Breck Coffee Wholesale Partners: The Bivvi Hostel
The Bivvi combines everything you love about staying in hostels while allowing easy access to the best that Breck has to offer year-round. Hostels have historically attracted adventurous travelers eager to swap stories around the numerous common areas and just as excited to create new ones with whomever they meet in whatever town they find themselves in. The Bivvi has created a space where folks can meet one another and enjoy Breck together year-round. Located on the south side of town, the Bivvi is the perfect basecamp whether you are looking to mountain bike in the summer or ski in the winter, and with a lower price tag than the surrounding hotels and resorts.
Not only is the Bivvi affordable, it is beautifully decorated with over-sized chairs and couches that surround the gigantic fireplace, underneath tall ceilings and with an outside patio and hot tub with views of the Ten Mile Range. The only thing better than the view, in our opinion, is enjoying it with a cup of Breck Coffee.
We love sharing our coffee with the Bivvi and their guests in order to make sure they get the entire Breck experience. We sat down with Balazs, the General and Operations Manager of the Bivvi, to find out more about the company, where it’s heading in the future post-Covid-times, as well as where he’s from and what his coffee drinking routine looks like!
Tell us about yourself.
Balazs: “I’m originally from Hungary, but I grew up predominantly in the U.K. I have always been passionate about travel and the travel industry in general - ultimately the lifestyle. Action sports, and outdoor adventure lifestyle. Snowboarding is what brought me out to Colorado originally. Now, I’ve been in Colorado for 6 years, and I’ve been managing the Bivvi for the entirety of that time.”
If you had to describe the Bivvi in three words? Describe the vibe.
Balazs: “Adventurous. Social. Chill.”
What kinds of things is the Bivvi doing this fall? Any up and coming new projects you can tell us about?
Balazs: “Our primary focus right now is actually pushing towards our second location, a project we are getting set to launch in Telluride, Colorado. We are super stoked to launch, it’s been a long time coming for the Bivvi 2.0. We were waiting for the right time, opportunity, and property to pop up on the market and we are really stoked to have found a location in Telluride and we’re going to be effectively implementing the whole Bivvi concept from our brand and design into the new building and hoping to open up shop officially this coming Fall. As far as the Breck location, it’s been business as usual, enjoying a super busy summer season, stoke levels are still high, lots of guests visiting in the area coming up for biking, hiking, and all the summer adventures. Vibe is good.”
How long have you been in Breck?
Balazs: “Since November 2014.”
Where can we find you on your days off in the summer? Winter?
Balazs: “Summer - more than likely on my bike, on my skateboard, or on the river anywhere in the state of Colorado. Usually with a tent and sleeping pads in the back of the Subaru. Winter - on the resort or in the backcountry snowboarding.”
What activity do you want to get into in Summit County next?
Balazs: “I want to get back into doing more climbing and more rafting.”
Childhood nickname?
Balazs: “Bazs.”
If you could live in any era?
Balazs: “Anything prior to civilization. I want to be a hunter gatherer, and go back to the primal days. We survived as humans and flourished for 3.5 million years as modern humans, biologically very similar to how we are now, and we were in harmony with the planet. We didn’t cause harm and damage to the planet like we do today. Yes, early civilization brought about the rise of culture, art, music and all that beautiful stuff, but look at everything else we have caused. It was a much simpler time. I feel like I might thrive as a hunter gatherer- my physical and personality traits might fit that mold nicely. I’d like to be in Europe, just because it’d have been the timeline when Homo Sapiens first traveled up from Africa and began exploration of the rest of the world. I also always wanted to be a pirate though, because it’s a lifestyle that encompasses no boundaries, no borders - total freedom. I love the ocean and I love exploration. And I feel like a pirate epitomizes all of those things.”
Who are you a reincarnation of?
