By: Izzy Cheung, staff writer
On the hunt for a new study spot or a place to bring friends during a night out? Look no further than downtown New Westminster’s Moodswing Coffee + Bar, an eclectic café that turns into a bar at night. It’s nestled inside a small, antique building coloured a cute combination of carmine and chestnut, only a 10-minute walk away from the New West SkyTrain station. Under a sign above the door, sultry eyes beckon passersby to stop inside for a pastry or two. But how did the idea for a café and bar come to fruition?
Formerly known as Old Crow Coffee, Moodswing initially hosted activities such as open mic nights, live music, and the like. The café obtained an event license for these nights that allowed them to serve beer as well as their usual products.
“We had regulars chatting with staff about where their favourite evening watering hole was in New West, and the consensus was often that options were limited,” Liam, Ricky, and Steph from the Moodswing management team told The Peak. “This grew into a project that some of the original staff of Old Crow called Incantations, which were a series of cocktail and dinner popups around 2018 that were a big hit. [ . . . ] Moodswing started up as an offsales program to help diversify income for the business, which really helped during the early years of the pandemic, and we opened for dinner service February 2022 and changed our name fully to Moodswing Coffee + Bar a year later.”
I stopped by Moodswing on a crisp Saturday afternoon that felt like the perfect occasion for a warm drink. Bundled up in a jacket, I wandered over to the café in search of a yummy beverage and a sweet treat to go along with it.
The space itself looked bigger than what I’d imagined. Every nook and cranny in Moodswing was used productively, with the two corners at the windows hosting bar-styled seating and a small bookstore. Little gaps in the white brick walls housed small figurines, adding a homely touch to the atmosphere. Further into the café were some booths and tables for further socializing, though all the spaces at the back were taken up.
Chitter chatter bounced off the walls, combined with the whirling sound of espresso beans being ground into a portafilter. Baristas sent cheerful salutations to those who came and went, their voices cutting through the bustling energy of the busy coffee shop. Splashes of peachy pink, pistachio green, and honeyed orange decorated the canvases of various sizes that were hung up on the walls — they reminded me a bit of Cage the Elephant’s Melophobia album cover.
Looking around the café, it’s clear that Moodswing tries their hardest to make themselves as accessible and welcoming to as many people as possible. Their bakery items, provided by Leavenly Goods, are set aside and sold at a lesser price when they aren’t bought the day before. There’s plenty of space in seating areas for individuals who require wheelchairs, and a designated accessible parking space.
“Everyone is important and has different needs and our goal is to do our best to take care of each other,” the Moodswing management team said. “We’re all always learning — be it lessons in how to make a great coffee or cocktails, or how to hold space for grief in the workplace or joy in hard times, since there are plenty of those right now. [ . . . ] We want to show the neighbourhood that it is possible to run a business compassionately and transparently. That everyone should have access to the warmth of a good coffee, or the soft magic of a thoughtful cocktail.”
I ended up getting an oat chai latte and a couple of chocolate croissants. Having brought my family along with me, we got some different drinks and snacks so we could try a variety of things. My brother enjoyed his cinnamon bun, and my mom liked her americano. Each cup came with a cartoonish design of a dipping bird, as well as a thick paper lid. Tiny details like these conveyed the ideals of a local, homegrown café near and dear to its community.
“It’s hard to pin down our favourite thing about running a café [ . . . ] but the one real constant is people,” Moodswing’s team informed. “Whether it’s our staff, who are some of the most amazing humans we know, or our collaborators like Wildfire’s Bookshop, Leavenly Goods, or Another Beer Co., to name a small handful. Our regulars are our friends, and the relationships that have emerged from running this café are what make everything worth it.”
Try some of Moodswing’s cocktails like their vanilla bean-infused akvavit “Comet’s Tail” or their tangy and lemony “Tall Grass” for yourself! Be sure to stop by for their “Clicks and Cuts” (ambient electronic vinyl) and “Quality Time” (call and response vinyl collaboration) events in February. You can find them at 655 Front street in downtown New Westminster and follow them on Instagram at @moodswingbar.
