses a monitor. With my roaster, it’s all senses.”

Packer takes his time to listen for the beans to crack, noises the machine is doing and watching the clock in order to have his roast just right.

“I think the benefit of doing it (roasting) in house, it’s more lucrative,” Rand said. “Up here in Evergreen, it’s part of having that old rustic town (feel). Yesterday I was roasting coffee and it lit up the entire downtown Evergreen with smoke.”

People walking by would say it smells so good outside.

Packer and his wife Tiffani Packer, CEO of Muddy Buck have been in Evergreen for about nine-and-half years and operating the coffee house since 2018, which is located in the Evergreen Hotel — a 1896 historic building in downtown Evergreen.

“The Muddy Buck, to us, was just a cool spot to hang out every once in a while to get some coffee,” Rand said. “In December (2017), my wife and general manager of Murphy’s (Mountain Grill) were inside the Muddy Buck, and they were having a meeting. My wife texted me saying that Dan was selling the Muddy Buck Cafe, so in about 20 seconds, I was up here and saying, ‘let’s buy it’.”

Tiffani said Muddy Buck is a community space for not only those who live in Evergreen but for people that drive up from Denver, too.

“It’s a hub for our community to enjoy good coffee, breakfast and lunch, and (we) really focus in on good quality ingredients and making everything fresh,” she said.

What’s roasted in your cup of java

Beans from Papua New Guinea, Honduras, Columbia, Indian and Brazil are all featured in Muddy Buck’s coffee.

“The Papua New Guinea just gives me a really good flowy chocolate and nutty flavor to it,” Rand said. “Then my medium is a blend of an Indian Monsoon Malabar, which has a neutral and nice and smooth hazelnuts, coffee bean flavor to it.”

In order to flush out the best flavors to make smooth cups of coffee, Rand learned how to roast in a cast iron skillet at home. He would stay up all night reading and learning about each bean while practicing roasts from light to dark.

As the days get shorter, Rand said Muddy Buck is offering a few fall-themed coffees such as a Pumpkin Spice latte, Maple Pumpkin latte, Pistachio White Chocolate latte and a Almond White Chocolate Caramel latte.

A coffee house for the community

People in Evergreen love the history of the Muddy Buck Coffee House, from its days when the location was the Ice House to owned by the Packers, Muddy Buck has history from residents in their 80s and 90s to the high schoolers at Evergreen High School.

“People love the historic nature of Evergreen in general,” Tiffani said. “Being in the heart and center of Evergreen, I think it’s really the place for different community organizations. We’ve had authors who have written beautiful memoirs of their life and books that they have published where the inspiration has come from the Muddy Buck.”

Tiffani also said Muddy Buck is not a coffee house that just serves food items, but a restaurant that serves coffee.

Because Muddy Buck is a local mountain-town business, local residents from young to old find themselves frothing lattes to crafting sandwiches to pouring drinks.

“If they work here, it is difficult,” Tiffani said. “They’re not just standing behind a coffee machine. But, they learn some beautiful skills with the dynamic people throughout the day; tourists and the locals alike.”

In the wake of the Evergreen High School shooting in September, Muddy Buck will begin hosting an open mic night for the high schoolers to come in and performing songs, read poetry or just talk about life.

A study night for the kids is also in the works, titled Study Buck.

“Creating a space for the high schoolers to come in and have drinks and do some studying is a great opportunity to expand (our) space, considering we are closed at 5 p.m., really gives a lot of opportunity after hours,” Tiffani said.

We recommend the following bites

According to Tiffani, the Big Buck Breakfast Burrito is a favorite, especially for those on the go.

It can be made with either bacon or sausage, with scrambled eggs, house made salsa, Mexican cheese, roasted country potatoes and cilantro. Avocado is an extra charge.

“Cappuccino and a burrito in hand, you will not be sad,” Tiffani said.

Tiffani said a great option if one is to hang out at the cafe is the Avocado Toast. Complete with thick cut toasted sourdough topped with sliced avocado, kosher salt, cracked pepper, balsamic drizzle and your choice of four toppings.

“That item is a fork and knife opportunity,” Tiffani said.

Muddy Buck Coffee House has a good understanding of coffee culture and mountain-town restaurants, and as Tiffani said: “I think the community has really trusted our restaurant group and has been able to identify the price point with what we’re serving.”

Tiffani also said the expectation is that Muddy Buck will continue to evolve and grow in what it is producing, and that they enjoy the fun nature they bring to Evergreen.

Muddy Buck Coffee House is located at 28065 Highway 74, Suite 101 in Evergreen. The cafe is open Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.