Hero Snow Coffee, Big Sky Montana
09/07/26. Chris Buck
“I’m in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love”. Only a few hours after arriving in Big Sky, it’s easy to see why John Steinbeck felt this way. It’s relentlessly picturesque…almost suspiciously so. Big Sky itself only dates back to 1973 so it’s not wholly surprising that it feels like it was built yesterday and as one local wryly remarked, “it’s one of the few places where the millionaires have been driven out by the billionaires”. Its private ski and golf resort, the Yellowstone Club is rumoured to be frequented by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Tom Brady, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce…so naturally, we felt right at home as we crawled, creased and crumpled from our dilapidated Chevy Express looking every inch a band that had spent two days driving over 700 miles from Seattle. However, after a few margaritas, some ‘mystery shots’ very generously bought by some fans and a solid 10 hours’ kip in one of the two hotels we’d booked in Big Sky (long story…) I felt like a relatively new man and began the hunt for a reputable roastery.
Enter, the hero of the tale, quite literally. Hero Snow Coffee run by Montanan native Shannon and her husband, Ewan, a Scottish transplant from the Isle of Skye. Ewan (fan of the band and fully paid-up Cardinal Coffee Club member) had been kind enough to get in touch prior to our visit to Montana with the promise of the ‘best caffeine in Big Sky’ and thus, after spending the better part of the last 24 hours with less legroom than an £18 Ryan Air flight to Alicante, I did something decidedly un-American and resolved to take in the mountain air, stretch my legs and walk the meagre 1.1 miles from our hotel to the coffee shop. My phone promised it’d take the better part of 20 minutes but my phone clearly hadn’t accounted for the additional 25 it would take me to traverse Lone Mountain Trail…better known as Montana Highway 64. Three lanes of unrelenting traffic consisting of cars the size of trucks and trucks the size of even bigger trucks. 18 wheelers, tractors, oil tankers, cattle trucks, concrete mixers, combine harvesters….I’m fairly certain Saturn V drove past at one point, all proving to be a rolling blockade between a man with a hangover and a shot of liquid life. After what felt like an eternity, someone behind the wheel of an aircraft carrier took pity on me and gestured me across the road in the gap between himself and a block of flats that had just driven past. After a burst of pace not seen since my last Sports Day appearance in in 2006, I made it to Hero Snow Coffee to be greeted by the sound of Holding My Breath floating across the car park. And thus, without a single bean ground, Ewan had redeemed himself…
After exchanging pleasantries and fond recollections of the Scottish Highlands, I ordered the Caprese Avocado Toast and an iced Latte and took a seat outside. I’m not typically one for iced coffee but after a day (give or take…) spent boiling under the Big Sky sun on the side of the highway, the thought of a hot drink was anything but appealing and as you can imagine, I wasn’t keen to make friends with either the toast or coffee. Needless to say, both were divine though admittedly, the soundtrack and circumstances may have biased this reviewer…! As if further confirmation of Hero Snow’s status as the greatest coffee shop in the world (citation needed) was required, Ewan also offered me a lift back across Route 66 and into Big Sky at which point, Jump In leapt unprompted out of his car’s stereo. I arrived back at the hotel, ego and hangover satiated and ready to take on the world, or at the very least, the Music in the Mountains festival that had brought us to Montana. With its pristine streets, immaculate architecture and Lone Peak backdrop, Big Sky may have possessed a faint whiff of the Truman Show’s Seahaven but the people, music and or course, coffee were faultless. Flattery - and an iced latte - will get you everywhere.
Where - Hero Snow Coffee, Big Sky Montana
Coffee - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Vibe - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
