Coffeebar Roastery — Restaurant in Reno

Wonderful coffee in a serene outdoor space (4/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact) I almost missed the Coffeebar Roastery but I’m glad I doubled back to find it. It’s really on the lane with no name that runs between Haskell and S. Virginia – if you’re walking along Haskell there's a space where 1030 should be and Coffeebar is behind that plot. There’s lots of seating outside their red-brick building, including several small tables with lovely mosaic tiles, a large table for 6, and a sofa under a canopy. This seating area, which is well secluded from traffic, combined with Coffeebar’s great music selection make this a very chill spot to forget your Covid woes. And their coffee is great too!

The friendly Barista introduced me to a few coffees – both natural processed (the entire coffee cherry is dried before the bean is separated from the pulp) which saves on water and often makes the coffee more fruity and delicious. I decided to risk over-caffeinating and have both of them: the Costa Rica Finca Lucerito as a Gibraltar and the Ethiopian Naia Bombe as a pour-over. This was my first ever Gibraltar – made with Oatly oat milk and a sprinkle of sugar on top – and it was so delicious!

The Ethiopian coffee was so lacking in bitterness that I was able to drink it without milk or sugar (which is rare for me). They also do flights – either different beans in the same format (e.g., espresso) or the same beans in multiple formats (Gibraltar and espresso) so it’s a good spot for a coffee education. Prices were reasonable considering the high quality – it was $7 total for the Gibraltar and the pour-over.

I’m also giving Coffeebar 4/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact for the following reasons:

• Coffeebar have a direct trade relationship with coffee farmers. The benefits of this vary by coffee farm – it may be a better price for the farmer and/or more sustainable farming practices. • For example, the Costa Rica Finca Lucerito comes through collaboration with Sustainable Management Services (SMS) in Costa Rica. SMS do agricultural research in Central America to increase sustainability (e.g., improved fertilization techniques and coffee varieties that are more resistant to disease). • Having said that, Coffeebar don’t provide a lot of detail, compared to some other roasters (e.g., Temple Coffee in Davis strives for transparency in actual prices paid to farmers). Even on the blog posts dedicated to each coffee variety, there’s often a lack of useful information. For example, their Thai coffee is grown in Doi Inthanon National Park but there’s no discussion on the environmental impact of the farm (e.g., shade cover, which is often lacking in Asian coffee farms). There’s a decent blog post by David Wilson on why Coffeebar wants to move beyond coffee that’s certified (e.g., organic) but in order to do that they need to raise the bar on their communication – seriously! Otherwise, how do we tell them apart from roasters that are only paying lip-service to their social and environmental impact? • I like that they provided glasses and mugs for having coffee in-house when so many have abandoned them (for no good reason) during lockdown. • For disposable cups, Coffeebar are partnering with reCUP which make cups that are designed to be recyclable. The cups are generally not compostable as they still contain a plastic liner (just less plastic than normal). • There’s a 75 cent charge for alternative milk listed on the menu – that’s a fairly steep penalty for choosing plant-based milk. Having said that, I wasn’t charged extra for having Oatly in my Gibraltar :) • Their coffee-bean packages are pretty (and award-winning) but it’s a pity they’re not compostable (e.g., like Counter Culture Coffee) • On their website you can find info on their suppliers for food ingredients (listed under Partners) including some familiar good names like Central Milling organic flour and Petaluma Creamery...

Located in a small, awkward alleyway, Coffebar Roastery is a hidden gem.

The interior is small but cozy with an industrial or workshop feel (burlap bags of beans in the back, grinders and roasters on plain wooden tables, and coffee implements in several locations around the room). The workers were sociable and the people who came in and out seemed to know this place as a local coffee joint to hang out at.

The coffee options were numerous. They have a $5 flight that consisted of an espresso shot, a cortado, and a mug of drip coffee, all of the same bean of the day. They have lattes and other specialty drinks, too, of course. Drink prices were comparable to third wave coffee shops in other states ($3 for espresso, $5.50 for specialty drinks). Whole beans were also ~$18 per 12 oz., which is also typical nowadays.

They have more whole bean options in-store than on their website, so I do recommend checking them out if you're interested in getting beans. The barista we talked to was pretty knowledgeable with the coffees and gave us different suggestions for brewing and trying the coffees (incl. ones they personally didn't like!). They have both blends and single origins.

Your mileage may vary depending on who is working there that day, but definitely give this place a look if you want to try a local coffee place or you are into the third wave coffee scene. 5/5 would go...

coffeebar comes across as a shop that knows what it wasn’t and goes for it. It doesn’t want people setting up shop for hours there for work, meeting large groups to hang out, or being a tourists convenient drop by. What it does want is to make well priced good coffee to those who truly want to find it.

Everything about this place shows it. The vast majority of the roaster is dedicated to making the coffee with only a few seats for the guests. The only sounds you will hear is the grinding of the beans, people chatting and the other coffeeshop white noise (with no music to be heard). The coffee itself is at its simplest form and better off for it. They even have the option of a coffee flight to try a range of beans in a variety of styles. The slightly off-the-beaten path location means most who go here seem like regulars and even if they aren’t, the staff treat them as such.

They have well crafted mugs that show off the coffee well and while I didn’t ask about it, it sounds like they have a cup return program for those who want to take coffee on the go but don’t have their own. It is refreshing to see a company take waste seriously in a city that often doesn’t.

One way or another, I would recommend making coffeebar roasters a ritual in your...