Black Black Coffee Taking Over Boxcar Space in TAXI

Boxcar Coffee Roasters is leaving its space in the Drive building cafe of the TAXI development, and in its place Black Black Coffee will open Wednesday, August 13. Owner Joshua McNeilly started Black Black as a social experiment a little over a year ago, setting up brew bars at events and hosting a three-month pop-up at 38th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard last summer.

McNeilly set out to serve black coffee made one cup at a time—without cream or sugar. That will remain the focus at the new shop, but espresso and espresso-based milk drinks like lattes and cappuccino will also be offered. The permanent space will also allow for access to special equipment and better water filtration.

The selection is curated from roasters all over the world, with hours of tasting going into the process. Usually about 15 different roasters are used at a given time, with beans coming from the Coffee Collective in Copenhagen, Portland's Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and Sweet Bloom in Lakewood, among others.

"There's basically a certain style of roaster that we look for, and that's roasters who do a lot of direct trade with farms. We really look for roasters who have fairly permanent relationships with certain farms so they can help assist on small projects at the farm, any funding for like a mill or a pulper, or whatever would make the coffee better," says McNeilly.

The cafe will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with free tastings called "cuppings" occurring on Fridays at 3 p.m. Starting in September, classes will be held on Saturdays on topics like espresso preparation, latte art, and coffee extraction. On Saturday mornings, there will also be an hour-long coffee and food pairing called Ceremony. Available to four people max, it's designed to feature the work of local chefs alongside the best coffee Black Black can find.

In the meantime, a Kickstarter campaign has been started to raise funds for an espresso machine, as the current one being used is on loan from a friend.

Photo courtesy of Black Black Coffee

· Black Black Coffee [Official website]
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