Balazs: “I feel like I have an inherent draw to native, south western and ancient art, styles, and colors. I love nature and just the expansive outdoors. I have kind of a close connection with all animals - wild animals. So sometimes I think I was a wild man or a tribal man. Perhaps a Navajo or a few different animals. I have lots of spirit animals. I have an elephant, owl, and turtle tattoo. Elephants were my favorite animal when I was a young kid. As I grow older and learn what they represent, the type of being that they are, they’re kind and they travel a lot, they don’t stop moving, they’re also known to be leaders and teachers in a low-key way. That resonates with me. They’re very family oriented. But they don’t limit the concept of family to their actual genetic family; but also to their whole tribe.”
If your life were a movie, what would the plot line be?
Balazs: “I think my life is a movie, but it’s not comparable to an existing movie. Grew up in Hungary, Switzerland, U.S, England by the time I was 6. More later in life, I have been fortunate enough to travel a lot. I have a strange knack for getting into interesting situations. I consider myself lucky to have had a pretty full and unique life at the tender age of 30. Most of my travels and vacations incorporate some sort of unintended adventure or unlikely scenario which makes for good stories and exciting memories. Hurricane Patricia hit the coast of Mexico while I was down there surfing. To avoid the predicted devastation, I took my mate’s Ford Bronco, had nothing but board shorts and a cell phone, and I drove for six hours north and inland towards a little mountain town to take cover in for the night. The snap shot if you were to imagine: a small white man without a shirt or shoes driving through the jungle of mainland Mexico. No cell service. No money.”
Last trip? Next trip?
Balazs: “Last trip - just before Covid I was able to get away down to Puerto Rico and I had probably the best five day stretch of surfing. I was only down there for five days, but we had pumping waves the entire time. Next trip - one of my friends lives over in Lax, Switzerland so I wanna try and visit this coming winter, and depending on how things play out with Covid in the next 6 months, it’ll either be a surf trip to Indonesia or Sri Lanka, or snowboarding trip in Switzerland. The reality now is it might end up being somewhere closer, I have a buddy who lives in Costa Rica. So maybe I’ll just go visit him down there for a week or so.”
Most listened to song on Spotify?
Balazs: “Tough one, I love music and listen to loads of different styles and genres, I play guitar and write music and so I pull inspiration from everywhere. Recently I’ve been listening to ‘Make it wit chu’ - Queens of the Stoneage.”
When were you first introduced to coffee?
Balazs: “Well my parents always drank a lot of coffee, so I feel like my house always smelled like coffee. My friends would always comment on how my house smelled like good coffee. I think I first experimented drinking coffee by adding a tiny bit of coffee to my milk, so I’d have more like a milkshake with coffee. I probably didn’t start drinking coffee more regularly as a routine until late high school once waking up became a struggle.”
Coffee Order?
Balazs: “Usual? Black, dark roast, or even an espresso. Fancy? Cappuccino. Hot summer’s day? Iced Coffee in the afternoon with oat milk.”
Most unique cup of coffee?
Balazs: “Semi-freddo pistachio coffee. It’s a shot of espresso over a small scoop of pistachio paste or ice cream.”
How many cups of coffee do you drink a day? Everyday?
Balazs: “I try to just drink one.”
What does coffee mean to you?
Balazs: “Coffee is one of those beautiful things in life that becomes a necessity, but ultimately, it serves two purposes. It’s fuel to get you through the day, but because I’m a coffee lover, it’s always a treat for me as well. I was talking to my brother the other day and we were laughing about how we’re at a point in our lives where not only is coffee a necessary thing to get us out of bed, but we’re at the point now where some of our first thoughts after waking up is the excitement of that first cup of coffee.”
Favorite activity to drink coffee while doing?
Balazs: “I love having a good cup of coffee while I’m road tripping. Usually when I’m road tripping, I’ll bring my french press and make coffee while I’m camping. If it’s just a day of driving, I’ll try and find the little local coffee roaster. Starbucks gives you consistency, but I prefer to avoid the bigger coffee stores. I am always stoked to find the little craft coffee shops that make good espresso.”
Name the best duo: Coffee + _____
Balazs: “Splif.”