Posts by Mark

Delaney Kelly of Carthagh Craft & Design just dropped of the first edition of the Clive Stand Triple. I couldn’t wait for our real photographer to take her sweet time with it, so I took a quick shot. It’s a beauty. Water Avenue Coffee will be the first shop in town to put this to good use. Read more about the stand, then get ready because the Triple will be available for purchase in early January.

The "drip tray" on the Stand is sealed with 4 coats of oil based polyurethane, than coated in food-safe wax. The Hario V60 cone and decanter fits perfectly.

After several months of hard work, we’re proud to open up our retail showroom to the public. It’s a work in progress, and admittedly looks a little “temporary.” We were planning on moving to a much bigger, brighter location this summer, but the lease fell through and so we’ve decided to make the best of our current location for now. We’d love to have you stop in to say hello!

To kick things off we’re throwing an impromptu, casual party for Black Friday. Stop by from 4-6 pm on Friday Nov 26th for local booze, great music, and 10% off for our local friends. See the details here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=163979780305546

Google Map here: http://bit.ly/gvQxlS

More photos…

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There’s a great article in the Times about old fashioned espresso that doesn’t compromise quality for convenience. It encapsulates so well why we don’t sell super-automatic espresso machines at Clive. If you’re going to make espresso at home, we believe it’s worth investing the time and money required to make real espresso. It doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive, and with a little bit of practice you’ll be well on your way to making authentic, old fashioned espresso.

Read the article in the New York Times.

Get yours today!

We’ve put together a handy little guide to selecting coffees based off of the dominating flavor profile. We’ve categorized our coffees by Bright & Fruity, Robust & Smoky, Chocolaty & Nutty, and Sweet & Balanced. Check it out and explore some new coffees!

Heading to the beach for camping and surfing? Maybe suffering through pitiful coffee at the office? Or perhaps you just like hand-operated tools that don’t require electricity. We’ve got the tools for you to make great espresso or coffee wherever you go.

So much of the coffee on the market these days is really a commodity product that has been standardized to provide consistency. Generally, this means the coffee isn’t too terribly bad nor too terribly great. It’s a generic, non-offensive caffeine delivery mechanism.

An origin trip changes all that. It brings you, the roaster, face to face with the person that is growing and processing your coffee beans. It means you and farmer have talked shop over a cup of coffee, toured the processing mill that he set up himself, and met the family he’s feeding with the profits. It’s the antithesis of generic, commodity coffee.

A few months ago I toured five small farms in the Tarrazu region of Costa Rica, driving for hours over the steep hillsides that are covered in lush, deep green vegetation. The tropical sun is very intense at the high altitude, but the temperature when I was there was only around 75 degrees, and the constant breeze made it very comfortable. The city of San Jose is nestled in a valley that is surrounded by extremely steep hills, which are continually buffeted by clouds rolling in from the Pacific Ocean before dissipating over the tops of the hills. It reminded me of San Francisco and the surrounding hills on the peninsula. There’s a mystical quality to the fog breaking up just above the tree branches.

Tarrazu’s unique topography and proximity to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans brings microclimates of surprising variety, producing fantastic, rare coffees. The rich volcanic soil, high altitude, and dry summers produce a coffee that is sought internationally for its clean profile and bright acidity. However, great Costa Rican coffee must be cultivated with great care to bring out the best flavors. It takes a lot of work and foresight to steward the coffee from sapling to export.

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Why not 10% off everything for Father’s Day? That means the Silvia is $584 with free shipping. “Fathersday10″ at checkout…

The small print: this coupon is valid for orders placed between today and June 13th. It cannot be applied to prior orders or backorders and may not be combined with other offers.

And now, from the ceramic artisans two blocks away at Pigeon Toe, we present our first mug.

Get yours in storm blue or dove grey.

What’s that delicious food spread at the end of the video you ask? Why, that’s from the breakfast press release event that Google hosted at Clive Coffee.

We found this short video from the Science Channel that deconstructs one of our most popular entry-level burr grinders, from Breville. The narration and music are a little much, but the information is solid! Click on the image below to view it on the Science Channel website. It demonstrates how the burrs work to evenly crush the coffee beans, which is superior to blade grinders which simply chop them up into uneven pieces.